The Role Of Discipline vs Strategy:

[Itz-prisigold]

Which One Actually Makes You A Good Trader?

During your first entry into trading you easily become fixated on unfamiliar strategies such as advanced charts and indicators etc.. After all, you have to learn from someone before you can properly develop your own technique. But after you have been trading for a while, you come to realize what every other successful trader has already discovered:

.You can make good money from trading when you have a good strategy...
.But when you don't have  discipline. You will eventually lose it all.

Let me  break it down why this is the case:

Strategy is easy to learn.

A trading strategy is a set of rules, like when to enter the market, when to exit, how much to risk and what indicators or patterns that you actually trust. And we all know that anyone can learn or copy a strategy. We have thousands of videos on YouTube, telegram groups, Twitter etc.

But the problem is that being familiar with a trading strategy, and actual execution of that plan, are completely different things. A strategy cannot  prevent things like greed, fear, impatience, overconfidence, revenge trading and FOMO from taking over.

Most traders did not really fail due to a bad strategy, they actually fail because they can’t stick to it when it matters.

Discipline: The Last Thing Anyone Wants to Talk About:

Discipline is what you practice outside the charts:
.Keeping your stop-loss
.Never follow the market once you have entered the losing direction.
.Avoiding your leverage increase just because of excitement
.Cease your trades whenever you become drained, frustrated and desperate
.Accepting the losses instead of hoping that they recover
.Exiting the trade when greed is telling you "just a little more"

Discipline is the truth most of the traders ignore:

Discipline is what protects your account
Strategy only guides it

.A trader that has simple strategies and Strong discipline can grow
.A trader that has no discipline but is more advanced with a strategy eventually blow the account anyway.

Why Discipline Is More Important Than The Strategy:

.Trading and emotions are synonymous
.The market does not move the way you intend for it to move
.There will be losses, and they will be more than one loss in succession

Discipline is the only thing that keeps you from doubling the position, trying to recover the losses, abandoning your own set of rules, and most importantly trading with emotion instead of a logical thought process. If you cannot control your emotions, then your account is in the markets control

So What Makes You A Good Trader?

Both discipline and strategy are necessary, but discipline is more important

A weak strategy and strong discipline is manageable, but a brilliant strategy and weak discipline is a guaranteed disaster. Over time, your discipline acts like a life preserver but your strategy breaks down the route to success.

Conclusion:

It’s totally okay if you don't have the “perfect” strategy, you don't have to incorporate 50 indicators, you don't have to utilize any secret strategies.

You just need to maintain:

.Consistency
.Patience
.Emotional control
.Risk management
. A capacity for not breaking the boundaries you have already set for yourself.

And this is the big difference between gamblers and traders. At the end of the day, the market doesn’t reward the most intelligent trader...It rewards the most disciplined.

[Sammye3]

Discipline plays a vital role in trading and is a bit overlooked or underrated because a trader could have a good strategy but lack the discipline to stick to that strategy. When he loses focus, gets distracted over losses, losses composure and panics after repeated failures it's only natural he would record more losses with that mindset.

When a trader lacks discipline, he refuses to take proper risk management by using stop loss, take profits and use more of leverage maybe after consecutive winnings, he becomes reckless with his strategy and trades for big profits without narrowing the risk of losses.

It can be seen in many traders after they have secured consecutive winning streak, they feel like they understand the market enough to trade on probability and not strategy, trading on instincts and neglecting trading principles.

[Hypnotizer]

You’ve made quite good point in this post, I must commend but you kinda underestimate strategy in your write up. There suppose should be a balance between strategy and discipline in trading they are both very crucial.

So What Makes You A Good Trader?

Both discipline and strategy are necessary, but discipline is more important

A weak strategy and strong discipline is manageable, but a brilliant strategy and weak discipline is a guaranteed disaster. Over time, your discipline acts like a life preserver but your strategy breaks down the route to success

What makes you a good trader IMO is a perfect balance between discipline and strategy, when you have a strong discipline and a weak strategy as you said, is manageable but let’s take a look at how it will go:

Discipline is the sole foundation that help you stick to your plans and make important decisions in your journey and your strategy helps you to take the most advantages of the market, so when your strategy is weak it means you can archive a reasonable amount of success overtime and most a times you won’t be able to take the most possible advantage that the market may provide because the market changes and so you will need to adapt to stay successful. With the imbalance here, it’s shows that your losses won’t be triggered by emotions or greed but you will possibly miss out most opportunities because of your weak strategy.

The only way your strategy can breaks down your route to success is when it is not properly planned and managed, the strategy is first, disciplines and risks management only helps you to perfectly manage your strategy to archive the best result out of it.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Which One Actually Makes You A Good Trader?

Strategy is easy to learn.
Discipline

Why Discipline Is More Important Than The Strategy

You can be a disciplined person but if you start your trading without knowledge about the market, about trading, and no trading strategy to use, you take too high risk and have very high probability to fail in this market.

Strategy is very important but it is not a first thing you have or must learn to have, you must learn to get knowledge about the market, about trading. Then you can know about trading strategies and choose one that is good for you.

Then from a chosen strategy, you must practice with good discipline and it's not easy.

