Trader & Coach: Rajan Dhall
Trader Psychology, Longevity, and Discipline: A Deep Conversation with Rajan Dhall
In this episode of the Market Mamas Trader Psychology Podcast, I had the honor of sitting down with UK-based trader and prop firm founder Rajan Dhall, MSTA, for an honest, experience-driven conversation about what it really takes to survive and thrive in the markets long term. With nearly 20 years of market experience, Rajan brings a grounded, refreshing perspective to trading. One rooted in discipline, self-awareness, and adaptability rather than hype or shortcuts. This episode (linked above) is a must-watch for traders who are serious about building longevity, emotional resilience, and sustainable performance. For my readers, though, let’s review the highlights of this incredible conversation.
From Professional Sports to Professional Trading
Rajan’s journey into trading didn’t start behind a screen. It started in professional sports! With a background in competitive football (soccer) and later working as a trainer at JP Morgan’s corporate gym in London, Rajan was surrounded early on by disciplined, high-performing fund managers and traders. You guys, this part of his story alone had me a little jealous! Hahaha
That exposure sparked his curiosity, but more importantly, it shaped his understanding of performance under pressure, a recurring theme throughout the episode. Rajan draws clear parallels between athletic performance and trading success: preparation, discipline, emotional control, and the ability to perform consistently over time.
Why Trading Success Takes Years, Not Months
One of the most powerful takeaways from this conversation is the normalization of a long learning curve in trading. Rajan openly shares that it took him four to five years just to reach breakeven, and closer to seven years to achieve consistent profitability. His honesty on his journey was really impactful for me to hear!
He and I both push back hard against the popular narrative of “six months to profitability,” emphasizing that:
Early success can actually make long-term trading harder
Market regimes change, and adaptability is essential
Experience compounds slowly, until it doesn’t
This part of the conversation is especially validating for traders who are in the frustrating middle phase of their journey.
“The irony is, when you stop tying your ego to your P&L, that’s when you start making money.”
~ Rajan Dhall
Systems, Statistics, and Emotional Neutrality
Rajan is a strong advocate for system-based trading, backed by data and statistics rather than intuition alone. Over the years, he’s worked across discretionary trading, macro analysis, algorithmic systems, and technical/statistical models, ultimately coming full circle to a structured, rules-based approach.
He shares:
Why a 50% win rate can still be highly profitable
How journaling trades without hindsight bias improves discipline
Why “being a good loser” is one of the most underrated trading skills
His journaling process focuses not just on outcomes, but on behavior, asking a simple but powerful question: “Would I take this trade again with the same information?”
Adapting When the Market Changes
Markets evolve, and traders must evolve with them. Rajan gives a real-world example of how he retired a trading system after hundreds of trades when volatility conditions changed, then rebuilt and tested a new approach before deploying it live.
This segment highlights a critical lesson: Your system failing doesn’t mean you’re failing as a trader. Ego, attachment, and identity are recurring psychological traps, and learning to detach self-worth from P&L is a major milestone in professional growth.
Mindfulness, Psychology, and Peak Performance
The conversation also explores the growing role of mental fitness in trading. Rajan discusses how principles from Buddhism, mindfulness, and even Navy SEAL-style breathing techniques can help traders regulate stress, reduce emotional swings, and improve decision-making.
Rather than framing this as “soft” work, the conversation positions psychological regulation as a performance skill, no different from risk management or execution. Which, you guys know, is exactly how I feel as well!
Authenticity, Self-Acceptance, and Thinking Bigger
In his closing insights, Rajan emphasizes two ideas that may seem opposite, but are equally essential:
Radical self-acceptance: knowing who you are, how you react, and trading in a way that fits you
Understanding market power: recognizing that institutions and large capital move markets and learning to align with that flow
Great traders, he explains, aren’t superheroes. They’re disciplined, self-aware, and relentless in their commitment to improvement. There is so much power in grit and I cannot agree more that just not quitting makes the best successes in trading just a matter of time.
🔗 Connect with the Guest Rajan Dhall:
👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajan-dhall-cfte-msta-70258a21/
👉 Website: https://dndtrading.co.uk/
👉 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6DMM7GV66Cw5vKOxzYHOZG?si=d37ddad4ac12444e
Whether you’re a new trader or a seasoned one, Rajan’s wisdom is a reminder that success comes from discipline, patience, relentlessness and humility, not aggression or ego. Conversations with other traders and educators in the financial industry are so valuable for me to have, and hence are such a gift for me to be able to bring to the public in this way. I’m so grateful that you joined me on the podcast Rajan!
If you find value too, please do like and subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you caught this conversation on and let’s evolve together into the highest profitability!! And if you are considering being a guest on my podcast as well, reach out and let’s talk!! https://www.market-mamas.com/contact Take care! 💛📈