1. Identify your trading style.
2. Treat trading as a business.
- Do you have structure, a comfortable place to trade free from distractions?
- Can you devote a consistent amount of time to this business every day, week, etc.?
- Do you have trading rules?
3. Don’t have unrealistic expectations.
- View your trading business as a marathon, not a sprint
- You will hit some homeruns but it’s vital to drop the “get-rich-quick” mentality
- Understand that trading is an arduous career that takes time, patience, and discipline.
4. Study, Study, Study.
- You will never earn consistent profits from trading if you don’t commit time to study
- Study charts, study markets, study interest rate movements and their impact, etc.
- Study trading success and the lessons learned by successful traders of the past
5. Adopt a rules-based trading approach.
- Traders who don’t have rules are prone to overtrading
- Become clear about your rules and write them down
- It’s crucial that you stick to your trading plan