You Shouldn’t!
Before we go any further, make sure the kids aren’t reading this because I may have to resort to killing Santa Claus before the article is over. Now that I have shattered some of your dreams let me make it all better.
You see, all too often, challenges, especially big ones mystify us. You decide the top of the world is where you want to be, so off you go to Mt. Everest. However, upon arriving at the base of the mountain, reality kicks in – the challenge appears to be insurmountable. It’s as if only a miracle or magic will allow you to succeed.
And as you sit and lament about the reasons why the climb is impossible, the traveler and her party scale mountain in front of you. Clearly the ascent was challenging and at times perilous. But, nonetheless, they completed the “impossible” journey. To the traveler, it was merely the next step in a long road she had worked very hard to travel.
Trading is very much the same. Although we all start with a similar desire to ascend the financial mountain, we tend to take different paths to get there, and many of us never make it beyond half way. We attempt such a monumental challenge ill-prepared, unequipped, and without the necessary experience to make it up the mountain. Instead of honing our skills on little hills, we immediately aim for the biggest challenge.
Trust me; I completely understand the rush that comes with thinking about financial independence and all the money you can make doing it. But the first time I sat down and looked at the market, it seemed it would take a superhuman, magical effort to make sense of it, much less make money from it. And although I recognized this almost immediately, I still pressed forward with a LIVE account, radically leveraging some magical trading system I had read about in a few reviews. I figured I could just take a shortcut and save myself the hassle of really having to prepare for the challenge I was facing.
Outcome: I “fell off the cliff” and destroyed 80% of that account in 6 hours on one fateful night – OUCH!
After that experience, I realized I didn’t need another new magic set. Instead, I needed a seasoned guide, the right collection of trading tools, and the proper support to make it happen.
“Magical” Trading Tools
I sit here today with a very different perspective. Every day I climb the Everest trading mountain. But, I am outfitted with proper trading tools to ascend safely and successfully… and there is no magic involved. All it takes are a few things to get you there:
- Preparation: Look at your trading like commanding an army in enemy territory. You need to know everything going on, and exactly what your plan will be. And don’t forget a Plan B, C and D if things get ugly. We need to approach trading like NFL players approach every game – BE PREPARED. You must hone your craft, and every time you trade, you must know what’s going on in the market. You must come prepared with not only with a plan but the correct trading tools and support.
- Education: Never stop learning. Of course, this is part of the preparation, but before you set out on the journey. It’s like pre-trip planning. You want to know everything about where you will be traveling. That means learn nuances about different trading tools, support and resistance, money management, etc. The more you know, the more you will grow!
- Psychology: You must be in “trading shape” mentally. That’s right, if you aren’t prepared upstairs, you will fail regardless of how good your trading tools are or how open the market is to trade. Learn your flaws, and work on improving them. Don’t trade under the influence or if you have bitterness or anger. Don’t gamble; there are better ways to do that than in the market. Like any other challenging activity, proper trading takes clarity and focus. Your decisions start from psychology, and you want to give yourself the best mind to make the best trades.
- Tools of the Trade: Approaching trading with a strong set of trading tools is crucial to making your life easier and your trading more productive. Just remember the tools depend on the craftsman using them. A trading system is just a collection of tools that work together as a dynamic way to trade better. That’s the difference between Indicator Warehouse’s trading solutions as a whole, and the sum of the parts included. It is better to have a cohesive unit, rather than scattered tools that don’t work well together.
- Slow Down: There is no rush, or at least there shouldn’t be. Being able to achieve a lofty goal like making a ton of money from trading takes time, exposure to a variety of different situations, markets, and experiences. It’s better to take more time and do it right than to rush in and lose all your money, patience, and love of trading.
- Know the Difference Between Efficiency and Shortcuts: An ice ax makes climbing much faster and in many cases much safer. There is nothing wrong with starting out with an excellent guide. But, always aim for eventually doing it yourself. Your guide might not always be around in the future. Don’t look for the shortcuts. Look for a way to climb yourself, but don’t avoid anything that will help YOU be a better trader.
This list could go further, but this should be enough to show you that succeeding at trading, although demanding, does NOT require something beyond what a “normal” human is capable of. You can do it! You can do the climb! Just start slow, find a professional set of trading tools, get an experienced guide – and take the hill!
Join us to Climb the Mountain in our Trade Room to see this list in action. Click HERE to Register.