Below is just some thoughts and suggestions that may or may not work for yourself...
Ok so im 34m started with a trading background from a very early age as father and relatives in USA were traders...
Fulltime trader around 4 years...
Part time atleast 15 years..
Reading through most of the above posts all talk a lot talk about weekly and yearly wages....... This by far was my biggest mistake when I first started trading full time...Everything previous to this was simple ....Why? I was working full time earning anywhere from $150k-$300K depending so money was no real problem and bills/unexpected events/toys/mortgages/holidays were always no dramas at all as my base wage covered all of these every week.... So trading ST/DT was stress free as the sole income was not gained from trading... Once decided I had enough assets and cash I started really concentrating on trading while still working a few swings each year maybe 4 months to play safe as markets were still iffy with Greece....
So the time came and I went fulltime.....
Excited bout my future being home with my family everyday this was going to be great...(or so I thought)...............
Reality kicked in..... When everything relies on your income each week and every year trust me trading becomes a lot harder and u start to feel emotions that you have never felt... My first month was an absolute shocker started with a ph call from the Mrs the prado has just stopped and blk smoke is pouring out it............. Motor blew up unexpected expense....
The pressure was just turned up a notch ..... Also market went bearish for about 6 months and nothing moved and big spreads were like hens teeth... Im still trading full time as of today but learnt a lot of hard lessons while also going through a few years of turmoil with anxiety/stress/relationship problems all caused from putting myself under to much pressure to make bigger money instead of just concentrating on making the correct trades I was thinking $$$$$$.....
A positive from the above is I learnt fulltime trading in tough times which when the market finally turned I was fairly adapted to any sudden bad market events.. As traders starting in easy bullish markets start to freak even when the market has been kind for years they see the market red for a week and worry .......
Like all start up companies you need time to establish your business some may happen a lot faster some may take years to even start making a profit. What is needed is self belief/ determination/patience/ discipline and most of all the right attitude to learn and take criticism....
Every person/family is different with expenses.... What u need to do is work out this and add atleast 25% on top of this to establish what is needed just to survive... Do u have a proven record of earning this set amount to survive each year through your part time/ST trading....
The above is just a tiny portion of a few examples and below is what I have realised is more important...
#Family/Friends and your health should be your 3 most important factors in your life full stop.......
#Think outside the square as you are only here for a tiny amount of time so make the most of every opp you are given... Always find and try new approaches and revaluate them each time.
#Trading is close to be the most unsuccessful career path with most failing and there is a reason... Plain & Simple its hard work... Most also go into it with too high expectations and lack of education and time in the market while still holding a job...
#Your mind and life is what will make you a successful trader/investor to start with if you are on top of this you will achieve the ultimate outcome success.... Positive mind creates positive actions(negative/stressed minds create turmoil)..
#You can study as much as you like and read as much as you can but practice and time in the market by yourself is the only thing that will make u learn.... Reading HC is fantastic with some excellent posters but this is all for a reason as well. Following certain A grade posters all the time will not establish your own method or niche for the market more so put u at risk as u need to find ways to make u a better trader not fall into the sheep style trader. If every trader went by the book we all would be buying and selling stocks with the same signals...
#Overtrading................... Massive problem...... Do u need to trade so many stocks each day? I looked back at last financial year and was disgusted with how many trades I was making each day/week... Spend some time in looking through your history as making lots of trades everyday is not what I is needed to turn a great wage...
#Patience is hard to learn and is a must.... Believe in yourself not what you read or what the market depth is actually indicating as most of the time noise will be your ultimate enemy....
#Work out is it more important to worry about making calls on HC or is it more important to be focusing 100% of your energy into making the right decisions that ultimately decide your future.... Getting a thumb up from a stranger is great and appreciate it, but I prefer getting things in the real world not the fantasy cyber space land ... Understand that you are the only 1 that can make yourself achieve the ultimate goal being happiness and financial freedom.. Every trader/investor is up against each other every day/week do u think it would be wise to be following an unknown trader everyday.. Why do we call a stock ? Is it because we don't own any
? Or is it because we are trying to promote the stock? I like to mention if I hold or not as I believe its the way it should be..... I don't ramp only mention occasionally...
#Trades going against you even if you are positive there about to move this may not happen and they can turn ugly fast... AYB last Thursday I was sure this was close to moving hence the mention but the bigger players said no....
took a stop loss hit on open Friday morning ......... Nothing is easy just have pre-cautions in place and move on don't let it put you down as Mr Mind will kick you into desperate trader very fast....
Lastly I have a knew trader that will be born in 6 weeks trader archie
He will be the knew gun(im hoping ) so the TS household is going to be hectic very soon"Lock the trading door"...Exciting times ahead
All in all everyone can be successful at anything they put they mind to, they just need to step back from all the hype and work out there ultimate dream and make it happen... Life is short so enjoy it....
Another thing each year lots of our HC DT posters disappear and we start with a fresh bunch rinse and repeat.. Hopefully this trend may change soon as the ramp fest has gone these days compared to 6months and beyond ....
Common on mentawiis Tuesday
Sorry bout the long post hope some find it ok..
Warm regards TS
