Discipline or Intelligence in Trading?

Many traders believe that success in the markets requires superhuman intelligence or the ability to predict the future, but the truth is quite different. Trading is not a test of IQ, but a test of discipline. The market rewards the disciplined trader who adheres to their plan more than any genius who acts randomly.
🔹 The Importance of Discipline: Strictly implementing the plan: No matter how excellent your analysis, if you don't execute your decisions as written, you won't succeed. Avoid being swayed by emotions: The market tempts you with quick profits and scares you with losses, and discipline prevents you from falling victim to these emotions. Staying in the game: Discipline keeps your capital alive until real opportunities arise.
🔹 Practical Examples: In the Saudi market, many traders enter small-cap stocks following bullish rumors, but a lack of discipline in stopping losses turns the trade into a double-digit loss. In the American markets, Tesla is a prime example: Those who follow a strict technical plan exit at the first break of support, while those who are undisciplined hold on to the stock until it loses more than 40%.
🔹 How do you build discipline? A written plan: Determine your entry level, target, and stop-loss before entering. A trading journal: Record each trade: why you entered, why you exited, and what you learned. Strict rules: such as "I will never risk more than 2% of my capital on a single trade."
🔹 The bottom line: In trading, what matters is not superhuman intelligence or secret information, but the ability to adhere to the rules. An intelligent investor may lose, but a disciplined investor, even with temporary losses, remains a winner in the long run.