The reality is we can achieve practically any goal we establish if we are realistic about the process of what it is going to take to achieve it.
Becoming a successful forex trader is a goal that most anyone can accomplish. Obviously, if you have some physical limitations, such as impaired vision, this certainly is a factor that could impede your success.
However, I believe once again that falls under the category of being realistic. I stress this point of being realistic; the single biggest reason individuals do not become successful as traders is because of an unrealistic expectation.
Typically, individuals who become involved in trading pursue and evaluate products based solely on performance or the potential profit and not the process of what it is going to take to achieve that performance.
It is unfortunate when you interact with individuals who believe success is going to come in 30 days or less.
I recommend to those who want to become successful trader's is to put primary emphasis on the importance of the process because we know success will naturally follow. But once again, the process has to be realistic.
Let me give you this analogy. A few years ago, I made the decision that I wanted to complete a marathon, specifically the NYC marathon. Now, I was never a runner. I have always been active and athletic, but long distance running was a new venue.
First, I established a time frame of one year to train. A common reason people fail to achieve their goal, especially traders, is impatience and not allocating a realistic period of time to achieve the goal.
The training process was a simple formula: small realistic objectives, repeating over and over until my body and brain where conditioned to obtain those objectives as a part of my regular routine. Once I was conditioned to the point of habit, I increased the size of my objective.
What I learned was it was this continuous weekly repetition that was the foundation to assuring I would achieve the goal. Because what I had to do was condition myself mentally first, then simply allow time to pass, and regularly continue to run, my body physically began to become conditioned.
My point is that each time I increased my distance, the true obstacle did not become physical but became mental. My body was used to running 5 miles every other day; when I decided to increase to 7 miles, my brain would transmit signals for me to stop. Now, it was only 2 additional miles. If I had been running regular 5 mile increments for 90 days, adding 2 more miles was not unrealistic. But once again, I had to change my mental outlook; the physical aspects developed naturally.
The process was the key to my success. It was my ability to continue to improve my performance, and setting realistic objectives that where increased over a realistic period of time that were critical. In fact, I knew naturally when I was ready to increase the distance. It was easy; I became used to the current distance I was at and it had become second nature. It was this condition in the process that made it clear it was time to raise the bar.
One year later, I completed the marathon. Did I come in 1st place, no. Did I come in last place, no. I was right in the median, at the realistic expectation I had set. The process was all I focused on. The goal (performance) was achieved as a result of the process.
During the course of my training I adjusted my diet, took supplements, and learned about how I should adjust my stride. I had a clear foundation of the why's and how's of what I needed to do to become successful, and then I applied a sensible time to achieve my goal and I never once tried to hurry up the process. I also never suffered any injury.
Some weeks I needed to take off. Once again, I was following the correct process over time and the performance naturally followed.
Becoming a successful Forex trader is no different. You need a foundation and understanding of price movement. Then you just need to give yourself enough time to condition yourself to see the good set- ups versus the bad set-ups. Your performance will continue to improve and so too will your profits.
That's why individuals who want to become successful traders should focus on training first. Commonly most believe they can find a short-cut that will allow them to make large profits. When in fact it is the training process that insures your success.
That process is train, train, train. Practice,practice,practice. This takes a combination of two things. With the discipline of training and practicing on a regular basis, and the passage of time, your success will naturally follow.
Most of the questions that I am typically asked are all performance based, like, "How many trades a day? How much can I make a week?," etc.
With the correct training, and most importantly mental conditioning, all of these issues become moot because you learn market conditions are ever changing; some weeks yield more profit than others. But, it does not matter because if you focus on the process, continually improving your trading acumen, your success will naturally improve as well.
In closing, my challenge to you is to take a moment and shift your viewpoint. Look at the process first, and then performance simply becomes a result of a sound process.