If there is any man who could teach us how to become better traders, it’s no other than the great Mongolian warlord and leader, who was popularly known as Genghis Khan, but originally known as Temujin.
One of the reasons why I so much respect this General is because of the vast war strategies he deploys during warfares to confuse his enemies and conquer territories so vast that he made past conquerors achievements look mediocre.
If you still think my praises are empty concerning this revered leader of impeccable achievements.
Then, you need to know that in Genghis Khan’s 25 years of leadership, the Mongolian empire conquered more lands and people than the Roman empire did in 400 years.
Can you beat that?
Genghis Khan did not become that successful by luck.
No, he didn’t sir/ma, He was a master of his craft.
When I closely carried out a research on this great leader, I noticed that he was born just like every other man.
I mean, he did not drop from the heavens nor was he born to a god.
Genghis Khan came from humble beginnings, and had to fight his way through life, until he amassed a formidable and loyal army.
Now, you may be asking yourself:
“What the heck does this have to do with forex trading”?
In this article, we will be sharing some of Khan’s war strategies and principles that will definitely help your trading mojo.
Let’s go…
1. Khan’s calm before the storm:
Before engaging in any battle, Genghis Khan had scouts who spent months studying their foes and they gathered intel about:
- The size of their enemies army
- Their daily routines
- The enemies skill level in combat and their arsenal
- All possible escape routes in the battlefields which could serve as a point of ambush or escape.
Genghis scouts did such a thorough job, that the enemy they were to face in the battle had nothing to surprise them with.
My question to you as a trader is:
Are you thorough when it comes to preparing yourself before taking a trade? or do you just click the buy or sell button, while lazily chatting with your friend over the phone?
Just in case you do not know:
Trading forex is more or less like a huge financial battle between you and the rest of your enemies.
Yes, every other person apart from you in the market is your bloody, freaking enemy. If you find that hard to swallow, then understand this concept.
Trading is a zero-sum game.
Meaning, your gain in the market, is another trader’s loss in that same market. Everybody cannot be a winner. We are not sharing ice cream here.
If that point has sunk in, another thing to know is that:
The rest of the players who are obviously trading against you are a bunch of retards. If you ever thought so, let me enlighten or refresh your memory what you are up against:
The Big Banks: They basically control the financial ecosystem through movement of huge funds.
The Central Banks: I call them the oracle of forex trading. They determine the value of each currency and how inflation works for/against each currency
The Big Players: These guys could range from hedge funds to private individuals who have the financial ability to make the market sway in their favour.
The Cyborgs/Robots: These machines I personally dread. They are a bunch of complicated mathematical formulas put together by some forex trading Einsteins, in order to predict every/any viable market setup.
You: Probably a self-thought trader or at most, a trading guru’s student, who believes he/she can take on Thanos all by himself/herself without any particular strategy or discipline.
WE ARE AT WARRRR MATE.
As much as I don’t like scaring people from learning how to trade forex, the truth has to be told.
Except you have mastered the art of studying these big players and strike only when the odds are in your favor, you will continue to suck at this profession
2. Khan’s rule of engagement:
It was well recorded in history that Genghis Khan had the most formidable archers on horsebacks.
Their main job was to demoralize the enemy.
The way they did this was by riding in small separate groups and shooting arrows ranging distances of over 300 meters into the enemy’s formation.
Khan was also known to hardly lose men in battle, due to this strategy.
Immediately the enemies gave Khan’s archers a chase, they would scamper away and shoot even more arrows, hence causing more casualties in the enemy’s army.
Finally, the enemy’s chase of Khan’s archers led their foes into an ambush where they were massacred.
In most cases, Genghis Khan loses were almost negligible, due to this strategy.
As a trader, how do you trade?
Are you one of those traders that risk over a quarter of your account on a particular trade?
Well, you may be lucky doing so when going through a winning streak.
However, if you were going through a losing streak, how long can your trading account last before it is massacred by your foes?