Before you start trading, you must organize your finance and trading capital too, so if you don't do this step well, having strategy and good discipline is not likely enough for your trading success.

[Creeper0]

It may be possible to win some games and make some money with strategy, but in trading, it is more important to be disciplined to maintain that win or keep your money. Be it trading or gambling, discipline plays a more important role than strategy for success in both. Because in both cases, winning depends on luck, although luck in trading can be controlled to some extent, it depends on luck. Some strategies will help you win in trading or gambling, if you cannot discipline yourself, then your wins are useless. You have to stop at the right time, start at the right time and quit at the right time. Without discipline, all this is not possible and the chances of losing due to temptation are high.

[gunhell16]

Both discipline and strategy are essential for us as traders; you can’t have one without the other. If we only have discipline but lack strategy, having discipline alone becomes pointless.
And if we’re strategic but lack discipline, it’s still useless.

Therefore, I can say that these two qualities discipline and strategy are what traders or investors must possess, because for sure, both will help us deliver decent profits in future opportunities
in the crypto space.

[Frankolala]

Both discipline and strategy are essential for us as traders; you can’t have one without the other. If we only have discipline but lack strategy, having discipline alone becomes pointless.
And if we’re strategic but lack discipline, it’s still useless.

Therefore, I can say that these two qualities discipline and strategy are what traders or investors must possess, because for sure, both will help us deliver decent profits in future opportunities
in the crypto space.

Of course, in order for you to stay focus on your goal, you must have a strategy in which you intend using to accomplish your goals. Discipline is very important to become successful because it involves sacrifice and patience. You don't need to allow your decisions be affected by your emotions if not, you will make the wrong decisions. Trading cannot be done without a strategy, discipline is needed to limit your losses.

[justdimin]

A weak strategy and strong discipline is manageable, but a brilliant strategy and weak discipline is a guaranteed disaster. Over time, your discipline acts like a life preserver but your strategy breaks down the route to success.

I do not think that discipline alone would help you regardless of weaker strategies. Discipline is very important, no doubt about that but if your strategy provides a wrong signal, how your discipline could save you. Discipline is all about controlling your emotions and sticking within your pre-market plans. It means, you should not decide anything based on market condition but you should go as per your pre-determined ideas.

Strategy is all about signals. Weaker or no strategy will collapse all your efforts regardless of how disciplined you are. Success in trading is driven by multi activities and definitely not just by discipline.

[MArsland]

Both discipline and strategy are essential for us as traders; you can’t have one without the other. If we only have discipline but lack strategy, having discipline alone becomes pointless.
And if we’re strategic but lack discipline, it’s still useless.

Therefore, I can say that these two qualities discipline and strategy are what traders or investors must possess, because for sure, both will help us deliver decent profits in future opportunities
in the crypto space.

First of all, I agree with you that discipline and strategy are inseparable, that's final for the basic concept of trading.

The second thing that should be noted is the matter of strategy, where most of us are always pressured by various types of techniques while what should be done is to adjust to the needs. There are so many strategies but as far as I know crypto trading only 1 or 2 are chosen as options.

[tbct_mt2]

Which One Actually Makes You A Good Trader?

A good trader must have ability to minimize times of opening trading positions as least as possible. It shows good risk management as by limiting times of opening trading positions, that traders only prioritize less risky positions to use his money for trading. It reduces risk of losing trading capital while risk can not be eliminated completely.

By focusing on defending the trading capital, that trader must use either stop loss order or stop limit order for all trading positions.
One of the Best Weapons in Trading.

[Alphakilo]

A good trader must have both the discipline and the strategies in order to be successful at trading, because one without the other is surely room and loss.
Risk management practices helps a good trader stay focused and disciplined while trading and so that when it is time to try other leveraged positions, it won't become a high risk of sort that can't be controlled and experienced.
The funny thing is that time will have to tell a good trader from a bad one, and losses is surely a thing before one can call themselves good or bad when it comes to trading, but the degree of loss accumulated will tell the difference apart.

[Coyster]

That's quite a long thread for an answer that is somewhat obvious. There is no one factor that makes a good trader, it is a combination of different vital factors, of which discipline and strategy are part of it. So asking which of the two makes a good trader is not the best question, because it sounds like a trader can do good with just one and not the other.

That said, like we reiterate a lot, trading requires skills, you need to have the knowledge to develop your strategy and refine it the best way you know how to. Then in much like everything, discipline is pertinent. You need to be disciplined in order not to trade with too much of your money. You need discipline to manage your risks. Etc.

[Jatiluhung]

Conclusion:

It’s totally okay if you don't have the “perfect” strategy, you don't have to incorporate 50 indicators, you don't have to utilize any secret strategies.

You just need to maintain:

.Consistency
.Patience
.Emotional control
.Risk management
. A capacity for not breaking the boundaries you have already set for yourself.

And this is the big difference between gamblers and traders. At the end of the day, the market doesn’t reward the most intelligent trader...It rewards the most disciplined.

For those who have truly studied and practiced trading for a long time, they will eventually realize how important discipline is in trading. Because discipline is the final point that determines the success of a trader.

