Here it comes again … a new year in which you will resolve to do better, to stop doing the bad and start doing the good. Yawn. We’ve heard it all before when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. But what about those that apply specifically to traders? What about those trading resolutions?

Here are the top five trading resolutions for improving your game and making your bank account healthier in the coming year.

I will lose weight.

Anybody who has been around the trading game a while knows one thing that weighs you down, makes you feel bad and saps your confidence is losing money on a trade. Here’s the deal – you will lose. Everyone does. Accept your losses and move one. Shed those unwanted moments of despair. Lose the desire to beat yourself up. When you accept your losses as a natural part of the game you will feel lighter and more energetic. Best of all, when you look at yourself in the mirror, you will like what you see.

I will quit eating junk.

To start on the road to trading health, you have to first quit eating the crap. You know what I am talking about. The trading world is full of crap, and it is the talking heads on the entertainment financial programs serving most of it up for daily consumption. Now, there is real and solid analysis to be found on the TV, but you will not find it on the shows that feature controversy, entertaining big-name analysts/economists, and “in-the-know” CEO’s pushing their corporate agenda. These programs are designed to attract viewers with crap because they know people are weak. Don’t be weak. Avert your eyes, as it is all just sugar, coloring, and water. There is no there, there. Find the right sources and be confident that what you are hearing and reading is objective and factual.

I will gain muscle.

Becoming a stronger trader, leaner and more fit can only help your trading efforts. Taking in the right nutrients is key to gaining muscle and in the trading game, that means going through the cupboards and tossing the bad data and replacing it with good data. If you are listening to the TV talking heads ask the analysts/economists and the CEOs about the market (see #2 above), stop! It is like eating a bag of cookies every night before bed. Don’t listen to their analysis. Create your own. Do this by learning how the market works, finding reliable sources of data, and then researching trades that fit the data. Relying on the TV for your trades is, well, like eating junk food.  By creating your own analysis your muscle will come in the form of confidence. And we all know how important confidence is for any trader.

I will exercise more.

Actually achieving resolutions one and three above means you have to commit to exercising more. In the trading world, this translates to working more. And working more in the trading world equals more reliance on you and your tools, which means you have to get down to the business of trading – research the data, track the market, find and set up your trades. Lining up good sources of data burns calories, as does tracking market. But the Internet has made these two tasks pretty easy. Finding and setting up trades, though, well, there is no way around it – you are gonna breathe hard unless you get a software to help you. Be careful, though, no magic “pill” exists that will do all the work for you, but there are tools that will lighten the load, like VantagePoint Trading Software. The point is: if you want to actually achieve your resolutions, you might need just a bit of help.

I will not over achieve.

Resolutions 1-4 are important, no doubt, and they are difficult enough to follow through on. But ignoring number five is the surest to way fail making your bank account healthier. Yes, if you do 1-4, you will get healthy, but here is what happens to so many people, and it is the primary reason for failure to make money – they get greedy. As you get healthier, you will want to do more, bet more, trade more, gamble more, make more, more, and more. Don’t! Always take small bites and make a plan, a real trading plan, and then stick to it. These two actions will help you not to “overachieve.”

One more tip to help you get healthy in the coming year– Follow the trend. Go with the big market trend. Remember, “The trend is your friend,” and we all a need friend that we can count on.

Remember, it’s never too late to wipe the slate clean and start over. By applying these principles to your trading strategy in the new year you can rest assured you’ll be more successful. Your trading account will thank you.