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Hi friends,
As the market goes flat last week on most of the pairs (not including the exotics) I decided to write you a few things to think about in your free time.
You know I always recommend that before you start your forex life you MUST identify yourself as trader. I mean if you are scalper, swing trader, investor… It is necessary.
But there is one more thing to identify, and so many people just don’t do it and lose their way too quickly…
And I’m talking about – What is trading for you?
You must identify it in order to have a clear plan in front of your eyes and clear understanding of what you are doing in this amazing world of trading. So what you have to do is find free time, and really think about the question – What is trading for you?
1- Hobby – Everyone has a hobby, and if you don’t, I encourage you to find one, it’s fun. But remember one thing – we PAY for hobbies. If you love playing tennis, then you buy a racket, pay for place to play, buy balls, buy T-shirts etc… You pay money to enjoy from your hobby. So if forex trading is a hobby to you, don’t expect to gain seriously, but pay money for this journey.
2- Extra income – If trading for you is making extra income then you must remember – you NEVER risk savings. You NEVER leave your main income source and you never spend more time for trading then for the main income source. Many traders fall in love too fast with trading, and forget about the main income. Many traders dedicate their free time to try to gain fast profits in order to leave their job / main income source and do trading for living.
I SCREAM that to you here and now – this is a dream destroyer! And the reason for that is because for extra income people invest some of their free money, normally it’s 1000-5000$ accounts (Some have more to play with of course but you understand my point). And most of these people want 3-5K per month in order to be able to leave their jobs. Remember the old idiom – money likes money. You can’t, simply CAN’T make 5K per month with 5K in your account. If you read on the net something to that effect, remember it is just dream sellers. Everyone is selling the guy that makes that, but did you ever meet this guy???
I never did and I know several thousand traders worldwide, including BIG fat sharks…
So remember, grow slow but steady, and this way in 5-15 years you will be able to switch your job. Be happy that you have a job!!! Do you know how many people are jealous with you? How many people pray for any job? So be proud that you have a job and have abilities to grow your account slow but steady in order to be able to trade for living in the future. Don’t forget that trading for extra income is not trading for living…
3- Trading for living – If that’s your answer, let me first congratulate you. You probably don’t need any tips from me, but I will still take the opportunity to share my opinions. You can completely ignore them of course. Trading for living means belonging to CLASS A of traders. It means you live the dream of MILLIONS of people. It means you have all it requires. But as a full time trader, you must remember – trading is a HUGE responsibility. It is A JOB. Sometimes even more than the classic 9-5 job.
It is a personal business that you must take care of carefully. Trading for living means you can’t make mistakes, or you won’t be able to live with that. Remember, if you are there already, you must be thankful for having the chance to do that. Help other to achieve their dream then.
4- Trading to be right – If you are trading just to be able to scream “I WAS RIGHT” after a successful trade, then you are very talented. But not as a trader, but as an analyst. If you enjoy the applause of being right, build your crowd and share with them your analyses. But if you are a trader, then you don’t care about being wrong. You understand that nothing is as important as the bottom line, which is making profits. If you still enjoy the crowd and love to work with people and help others with your own trading, build a community. I did the same. I share all I have and I enjoy that. I open my day with a tea and with a huge smile on my face as I am living two dreams. 1- Being a full time trader. 2- Have the MOST amazing community. I am surrounded with so amazing people, and nothing is as satisfying as to know that they make profits and build their own all the way to become full time traders too.
5- Trading to make money – This is a small summary of what we talked about so far. If you are a trader, or build yourself to become a trader, there is one thing you must always remember – our goal as traders is to make money. And on this part, so many people just fail to understand the bottom line and punish themselves for every mistake. On the trading school everyone teaches that the only way to make profits is to gain more than you risk. And because of that everyone thinks that there is NO other way… And I ask you, IS there NO other way?? Of course there is!!! For me trading is a lot like poker. In poker, a lot of psychology is involved and you must be able to read few moves forward and make hard decisions. But do you know how poker player earns his gains? Small gains, many times. Many can risk more in order to take less. This way many weak players give up on the “hand” and the real poker player adds profits. They go through mistakes, through bluffs (traders go through that too, while market makes many false breaks etc..), through ALL IN when you must be sure you are correct against other player etc…
The thing is, that it doesn’t really matter how you make your profits. Small gains against bigger losses, big gains against small losses, the bottom line – final results. If you are growing while using any money and management method, you are on the right way.
Just remember – never think you are good or bad with your money & management method if your trading period is short. You must have proofs of at least one year, AT LEAST, with your system in order to understand how it works. As I said, many people blame themselves when they are holding a loss while closing trade early. I wonder, why? Does it really matter how you make your profits? For me, it doesn’t. But I don’t force you to agree with me. I just ask that you remember the most important thing for trader – making money. As long as you are doing that, you are on the right track.
That’s all for now friends. Identify for yourself why you trade and remember that. Remind it to yourself from time to time. And don’t be afraid to praise yourself for good trading. After all, trading has to be fun.
To your success.
P.S – Feel free to leave your comment and share it with your friends by facebook or twitter.
Vladimir Ribakov
http://vladimirforexsignals.com
