Most traders think trading is all about action. Hitting buy, hitting sell, always doing something.
That’s how I felt anyway.
But the lesson I learnt from listening to some of the best traders, they know the real money is often made by waiting.
Not waiting for perfect setups they don’t exist.
But waiting for clarity.
The Psychology Behind Doing Nothing
I thought sitting on my hands and doing nothing made me lazy. But that’s not the case. It’s about discipline.
It’s the act of saying: “I don’t need to force a trade today just to feel productive.”
Here’s the problem with overtrading:
Every unnecessary trade adds emotional fatigue, risk exposure, and often, regret.
What changed everything was learning that my edge wasn’t in constant participation, it was in selective participation.
The Market Doesn’t Pay You by the Hour
The market doesn’t care how many trades you take.
Every trade should have two things:
A clear setup that fits your plan.
A justifiable reason why now.
If you can’t answer “why now” then sorry but you’re gambling, not trading.
Patience is a weapon in trading because most people can’t do it.
While others get chopped up in range-bound noise, disciplined traders are sitting out, waiting for volatility and conviction to align.
What “Sitting on Your Hands” Actually Looks Like
Here’s what patience looks like in practice:
You wait for the higher time frame trend to align before taking a lower-timeframe entry.
You skip setups when price is stuck in the middle of a range.
You don’t revenge trade after a loss. You stop, review, and let the market do its thing.
You sit out when the macro picture is unclear or when major news events (like NFP or CPI) are around the corner.
You’re not missing out. You’re protecting capital.
The saying is:
Patience pays.
So next time, instead of jumping in just wait, think and then execute.