It may seem a bit counter-intuitive at first, but to truly be in control of your trading and your trading mindset, you must first learn to lose the need to control the market. Mental State of Mind – You can control your state of mind by having a trading plan, understanding the market and how it works, having a trading strategy, reading daily trading affirmations and also by not becoming a screen addict, amongst other ways which I outlined in my article on a winning traders mindset. When we talk about “controlling the market vs. controlling yourself” we are really getting into the core issue of why most people fail to make money at trading.