“What if I’m doing it the wrong way?” This is the most common dilemma that traders face today. With a great ambition of succeeding in Forex, traders cannot help but think of the consequences if ever they put the wrong foot forward.
As a trader, you were brought to understand that the key to successful trading is to keep it simple. And that a well-structured mindset is a prime key to exponential profits. However, the question is who said so? Did it come from professional traders or from people who make a profit out of trading education? Is it with the best intention to say that trading is easy and straightforward, when, in reality, it is not?
This account was made not to put such people in the negative light. As a professional trader in which livelihood is purely dependent on trading, I have my take of what trading is and how a trader will succeed.
Trading is far beyond straightforward simplicity. To trade is to settle with ambivalence, deal with confusion, and tolerate discomfort. Regardless of how people want to construct proper trading guides to keep it simple, there’s always uncertainty right around the corner. Above all, trading requires tasks you’re not even familiar with.
Though this is always the case, traders still find ways to make trading simple and convenient. They seek ways on how to minimize the efforts to trade with discipline mechanically. Fact check: the market is complicated. More so, uncertain and ambiguous. Simple steps won’t address it as much as they are expected to give a lasting advantage. Thus, it is better to tread another path.
A trader needs to know the nature of the market. This includes an in-depth understanding of how price action, structure, market internals, and Intermarket themes play their roles in shaping the market status. Right after, a trader needs to put them together to project a comprehensive and contextual view. It is only after doing so that one will be able to identify and create which approach and styles to use under different circumstances. This is how you ace trading.
Don’t be deceived. The process mentioned above consumes much time to master. Though psychology is crucial, it’s not necessarily the solution. What matters most is the edge. To acquire this, one is required to put considerable time analyzing the market and what action best suits the current context. Though perceived as a hard undertaking, many have done it and succeeded which means, so can you. To attain this, commitment and continuous drive is a must.
Successful traders don’t just sit as they wait for signals and indicators to show. They dedicate time analyzing the market detail after detail. They derive their next course of action from the self-made hypothesis, speculating persistently as movements unravel.
Now it leads back to the question, “Won’t good psychology and simple setups make trading easy?” Of course, it will. But nothing worthwhile comes easy. And easy won’t conjure money. Rewards come according to how much effort a trader exerted and how far they went. It’s challenging to deal with the market if it is invaded with ambiguous signals. It’s even harder to make a choice. But this is what trading is all about. Instead of resorting to simple steps, train your mind to deal with them. After all, the market condition is unavoidable.
A trading journal is also essential when keeping a record of market action. I keep my own with a thousand pages of daily and monthly documents. However, it bears miscalculations, mistakes, wrong interpretations, and speculations. The process of maintaining records feels taxing at first, but eventually, you’ll learn from it. Based on experience, this gave me a sense of knowledge. Something I can consider a market feel. And it is somehow magical. This endowed me with the power to create my approach and let go of ‘setups’ that people tell you about.
The bottom line is to allow time for learning. Be a devout learner of Forex trading. It demands mental stability, so a trader needs to deal with it just like it. An advice of a salesman is all excellent, but your instinct has to come first. Construct and build your unique trading skills by practicing and by opening yourself up to mistakes. Accept defeat as it is only through losses and errors that a trader will learn.