Cristiano Ronaldo became the most expensive footballer in history in a transfer worth €94 million when he made a move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009. His contract with Real Madrid, in which he earns €21 million per year (after taxes), makes him the highest-paid footballer in the world.
So, what makes Ronaldo so special? The simple answer is his dexterity with the ball, his confidence on and off the pitch and his ability to influence his teammates with a positive mindset.
Traders can learn a couple of things from the most expensive footballer in history (when you factor in the time value of money and inflation).
Before you start wondering if there's any correlation between Ronaldo and stock traders, it might interest you to know that Ronaldo is the brand ambassador for XTrade.
Ronaldo has admitted that he wasn’t born with any supergenes for success as a footballer. He became the best in football through sheer determination, passionate practice and a never-say-die attitude.
Here are four training tips from Ronaldo that you can apply to your trading for success.
1. Modify your training (trading) to deal with your schedule
Ronaldo says his training regimen varies during the season when he has regular matches and in the pre-season when there are fewer matches to play. In his words, "during pre-season, when we're all returning from time off, our work tends to be intense. We may have more than one training session in a single day, plus strength and conditioning workouts."
Traders should modify their trading to deal with the schedule of other activities in their life. Unless you are a full-time trader, you don't need to stay glued in front of your computer screen all day or checking into the market with your mobile app every other minute. You can choose to trade for an hour each day so that you can place all of your trades with an undivided focus during that hour. For instance, swing traders can develop a strategy, set market orders or stop-loss orders (whichever works for you) and check in periodically.
Traders should also modify their trading times to move in sync with the market dynamics. It doesn’t really make much sense to enter the market in the first 20 minutes of market opening or in the last 20 minutes to the close of the market. It is also in your best interest to trade when your energy levels (mental and physical) are at the highest. You are likely to make dumb trading decisions when you are weak physically or emotionally.
2. Push yourself every day
Ronaldo admits that he is human and that there are some days when he doesn’t have the motivation to get on the pitch or even hit the gym. However, he says, "I know that in order to continue to play at the highest level, I must push myself even on the days I might not feel like it. I love this game … so I do my best to work hard every single day."
A trader might have a more private life than Ronaldo has and you don't have to put up a performance for anybody. However, you owe it to yourself and your financial health to stay on top of your game as a trader – mistakes cost money. You should have an insatiable hunger to be the best trader you can possibly become; hence, you should not stop learning about the markets, trading instruments, new strategies and going out of your comfort zone.
A trader should also strive to set new goals in beating your records in terms of the performance of your portfolio. It doesn’t hurt to strive towards beating the markets or outperforming index funds as well.
3. Tune into a match-winning (profit-making) mindset
Football is a physical game but the mindset of opposing teams often have an influence over who wins and who losses. Ronaldo says, "Mental strength is just as important as physical strength and it helps me to achieve more on and off the pitch." Traders need to come to the market with confidence and an expectation to win. Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) advises investors to be greedy when others are fearful as this would be the best time to buy stocks.
All traders lose money on a number of trades at some point in time in their career. In fact, losing money is part of the business – you only need to ensure that you have more winning trades than losing trades. Losing money in a trade is not the problem, what counts is what you do after you have lost money. Buffett has lost quite a few millions – the notable one being his investment in Tesco that cost him $444 million.
You should always remember that winners don't quit and quitters don't win. Learn all there is to learn about your preferred market instrument, make educated trading decisions, expect to win –and if you do lose, find out what went wrong and develop strategies to mitigate a reoccurrence.
4. Don't trade on a hungry stomach
Ronaldo revealed that one of the secrets to his incredible performance on the pitch is the quality of food that he eats. There are reports that Ronaldo's diet consists mainly of simple whole foods, such as vegetables, lean protein, fresh fruits, whole grains and that he avoids sugary foods, processed foods and alcohol.
I am not here to tell you what you can eat and what you can't eat. However, Paul Wheeler, a trader on Xtrade.com said "I know that I tend to make dumb trading decisions when I am hungry and I think traders should avoid entering the market on an empty stomach.” In simple terms, it is important to prepare for wise investment decisions by feeding your mind with the right content-staying informed.
It is also in your best interest to have a balanced work-life relationship between your trading and other aspects of your life. Forex traders have the tendency to stay awake in front of the computer late into the night because the forex markets are opened 24/7. However, you need to get the right amount of sleep in order to function effectively irrespective of whether you are trading stocks, binary options or forex.