Without discipline, how can a trader execute a well-thought-out strategy based on sound analysis? Even the best-designed strategies must be executed properly. And to ensure everything runs smoothly, discipline is indeed what is required.

At least, I often remember when I was still learning to trade, someone who taught me said that the most important thing after we have mastered all types of analysis is the level of emotional control, and everything is summarized in trading psychology.

Money management, emotional management, and risk management are three things that must always be considered after we finish our analysis using our favorite indicator. Because even though we understand how to use all indicators, there will always be one indicator that we favor. Traders will surely understand what I mean.

And I like your conclusion. In fact, the five points you mentioned are all summarized in that attitude of discipline. Because a disciplined person will definitely be consistent, able to control their emotions, and only take risks that they can bear. And of course, they will not violate the limits that have been set (risk management).

[capokmerah]

Which One Actually Makes You A Good Trader?

Discipline and strategy are two of the most essential combinations in life, especially in carrying out any activity, including trading.
If I had to choose between the two, I would definitely choose discipline.
The reason is simple: discipline is key; without it, a strategy is useless. We can easily change strategies if the previous one fails or isn't optimal, but discipline is the framework we build from the ground up that can be useful at any time in any situation.
Another important thing is that trading is more about mental than technical aspects, and that's where discipline comes into play.

[coinrifft]

You can't choose any, both are important in my opinion:

Even if you have a good strategy, but if you didn't follow it to the tee then you will eventually lose in the end.

And so with that, you don't need to over complicate things. Successful traders are the ones who executes their plan calmly. No fancy about it, as they stick to risk limits and then stay consistent and not involving their emotions on it.

So with a good and sound strategy, you can make a lot of money. And with discipline, you can stay in the game long enough to grow and be successful.

[G_Besar]

Which One Actually Makes You A Good Trader?

Discipline and strategy are two of the most essential combinations in life, especially in carrying out any activity, including trading.
If I had to choose between the two, I would definitely choose discipline.
The reason is simple: discipline is key; without it, a strategy is useless. We can easily change strategies if the previous one fails or isn't optimal, but discipline is the framework we build from the ground up that can be useful at any time in any situation.
Another important thing is that trading is more about mental than technical aspects, and that's where discipline comes into play.

You seem to truly understand the meaning of discipline, and I'm truly impressed by what you said. Some traders still don't realize this, so they focus more on other aspects, such as strategy, and neglect the discipline aspect of trading. And in my opinion, if the work we do involves more mental aspects, then discipline is clearly the most important thing to prioritize, even though the guarantee of profit through trading is still uncertain for those who have implemented this discipline.

[BitBakerr1]

One thing you have to understand is that you cannot differentiate discipline and strategy when it comes to trading because whichever strategy you are using you need to be well discipline in order to follow that strategy the way it should be followed so discipline is very important in every strategy you are using as a trader or bitcoin investor, you need discipline in every strategy you use so it works hand in hand, one thing I want everyone to understand when it comes to trading you need to be very discipline there are some strategy that some people are using and they are losing money the reason why they are using money is not because the strategy is not a good strategy or the strategy is not working it's because they are not following the strategy very well and the reason for this is because they are not well disciplined.

[Jatiluhung]

One thing you have to understand is that you cannot differentiate discipline and strategy when it comes to trading because whichever strategy you are using you need to be well discipline in order to follow that strategy the way it should be followed so discipline is very important in every strategy you are using as a trader or bitcoin investor, you need discipline in every strategy you use so it works hand in hand, one thing I want everyone to understand when it comes to trading you need to be very discipline there are some strategy that some people are using and they are losing money the reason why they are using money is not because the strategy is not a good strategy or the strategy is not working it's because they are not following the strategy very well and the reason for this is because they are not well disciplined.

That's right, my friend. Sometimes, most traders who experience losses in the market do not do so because they made mistakes in their strategies or because of their analysis. However, they are usually just not disciplined. That is, they do not even adhere to the strategies or trading plans that they themselves have created. Sometimes, when they initially target a 10% profit, they rush to sell when the price has only risen by 1%. And there are also times when they initially plan to take profits when they have earned a 5% profit, but because they are undisciplined and prioritize greed, they sometimes don't take those profits and hope that the price will rise higher and they will earn even higher profits. As a result, the price ends up falling, and the 5% profit is lost. Because sometimes, undisciplined people will hope that after a decline, everything will rise again. And they start promising themselves that they will take the profits when they come. But the market doesn't move according to what we expect. It is we who must follow the trends in the market.

[Oluwa-btc]

Yes Discipline is the backbone of successful trading,it doesn't guarantee success everytime,but it protects you from unnecessary losses and emotional mistakes.Without discipline in trading you can easily fall out.In trading, skill is important,but discipline is everything. Many traders know strategies and understands market patterns,yet still lose money.No discipline,no control;where's there's no control,success becomes hard.

[rachael9385]

no one disputes the fact that discipline plays avery important role in trading but this doesn't undermine the place of strategy because this is what gives you the results you require. without having a good trading strategy discipline can only help partly. Both actually needs to work together to get the best results. a strategic trader that lacks discipline would still lose no matter how good those strategies might be