In Forex trading, psychology often determines the difference between winning consistently and going broke. In this arena, fear and greed reign supreme.

Fear can sometimes cause you to freeze and not take a trade, even when your analysis says that you should, or make you close a winning trade too soon for fear of the market reversing.

Greed can cause you to over-leverage, chase the market, or stray from your trading plan in an attempt to maximize profit. Both emotions are completely natural, yet can influence decision-making and cloud judgement.

Profitable traders realize that discipline is ultimately the foundation of profitability; they follow their strategies, set realistic trading expectations, and don’t obsess about losing (in the market, it’s going to happen).

Tools like stop-losses, journaling trades to monitor emotional triggers and using mindfulness (even meditation) can help detect and maintain a level of psychology before getting into a trade. Ultimately, mastering trading a market like Forex is not about predicting (prices) but rather mastering you. Whoever is able to channel his (her) emotions into the future has already won half the battle before making the first trade.