Here's my take on trading with pressures and emotion.
You can paper trade all day every day and probably make some pretty good decisions and make money. Just like the article said, if you add pressures and emotions to it some people have trouble and make crappy decisions and end up losing money.
Here's where my experience comes in to make an analogy. I'm an Ironworker and Ironworkers build the structures of buildings, parking ramps, Stadiums etc. Here's the deal. Any one of us can walk across an I-beam when it's on the ground. Heck most of us can do cartwheels on it and be sure we will never fall off. If you put that beam 100' up in the air everything changes (trust me). What has really changed? Your perception has changed. All of the sudden your mind starts to play tricks on you and makes you believe that you are in real danger (and don't have the skill or balance) and most people can't walk across that beam anymore. The beam never changed but, your emotions did and that effects your reality.
I feel trading with real money on the line and outside pressures and baggage does this to people (it does to me) and they need to get past all that in order to be successful. I learned how to walk across beams in the air so I'm pretty sure I can handle smart trading. It just takes experience. The more trades you make the more natural it will feel. I'm no pro by any means but, I already feel more comfortable trading because I have taken a few beatings (losses) and even a couple of wins along the way. In my opinion, Nothing gives you more confidence than stringing together even just 2 small wins in a row. Confidence (not cockiness) is a good thing in any aspect of life.
