Our state of the art trading floors in the City of London and Surrey are inhabited by a diverse range of individuals in terms of age, race, country of birth, ethnic background and which team they support in the World Cup (commiserations to our French brethren!). By contrast, they are all unified in their pursuit of elite levels of trading performance, an unwavering dedication to succeeding, and a highly intellectual approach to the financial markets. However, there is one other trait which often goes unnoticed to the untrained eye - the ability to manage one’s emotions. Elite traders are very aware of their personality type, their emotional makeup and the impact, both positive and negative, that these elements have on their trading performance. Often as a result of years of repeated exposure to the markets, and thus themselves, they acquire a deep introspective understanding and an ability to manage their emotions effectively. Those traders that fail to develop this skill often fight a daily battle with themselves whilst being thrown around on an emotional rollercoaster that can ultimately lead to burnout. (more...)