A common mistake novice traders make is what's referred to as "chasing the market". The phenomenon takes place due to a combination of factors, such as: impatience, emotions, inexperience and ultimately trying to force profit out of the market, generally from an account which is poorly capitalized. Chasing the market is a habit performed by manual traders only, therefore automation will immediately correct it. However, this article is not intended to dismiss manual trading in favor of automation, as manual trading is a perfectly legitimate method to take profit out of the forex market.

Confirmation bias suggests that we fail to perceive our circumstances objectively. Instead we select the data that (in simple terms) makes us feel good, because it confirms our preconceptions and confirms our prejudices. With confirmation bias, which is also often referred to as "confirmatory bias", or "my-side bias", we'll search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that confirms our preexisting beliefs and theories. In many circumstances and situations we also dismiss all evidence, preferring to rely on our hunch, as opposed to hard data.

Trading is a precise business and occupation. In our industry we constantly have to deal with very small percentages and numbers. And the difference, between success and failure, in our retail trading industry, can be extremely small.

Learning how to accept losses is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges we face as traders. Losses may occur while trading and there’s no other aspect of our lives in which we have to set out a plan, which involves part failure as an integral part of the process. In certain ways we are inviting failure into our lives when we trade, which rails and repels against everything we’re taught in our early formative years.