Ages ago, horsemen invented blinders to keep their horses focused on their work. Blinders are pieces of leather attached to the horse’s bridle that prevent them from seeing anything except what’s in front of them.
Without blinders, a horse can see almost completely behind itself without turning its head and can be easily spooked by movement or objects it doesn’t recognize. By having fewer distractions, the horse is more dependable and is better focused on getting the job done.
As a trader, I’ve found that whenever I started comparing my trading performance with other forex traders, my performance would usually worsen. This “distraction” typically led to losses for both my trading account and mojo.
Back when there was no Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+ available and Oprah was one of the most interesting people on TV, I chanced upon one of her interviews.
In it, a woman was sharing how comparing herself to other folks in her business always made her take a step back from her goal. Her words made me realize that the concept applies to our everyday lives.
Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s tempting in the modern, competitive world to constantly ask, “How am I doing?” and to gauge your success based on how the rest of your peers are faring.
If you spend too much time on Twitter (now “X”) checking out which of your friends have bought bitcoins or are enjoying their new PS5s, then you might just feel bad about not “living the life” like they’re doing.
It’s easier said than done, but you should NOT allow how well you do relative to others to affect how you feel about your inner worth and feelings of success in life.
Comparisons are useless. Run your own race.
You alone can hone your forex trading skills. What works for others may not necessarily work for you. You must find a method of your own, one that matches your trading skill and personality.
Comparisons will only make you feel frustrated and distract you from forging your own path to profitability.
Don’t think you are trying to beat others to an imaginary finish line.
People who achieve great things work independently and on their own terms. They don’t care how others are doing. They follow their own timeline, their own passion, and look INWARD to where to go next.
Notice how I said inward, and not outward. They look inward for where to go next.
How you perform has nothing to do with how others perform. All comparisons will do is torture you. You will feel jealousy or envy.
When you see that you are doing relatively poorly compared to a fellow trader, you are likely to think distracting thoughts such as, “Why can’t I do as well?” or “I must not be as good of a forex trader as I had thought.”
To maintain motivation, focus on improving your past performance record, rather than looking at how other traders are doing.
You usually don’t know what factors created their performance records, so comparisons can only mislead and hinder you. They could just be on a lucky streak or have a market wizard standing right behind them on every forex trade providing advice.
Put your “blinders” on. Don’t look at anyone else’s record but your own. Everyone has a different learning curve.
Run your own race and finish at your own pace.
