There is light at the end of the tunnel …

Many of us as traders had probably gone through a long , tough and dark journey , before we see light. Trading needs lots of hard work as well as commitment. As a trader , I have learned to be both optimistic and pessimistic , depending on situations. It is all about how we handle changes.

During time of setback , many fellow traders and friends were telling me that there is light at the end of the tunnel. In the early days of learning to trade , that light never seemed to appear at all , for a long time , at least …

The answer to successful versus painful adjustment to change lies in the differences between an individual’s expectation for the future and the way he or she interprets the cause of the change. This is the difference between the optimistic versus the pessimistic personality. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about what you are doing now - be it trading or your current career ?

Based on research conducted over the last two decades implicate the pessimistic approach to life as one of the major causes of depression and an inability to bounce back from negative change.

While the optimist sees outside forces as temporary , the pessimist sees them as permanent. The pessimist sees an unhappy event as representative of his entire life. It is not hard to see why the pessimist feels hopeless about the chances to piece his life back together , much less prospering as result of bad events. I am sure many traders out there felt this before ! The feeling of “giving up” is never good …

To succeed in the long run , a trader must maintain a careful balance between optimism and pessimism. Optimism is the glue that holds a trading career together. Without it , a trader can interpret his inevitable losses and setbacks as permanent and his situation as hopeless.

Armed with this pessimism , a trader can find no way to go on when things go wrong. But , for a trader to accurately assess the risk involved in his trading , he must be able to balance optimism with a realistic pessimism. This controlled pessimism allows him to plan for adversity and deal with real danger.

Remember this - Whomever tells you that there is light at the end of the tunnel , you better also get ready - in case that light is an oncoming train or a cliff. Bye bye then …