Foundations for Forex Trading Career Success

START WITH A DREAM There is an innate spirit in each of us that longs for freedom, success and fulfillment in life. Maybe we are tied up with a company for a job but deep within us we long to have control of our time and finances. In my own experience, a dream in me was awaken when I was exposed in an environment of dreamers and achievers in the business arena. At first all I want is security, to just earn a descent income and have a prestigious life-long career. I joined the military in 2004 for the same reason, wanting to serve the country all my life in exchange of my time freedom. But something happened in me after I graduated in the military training. A friend of mine gave me a book that changed my life. It was a book that talks about virtues that cause people to be successful, or failure in life. According to that book, rich and successful people never seek money first, they seek freedom. Freedom is what drives them and financial success was just a result of the process. When I tried seeking even more, I found out that what I really wanted was freedom and control of my own life and finances, not any company or person control it. To make the story short, I made a very big decision that made me quit from my career and started a different path of business and entrepreneurship. I realize that freedom is something that we work for, that it is not free. And that freedom will give us a quality time with our loved ones and also provide them their needs and wants at the same time. ​ Being a dreamer pushed me to dig deeper in life and in the career I am aspiring. I manage to stay awake late at night just to make sure that my task of self-development is done. Forex Trading is a tough industry. It is tough in a sense that our greatest enemy is ourselves. It is true that in every industry, only 2 out of 10 will totally succeed and make it to the top and others fail or quit. Why? Because only few has the courage to do the extra mile for their self-improvement and to be uncomfortable just to seek learning. Only few has the burning desire to succeed, to get back up failure after failure. Our success here is based on our self- will and effort to be the best. ​How often do we sharpen our saw? Do we study even if nobody is instructing us? Do we emerge ourselves in the market to gain more experience? Are we willing to pay the price of learning even to the point of losing money in the markets? Do we put an effort to follow a routine and checklist of our self-improvement and result tracking? Those are few of the things that the 80% and 10% of the people in Forex industry differ. Lot of my friends tell me to teach them how to trade. However I never give it to them just like a fish, I need to let them put effort first. I need to see how eager they are to learn. I remember when I was on my first few months, I stay in the apartment of my mentor almost every night just to be mentored. I get home almost late at night everyday just to learn the basics. And the rest is mine to take. Mentors can only show us the door, but it would be us who will go through it. ​​STICK TO YOUR VISION How do you see yourself 10 years from now? Or 20 years from now in the industry that you are in right now. Vision is power and vision dictates our destiny. Vision also dictates passion. Usually, we are visionary to our passion and our passion always gives us more visions. It goes hand in hand and they are interrelated to each other. My vision is very clear in the Forex Industry, that I would be one of the respectable trader in Asia teaching thousands of students to be successful in trading and in life. The Vision dictates our motivation and passion, and with that, effort to be the best follows. It serves as the fuel to make us have initiative to act.

​“SHARPEN YOUR AXE” Abrahan Lincoln once said, “If I have 6 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first four hours sharpening the axe”. Most of the people, when they see results from successful people, they thought that it is as easy as it is. When I started, I spend most of my time reading articles about Forex Trading, sending emails to my mentor for some clarifications, watching videos of live trades, attending seminars on self-development, reading motivational articles and audios and trading in my demo account. During my first month, I lost money in the markets. I lost $1,000 and I resented a lot, but my first mentor said, just treat it as a price of learning. Indeed, I became more conscious and eager to learn from my mistakes. Sharpening oneself is a lifetime process. I shall say it is a habit and part of our daily routine. We should advance one step ahead at a time. We should not stick to our comfort zone but upgrade our self by doing things we never done before related to our chosen niche. When I started learning Forex, learning is part of my daily routine and I usually update my journal of the improvements I have done. It is more on self-responsibility, because no one will do it for us but ourselves. Our success in Forex Trading is more on self-responsibility and that is the thing that most people fail to do. “EXECUTION WITH DISCIPLINE” Discipline in Forex Trading is not only a must, it is life! And the only way to have discipline is to do it! Discipline is a habit that can be developed if we start to do it. However, in order to be disciplined, a Forex Trader needs to have a solid trade plan and routine to stick with. It goes hand in hand together with patience. Most traders fail because of lack of discipline and patients. They will over-trade, over-leverage and they will not stick to a routine to develop or monitor their trades. These core values also help traders refine their entry point so as to minimize risk and maximize their profits. Making this article benefits me more than other readers as this article and blog is part of my daily routine to read and contemplate. It also reinforces my subconscious mind to the right thing especially in following strictly my routine, time-management, risk/money management and trade plan. ​CONCLUSION Not everybody is for Forex Trading as same as not everyone is also for Real Estate, Sales, Insurance industry, etc. We have our own niche based on our vision. If you really want to be a Forex Trader, you need to dig deep first from yourself, contemplate and cast a vision for the long-term, not just for the money. Commitment needs that we must have a staying-power. This will protect you from quitting. When we align ourselves with our vision, we will see that all obstacles along the way are just temporary. To those who already casted their vision in this industry, I am one with you and I am very willing to impart my knowledge to make that vision into a reality.

#hedging #stockmarketstrategies