Two mindsets

My response to someone who was talking about what trading is: I think you can think about trading two ways (not the usual ways): I prefer to think of it as "doing business"... You are willing to buy and sell your wares at the market (it just so happens that in this case your wares is money). If you are a good business person you will buy and sell at the right time most of the time. Sometimes you won't sometimes you will, but most times you do. This is why good traders call losing trades "the cost of doing business", because you have to expect a certain amount of losses just to be involved.

The other way is to gamble. Most people think that they are trading the first way, when in fact they are trading the second way. If there is any emotion involved at all then you are gambling - why? Because you are hoping every punt is a winner. Losses mean a failure of some kind.

Its a long hard rode to switch mindsets. It has to be beaten into you, if you are around that long.