The following was originally published on Trading Technologies' Trade Talk blog. Chatting with Traders in Sydney: 4 Key Principles from John Moulton aka Rambo By: Michael Peters, Regional Executive Sales Director On a blustery wet Tuesday night, 170 traders from all over Australia piled into the WeWork venue to attend the latest Chat with Traders event, hosted by Aaron Fifield. I enjoy events like this, as it gives us here in TT Sydney a great chance to catch up with existing customers on a social basis. It also creates the opportunity for us to speak to the newer entrants to the market as well as people who trade different asset classes. Personally, there was also a second winning card at this event, and that came in the form of John Moulton aka Rambo. I’ve known John for 29 years, firstly having worked together on the SFE trading floor trading and for the past 10 years as a user of TT’s trading software. In listening to John share his anecdotes and thoughts, what resonated most with me was the advice he gave the audience on what it takes to be a successful trader. To give a high-level summary, you would say the key to trading success is to be mentally tough and have a passion for markets, trading and making money. To further dissect John’s words, you got a sense that he was sharing four key principles that gave a real insight into what it takes to be successful trader. The four principles are: Self-belief. The willingness to take on risk and thrive on the challenges that are associated with being a risk taker. The ability to identify shifts in market trends and a willingness to adapt to change. The one I felt John thought was the most important: learning from your mistakes rather than dwelling on them. Being resilient so you can move on and focus on the next trade. As much as this sounds like I’m reciting a motivational speech delivered by a life coach that only shares the secrets to success for large sums of money, I’m not. And I’m also not delusional enough to suggest that it’s easy to apply these principles—or that by doing so, it guarantees you success as a trader. What I do know, however, is that I recognize that John’s key principles are similar to the ones we apply here at TT. This synergy of thought is probably why successful trading professionals like John have been using our products for over 20 years. John’s interview will be available soon on the Chat With Traders website. If you go there and have a listen, you may get a different message. If you do, that’s fine because that’s what makes a market.