Mind you,
Genghis Khan’s army fought and conquered armies that were far more in numbers, however, when it came to strategy, he flawed each of his enemies.
His winning formulae was easy.
Demoralizing his enemies by losing a few of his men in battle, while he dishes out strategic damages that are difficult to counter
As a trader, the only advantage you have over the market is:
The amount you choose to risk while actively trading.
The advantages of risking very little of your account per trade are:
- If a trade goes wrong, it hardly bothers you, because the amount lost is almost insignificant to your total trading account.
- If a trade goes well, you can easily add to your position, hence increasing your profits but at the same time, risking little if it goes wrong.
- There is a level of psychological ease that comes with not risking too much on any trade.
As a trader, if you have a huge risk appetite preventing you from reaching your goals you need to check yourself.
3. Khan’s mentality against a stronger opponent:
Despite the fact that Genghis Khan had an array of strategies under his belt, he definitely had times where he faced formidable opponents that overwhelmed him on the battlefield.
In such cases, his bowmen on horsebacks would flee in several directions, hence making it more difficult for the enemy to give a chase.
Genghis army will then embark on Guerilla warfare.
They will continue to lay an ambush, attacking unprepared soldiers running errands or go ahead to cut off the food supply of their enemies territory or even poison their water supply.
This puts his foes into a state of panic and psychological imbalance. Such actions ultimately lead to victory for the Mongolians.
As a trader, when faced with an overwhelming market condition,
Do you face the market head-on, trying to prove to yourself that you are the next ordained master trader?
or
Do you flee, leaving behind the little capital lost?
Knowing fully well that you stand a better chance of trading profitably when the market presents favorable market conditions in the future?
4. Khan’s learning curve:
It is a well-documented fact that Genghis Khan adapted very fast in every warfare. This gave the Mongols an unprecedented advantage over all his foes.
They were the first to use gun powder on the battlefield, they also were the first to transport dried milk as a source of food supplement during their vast sojourns.
Over the years their armors and weapons were also modified as they conquered many kingdoms. The major reason for this was that:
As they conquered each new territory, they learnt how to use their weapons in battles and even modified them to suit their own fighting strategy.
As a trader, do you learn valuable lessons from your losing trades?
or
Do you just sweep your trading errors under the carpet?
In my observation over the years, very few traders keep trading journals, hence there is nothing to work on, on a daily or weekly basis or yearly basis.
At the end of the day, most traders in this category hit a trading knowledge plateau, where they never surpass and the possibility of becoming better traders becomes an almost impossible task.
5. Khan’s Gratitude:
History has it that Khan celebrated his victories by holding large feasts and organizing hunting tournaments amongst his kinsmen. Events like this would normally hold for days and even weeks after victories from battles.
This further cemented the union between Khan’s comrades. It was very important to always celebrate victories because his large army consisted of several tribes and nations that were united by only one goal…
Conquering the world.
For me, the most surprising behavior displayed by this great general was the fact that he once incorporated into his army, an enemy’s archer who shot down his horse during a heated battle.
Who does that?
This archer did not only rise in ranks in Khan’s army, but he was also instrumental in taking over many more territories under Khan’s army.
As a trader, do you celebrate your victories?
Or do you look down on your trading abilities?
See, it’s not easy being a trader. The psychological turmoils one goes through is enough to mess you up real good.
You don’t have to make +300 pips on a trade before you celebrate yourself. Making +1 pip on a trade is equally worth being thankful for.
Okay okay, I know you are hissing, telling yourself that someone somewhere you don’t even know posted +10,000 pips on social media he made in one day.
Balderdash I say to that. Leave those traders on social media and face your own growth. If you continue to spend countless hours trying to measure yourself with what you see on social media, you will end up being a very unhappy fellow.
My advice to you is:
Make steady progress each day and celebrate yourself. You will definitely become better over time.
I hope I spoke to a few us with this article?
If you are currently struggling with any bad habit as a trader, you can comment below.
