A guy I knew a few years ago could ride a unicycle whilst juggling 6 oranges . He said it was easy - although he admitted he had been riding unicyles for many years from when he was a teenager.
I tried it in 2 stages - first of all trying to ride a unicycle - that was very difficult and although I did manage to stay on a few times - I could not even juggle 2 oranges at the same time - even though I could juggle 4 or more when I was just focusing and concentrating on just that part and not trying to unicycle.
I tried to do it many times over several weeks - but felt not confident after a few falls - so it beat me
It reminds me of FX trading - yes so many say its just so simple - you buy when price is low and then sell when its high - and rinse and repeat every day or week or when ever.
The theory is easy ( joke) everyday markets move and you just find a trend and "ride" it for 30 mins - or 3 hrs or even 3 days etc etc
We all know we will never be 100% Accurate with 100% win rate over 100's or 1000's of trades - but as long as your winning pips and money - add up to a lot more than your losing pips and money - then "Bingo" you are successful winning FX trader.
Trouble is - if you only take say 20 trades in a year and say 12 win and 8 lose and you make £500 every win and only lose £300 every loss - then you can count yourself as a successful trader with a winning strategy. Then you find out in year 2 - again 20 trades - but this time only 6 winners and 14 losses - with 5 losses over £500 and then all your gains of year 1 are wiped out in year 2.
Why is this ?
After all every trade you took on the second week of the month on a Tuesday won 80% of the time in year 1 - but in year 2 the 9 trades you took on the second Tuesday of the month all LOST - and yet your set ups said the same - they should have won ?
So what do you do ?
Try another strategy - after all Trading is simple - there are loads of successful winning methods ??
OR - Is this true ?
You have spent all that time - and were's it got you ??
Why are you bothering ? what make you different to the 85 -90% of all traders over the last decade who have failed ??
When I started over 14 yrs ago now - I was different to your average new FX trader
For a start - I was semi retired - money was not really a problem and I had hours and hours of spare time every week to "problem solve"
I had a lot of experience behind me - ie both in education and in business - I was a "winner" in life - very competitive - loved overcoming problems - finding "edges" both in business and in sport. I thought I would crack FX trading success easy within 2 years
Did it all go to plan ??
Absolutely 100% - NO - after 3 years I nearly gave up - it took me 5 years to go full time - and it was after year 6 that I felt I could " hack it" and be consistent and make money on an ongoing basis
Why - after all It's simple and easy ??
Maybe if you asked the 85 or 90% of all traders who really just stopped and gave up after a year or two or even after 5 yrs - I am sure most would say - it beat me -its nearly impossible to make money out of FX trading consistently - I might be up several thousand pounds one month and then 2 months later its all gone - etc etc.
What I will say - it does get easier after many many thousands of trades and after you accept that even with a 70-% win record - you can still have 7+ losing consecutive trades and that unless you can control all your emotions and maybe be cold and calculated etc etc then it might not be for you.
Its a bit like a "drug" - you are so nearly there and things are going so well - and then it kicks you hard - in between your legs and it really hurts :-))
Who's in control ? - the market - you and your brain - or you and your emotions ?
I felt whilst learning - I had a good "edge" that helped me - and that was from experience in business and life
Basically - I did not trust or believe anyone and looked upon every vendor as devious - along with the Finance and Banking Industry being the most crooked and having the most clever cheating bar stewards possible. Yes I spent money on a few courses - and they really were a waste of time - but nobody over a decade ago was saying 85% + of all traders fail - they basically sold it as anyone with average intelligence and a few months or years can get there.
So many methods might work for a few months - or even years and then totally fail for a year or two and then become successful again
I wanted a method that worked everyday - in any market conditions - and yes as far as I am concerned - I achieved it after many years and with the help of a few other experienced traders - one of them being Sir Gissachance - who as you know as been trading for many decades.
When you do get there - is it all worthwhile ??
Absolutely 100% - YES
You can be one of those 10 or 15% of the worldwide FX traders who does really get there - or in Forexmospherians case the top 5% of retail FX traders around the world
It will not be all plain sailing - it's really all down to you and how much you want it and what you are prepared to go through to get there
Am I making millions of dollars or pounds a year working from home now ?
Unfortunately - NO - too much stress and pressure now at my age ( nearly 63) to do that - but after the 15+ years I was in business at senior Director level - I have had many weeks trading were I have earned more than I did in a full month - and one quarter when I nearly achieved a Full years salary equivalent as Sales Director at one business I was involved - and at that time my company car was a Porsche 911 Carrera 2 ( yes great job - but was like 50 -70 hrs of hard stressful work - every week )
I am back semi retired again now - and only trading 2 - 3 days a week over the summer months - but I am already missing it some weeks - thinking its great to be totally your own boss - I reckon after September I will go back to 4 days a week as well as training some more new Forexmospherians
I love a challenge - Do You ?
Good Trading
Comments
thanks ,been here just a hour and have fell in love with this site ,thanks for your post and great uplifting feeling it gives me,,
Hi crybaby this a super post by Peter and he is featured on this video link http://www.forexmospherians.com/forex-video-corner/forex-best-award... when we all traded at Forexstreet. 10.52 is where Peter is interviewed and recieves his Award, Fxcoalface is still one of the best fx traders on the net. Holmes