You’re Not an Impatient Trader. You Just Feel Like One

🟣 Tradetopia Field Notes — Issue #26 - September 1, 2025

The Trap of Impatience

Here’s the mistake most traders make: they confuse feeling impatient with being an impatient trader.

There’s a difference.

You can feel the urge to rush.

You can feel the pain of waiting.

You can feel like you’re crawling toward progress…

and still be a patient trader.

Patience isn’t an emotion. It’s a decision.

TSA PreCheck and the Line

Let me show you what I mean.

I hate waiting. Ask Nancy. If there’s a long line, I’m gone. TSA PreCheck, Global Entry… anything that saves me time, I’ll pay for it.

But when I have no choice? When I’m stuck in the line? I wait.

And that’s what makes me patient. Not because I enjoy it, not because I don’t feel the urge, but because I decide to hold my ground when the only variable left is me. Assessing what is and isn’t in my control leaves the only real option.

That’s patience.

Why This Matters in Trading

Trading will test this daily.

• You’ll want to jump back in after a loss.

• You’ll want to chase the setup that almost triggered.

• You’ll want to force trades to speed up progress.

That urge? That pain of waiting? Totally normal.

What defines you as a trader is whether you obey it.

Patience is pressing pause when everything inside of you is screaming go.

Building the Muscle

Patience is not something you’re born with. It’s a muscle you train:

1. Expect the urge. You will feel it. Stop being surprised when it shows up.

2. Stare it down. Sometimes I’ll literally watch my mouse hovering over the button and refuse to click. It’s awful, but it works.

3. Track the win. Keep a tally. How many times did impatience win, how many times did you? That game alone makes you competitive with yourself.

4. Reframe waiting. Every “boring” trade you didn’t take is a win. Every skipped impulse is compounding discipline.

Final Thoughts

The market is designed to pull you out of patience. It dangles outcomes, money, and speed like bait.

But here’s the truth: you don’t need to kill the feeling of impatience. You just need to stop obeying it.

Patience is a choice. Every time you choose it, you strengthen it. And eventually, patience stops being something you force… it becomes who you are.

Filed: [September 2025] | Location: Behind the Screens [Chicago 2025]