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Thursday, March 29, 2007 |
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In the past two years, a reliable indicator that my forex trading is up in the air are the limited number of new posts on this website. This is my 28th post of March. In February, I had 37 posts and in January, I had 40 posts. The trend is obviously down. When my trading is in a state of flux and uncertainty, it's not easy to find anything to say. Like I've said over the last couple of weeks, I just haven't found the time to dedicate to trading or posting. From my experience, if you want to be successful, trading needs to be pretty high up on your list of priorities. Whereas last year I was able to concentrate my energies on forex trading and less on my full-time job, the opposite now seems to have taken hold. My full-time job has been very hectic and longer hours in the office have meant less time for everything else. I'm being tested more than I ever have in the past 2 years and the easiest thing for me to do would be to put all forex related activity on hold. I don't think I've ever been away from trading more than a couple of days and I really don't want to take a leave of absence. These are not excuses, just a fact of life. I'm not about to call it quits, far from it but I'm hoping that as I get accustomed to my overall schedule, I'll be able to find the time to continue to strive for the goal of trading forex full-time. I use Google Calendar to keep track of a lot of the non-trading tasks I have to do on a daily basis but maybe I should try to schedule particular times in the day that I will dedicate to forex. I'm also in a bit of a transition where I'm moving away from day trading and more towards trading longer term. I have yet to define a plan for this transition and it is probably the first thing that I need to do before anything else. I welcome this challenge because I never thought this goal was ever going to be an easy one.
Forex Trading
forex
forex blog
march 2007
I know any activity needs all of YOU, all of your time. I do not think you can avoid it in changing the time frame you trade. I read it somewhere which seemed very valuable advice for me: One should take forex trading as a job but not a hoby. The hobies are very expencive activities. Happy trade I know any activity needs all of YOU, all of your time. I do not think you can avoid it in changing the time frame you trade. I read it somewhere which seemed very valuable advice for me: One should take forex trading as a job but not a hoby. The hobies are very expencive activities. Happy trade If you are really short on time, why not look for help? Have you ever considered a signal service, or even a managed account? Managed accounts were not for me, as it took away the thrill of trading the Forex. The service found at progressive.progressivefx.com is what I have been using, to save time on analysis. These guys handle it for me, I have been able to trade steadily while having plenty of free time. After all, time is money. I'm not going to entrust my money to anyone except myself. The whole point of this is for financial freedom, not to have someone else I need to depend on. If I don't have time to try to become a more complete trader, I'd just assume invest in mutual funds... It's funny, I've been feeling pretty detached from my forex trading lately too. Right now I'm in the middle of a forced break from trading since I've been traveling all week, and it's bothering me a lot less than I expected. But I think it's a good sign - I've always felt detachment and even boredom means I'm keeping my emotions at a safe distance from my trades. So I miss a week of trading - big deal, there's always next week, and if my strategy works a week here or there doesn't matter. Ditto if it doesn't work :-) It's funny, I've been feeling pretty detached from my forex trading lately too. Right now I'm in the middle of a forced break from trading since I've been traveling all week, and it's bothering me a lot less than I expected. But I think it's a good sign - I've always felt detachment and even boredom means I'm keeping my emotions at a safe distance from my trades. So I miss a week of trading - big deal, there's always next week, and if my strategy works a week here or there doesn't matter. Ditto if it doesn't work :-) In the past I've taken several breaks from forex trading, generally for weeks at a time. These breaks were when I was still stumbling around trying to find out what suited me. The breaks aided me in redirecting what I should work on when I came back to trading.
It can be important to take these breaks so that you can recharge your batteries and come back fresh.
Joe DiNapoli recommends taking months off at a time each year, with smaller breaks during the times that you are actively trading. I think once you're a successful full-time trader that advice is well-worth taking. In the run-up phase where you are still trying to attain that success it is still beneficial to have R&R. It lets your mind mull things over, and after a while you'll have sorted out things so that you have a new set of objectives or goals to achieve. |
