I was listening to a forex mentor yesterday and he said most traders only focus on technical analysis and ignore trading psychology and risk management. It kind of resonated with me when I was just starting out trading and all I was interested in was making profit. Of course, it didnt end well, as I kept losing.
Today, I see many new traders making the same mistake (at least those around me). They want to skip the steps of learning basic forex terminology, learning how to measure pips, manage lot sizes, etc. and they just want to start placing trades. Beginneer luck may allow them make some profits in the begining but over the long run they make the mother of all losses and get discouraged.
I hope I am not ranting here guys but what I am trying to say is do not be a lazy trader. After every trade, go back to the charts and carry out an assesment (a post-morterm if you like) to find out why you lost/won.
Like they say, wins dont teach you much but losses teach you alot. So when you lose, instead of sulking and getting angry or blaming it to bad luck; you should ravage through the charts to find out if your entry was sloppy, if your lot size was too big, if you exited prematurely etc.
You should also journal (if you dont know what journaling is as a trader, then you are th kind of trader I am talking about). The problem I see today is new traders dont like to read, thy just jump in and start trading. They dont take time to research, and add knowledge. The breed of traders we see today, are those just intrested in getting trading signals from a so called forex guru.
Okay even if these forex gurus give you signals, that is like giving you fish instead of teaching you how to fish (proverbial saying). If your mentor truly cares about your development in your trading career, he/she should teach you how he arrived at the signals instead of just dishing out signals. What happens when the mentor is not available to give you signals? it means you will not be able to trade.
I was shocked to find out that some traders dont even know what an economic calendar is, or what spread means etc. It is atrocious, for me I started from learning the theory before moving into practicals.
Dont be one of these lazy traders, take your time to pperfect the craft, think long term and not just how to make little profits. Treat trading as a career.
