The most important component to successful trading can be described in two words: emotional discipline. You must develop the ability to patiently wait for a tradable situation to develop, and then, when it's in front of you, execute the trade in full force, with high conviction. It sounds simple, but, believe me, the lack of emotional discipline is the number one reason that traders fail. Some traders tend to force trades when the odds are not in their favor. Others have difficulty pulling the trigger when a good trade presents itself. On the back end, some traders hold on to trades too long. As a result, losses frequently become bigger and profits frequently become smaller. These are all problems of emotional discipline. As I transformed myself from a losing trader to a winning trader, it became apparent to me that emotional discipline was my key to success. Sure, I had developed a process for analyzing the market and identifying good trades, and that was a big challenge. But e...