I receive a lot of emails daily but one in particular caught my attention.  This person states the following:

"Plz, I am new in the markets and I have lost a lot.  I wanted you to help me and tell me what I have to do."

This is strictly my opinion but there are a couple of things I see wrong with the approach this person is taking.

1. If you are new to the markets and risking a lot of money, of course you're going to lose a lot of money.  Open a small account and play with only the money you can afford to lose.
2. He wants me to help him? I'm having a tough enough time myself. 
   

I have come to the realization that absolutely nobody can make you a successful trader.  You have to mold yourself into a successful trader.  Trading is no different than any other thing in life.  When you fall, you have to get up and keep getting up no matter how many times it happens.  No one is going to hold your hand through this learning process. There are so many mentors and forex teachers out there but they ultimately will not help you.  They may steer you the right way or put you on the right track but after that, you're on your own.  I'm not saying that none of them are legitimate, I'm just saying that even if they give you a step by step trading manual, this does not guarantee anything! I signed up for Rob Booker training quite some time ago and though I sometimes think I wasted $1000, this isn't necessarily true.  All the information I gathered and all the things I've learned over the last year have stuck with me and have molded me a certain way.  The jury is still out on whether these things will ever lead to me being a consistently profitable full-time trader but there is only so much you can do.  If 2 years from now I'm still making the same mistakes and I'm not consistently making money, I will just have to accept the fact that I'm not cut out for this business.  Some people may find this out a lot sooner and one way to do it is to throw money you cannot afford to lose into a live account when you have no experience.  

The whole point of striving towards the goal of trading full-time is so that I don't have to rely on anyone to support me financially, tell me when I can take vacation, get annoyed when I legitamitaly call in sick, tell me when I can eat lunch, tell me to drive to work in 10 inches of snow and so on.  Working for someone flat out sucks and this is what keeps me going.  

So, I cannot tell anyone what they need to do because I don't have the experience to do so and even if I did, it wouldn't help.  You just have to be smart with your money because one of the most important things is lasting long enough to get the experience that may lead to success.  It is also absolutely necessary for you to have the motivation and dedication to march on no matter what happens.  

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No. 1 :

Rich,

One of the best posts ever!!! I wish I couldnt print it out and put it up over my desk in the office ;), but I guess I'll wait till I'm ready to go full time even if it takes another couple of years...

Submitted by Magdalena • 2007-02-19 11:37:42

No. 2 :

Well said Rich, BTW why do the comments take so long to come up?

Submitted by Craig • 2007-02-19 13:54:42

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