The Most Common Problem Traders Face

There's one problem that seems to be universal to traders, whether they're professionals trading in large banks or funds or part-timers trading from the home: performance anxiety.

Performance anxiety afflicts even accomplished individuals in sports, performing arts, and games of skill such as poker and chess. It occurs when awareness of the performance--and especially the outcome of the performance--interferes with the actual act of performing.

Performance skills have generally been honed to the point of automaticity. This is especially true of performers in high-speed activities, such as race car drivers, fighter pilots, baseball batters, and short-term traders. When the performer becomes self-aware and focuses attention on the outcome of the performance, this leads to efforts at conscious control of the automatic activity. The result is a disruption of performance.

Gary Rivas