By Admiral Markets

Dear Traders,

Here’s some harsh truth for you – trading is not easy.

In fact, it was never meant to be easy.

Otherwise, we would all be billionaires and there’d be no excitement from becoming one.

Traders often ask me what they have to do to get rich quickly.

The question they should be asking is, what kind of goals they have to set.

Having unrealistic goals will lead to overtrading, overleveraging and possibly chasing the market.

If you are being unrealistic…

…you will end up behaving subjectively and irrationally…

…and get addicted to placing trade after trade with no good results.

This will have a very negative impact on both your Forex trading account balance and your psychology.

Very soon, you’d exit the market never to be seen trading again.

But if you approach the market objectively, you will understand that you are often not in control of bigger developments.

Imagine the Forex market as an unstoppable shark and yourself as a fish.

Don’t fight the shark – many before you have already tried it and failed.

Instead of chasing the bigger fish, learn from the mistakes of others.

Pre-planning

When setting up your goals, you have to answer some hard questions.

I’ve compiled a list of five that are the most important.

1. What are you trying to achieve?

Do you want to make money or to make pips?

If you had a $50k account, making $1k per week is a realistic goal.

If you had a $5k account, making $1k per week is harder.

It’s still doable – but you will be exposing yourself to unnecessary risks.

Do you really want this burden on your shoulders?

2. Why are you doing it?

Is it for additional income?

Is it for fun?

Or because you want some thrill in your life?

Forex market is not a place for gamblers.

If you want to rattle your nerves and feel excitement, I would advise against trading Forex.

If you still feel like trying it out, you have to defeat your inner gambler first.

3. When are you going to trade with real money?

Before you start spending your own funds, you should practice on a demo account.

Once you’ve done that…

…and you’re sure trading is your ideal career path…

…you should consider how it’s going to impact your personal life.

You’ll definitely need support from your close family and friends.

Trading will be your new job and you have to be sure that they’ve got your back.

Approach your career professionally and have money reserves if you want to trade full-time.

If you’re not trading full-time, Forex trading can be a good source of:

1. additional income; and
2. you will have no money pressure when trading.

4. How are you going to do it?

First of all, you need to have a Forex system that works.

Remember, you’re going live here.

If there are any issues with your system, you have to fix it right away.

For full-time trading, you need a proven track record of at least a year.

Realistically speaking, it should be up to three years.

You have to be able to prove that your trading is profitable in the long run.

Things might get boring – but sometimes boredom is good.

After all, you’re here to make money, not experiment.

5. Who is going to be involved and why?

Are you going to trade alone or in a team?

While having a partner may seem like a good way to improve your chances, it is a double-edged sword.

Every trader has their own logic and approach.

From personal experience, it is harder to trade with somebody else…

…especially if you plan to trade on your own account.

It is a bit easier when you are trading with a member of your family.

Still, you have to be careful when handling funds in a team.

When you’re trading alone, at least you know that every win or lose is on you.

Set SMART goals

Complicated does not equal good.

You don’t need strategies that are complicated.

You need strategies that are SMART:

1. sound – define your goal and why it is important to you
2. measurable – track your trading record to know how far you’ve gotten
3. achievable – every win will motivate you to keep going
4. realistic – starting with small, realistic goals will help build your confidence
5. time-tested – everything needs time, so be patient.

As a trader, you have to accept the fact that you will have losing trades, losing days and even losing weeks and months.

A good daily goal for you would be to prepare yourself for failure.

Instead of focusing solely on earning a specific amount of money…

…you need to pay attention to what you can control.

Remember that the goal-setting process plays a huge role in setting up your ideal future.

It will help you control where you want to go in life.

By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you will know where you have to concentrate your efforts.

You will also be able to quickly spot the distractions that keep you from meeting your goals.

When you set realistic trading goals, you make your path to success more clear.

Cheers and safe trading,

Nenad
Article by Admiral Markets

Source: 5 Ways to set realistic trading goals

Admiral Markets is a leading online provider, offering trading with Forex and CFDs on stocks, indices, precious metals and energy.