How To Become A Better Forex Trader?
Experienced traders admit that the greatest problem in the Forex market is not the trading approach but discipline.
Many beginners in the Forex market are faced with some difficulties and usually give up and ask around why forex trading is hard. Yes, for some traders it is hard but doesn’t have to be. Once you obtain more experience you’ll see how easy it can be and you’ll never ask again why forex trading is hard because it isn’t. Don’t believe what others are telling you. Forex trading is simple. But it’s really important to learn some basics before you enter this market. It is just like riding a horse. Once you learn it, it’s impossible to forget. And as in riding a horse, you have to know and follow some rules. Yes, you can push on your horse, as you can force your trades, but what will happen? Your horse might refuse to obey.
You have to be in line with a horse, calm and considerate, you must have the mental strength to deal with difficulties and stay cool. You must understand your horse and predict how it will act on your commands and have patience.
Almost the same comes to Forex trading. When we hear someone asking why forex trading is hard for most of the traders, we know such has lost its temper.
The other reason why forex trading is hard could be that forex traders rarely like to follow the rules. They tend to ignore them. Maybe we should ask them why. Sticking to the rules may not be so exciting but it is beneficial. Don’t listen to the scammers that offer instant solutions to great gains, strategies that are successful 100%, that work in any Forex market’s condition. Put the logic to work! It is impossible! How one single strategy can be the best for all types of traders, all circumstances, for different market conditions, personal risk tolerances? No way! Avoid such artists, Youtube is full of them.
When you learn forex trading in a proper way and follow some rules, you’ll never ask such a question of why is forex trading hard.
Let’s see why Forex trading is hard for some of you?
We already mentioned scammers. We’re pretty sure you noticed that many websites where you can just buy a trading strategy or attend some webinar over the weekend. “Become a supreme forex trader in a few hours,” “All you need is my system-pro to become a millionaire in trading forex,” or “You don’t need to learn, just follow my most profitable strategy of all times.” We really found this on the internet.
They are in most cases, scammers. Even if you try to watch some video on YouTube you’ll be confused in 20 seconds. Honestly, some of these so-called gurus can burn your brain in a few seconds. Their explanations have nothing with successful trading. They don’t even know what they are talking about. They are totally messed up!
Our two cents – If a trading guru wants to sell a fancy strategy, you shouldn’t have losses by copying it. Of course, if you strictly follow the instructions and if you have full access to his/her strategy. Well, elite traders are honest, they will tell you, they will teach you. That’s the main difference. The scammers will sell you, often it isn’t a lot of money luckily, something that isn’t working or not works for you. So that could be the reason and answer the question of why forex trading is hard. Because you got a rotten apple actually.
Forex trading can be difficult
Our brain is designed to run on the principle of causality. We are all trained to understand that everything we do has a particular consequence. Action will cause a reaction. Science also teaches us the same. For example, if we went out without an umbrella on a rainy day, we can expect to get wet. Or if we jump in shallow muddy water, we can expect to get hurt.
Right? Yes, in real-life (even if we know some people that are not aware of causal relationships, especially in the case of shallow water), but not in forex trading. In trading, you don’t have a direct balance between the time you spent in learning and the profits you obtain. To explain this. Many beginners expect if they spent weeks and months studying to trade, they could be successful automatically. That’s not how trading is. There is more.
Forex market is immune to control
Can you decide if the EUR/USD will fall? How can you know if the USD/CAD will go up or down from the last price? Most people are not able even to guess it. In everyday life, there are things we don’t need to think twice. For example, 1 + 1 = 2. That’s it. Moreover, nothing can change it. But in the markets, every minute is different. So while trading forex you have to change the strategy, method, approach, decisions. Don’t try to implement the trading patterns taken in the past. Basically, it isn’t mistaken, but the fact is that historical performance has surely no relationship to current market performance.
The forex market creates incredibly different circumstances where we have zero chances to be sure where or when the market is going to change. Maybe that is the reason why forex trading is hard.
So what to do? Anything but never try to put the market under your control. You can spend nights and days watching charts, monitoring your trades but you cannot control the market. One experienced forex trader once said that one of the most important lessons he learned is to accept the randomness in the forex market.
That isn’t the reason to avoid forex trading, that’s the reason to be ready for any possible scenario of your trades. You’ll be prepared even if your trade setup fails. Read books, learn a lot, practice a lot. That’s the key.
Why forex trading is hard – your subconsciousness could be the reason
The main duty of the subconsciousness in forex trading is to protect our wealth. But sometimes it operates in a strange way. In essence, trading should be simple since we have only two options: to sell and to buy. So, theoretically, we have 50 percent chances to be right. Yes, but the other 50% is against us. OMG, I’m losing my mind! That’s the first thought, right? Here is our subconsciousness in play. Let’s see what could happen in trading.
For example, you entered the stressful position. Everything looked good but suddenly the market turned against you. That’s the stress and your subconsciousness tries to relieve you out of that situation. What are you possibly doing? Exit the position. Why? Your subconsciousness pushed you to exit prematurely. The consequence is that you lost the trade or at least, you missed the main profit.
Let’s suppose you traded for a while and you decided to set your stop-loss target not too close as always. What happened, for God’s sake? Are you shaking? Sweating? Are you nervous? Of course, you are! Your subconsciousness is warning you’re making a mistake by this deviation from your standard trade. In prior trades by a setting stop-loss order at a particular level, you had the winning trades. So, your subconsciousness doesn’t like changes because, as we said, its primary job is to protect your gains.
So, why are you in conflict with your subconsciousness when you both want the same? Yes, that’s true, but you both have different ways to achieve that. To make a profit. When you want to enter a riskier position or to change the previous performances, your guts will try to stop you. And it might cause you to make emotional decisions. You might be frightened to change anything. Your subconsciousness will rather accept small gains than to allow you to take risks and make great profits. That’s why forex trading is hard sometimes. It is a constant struggle with yourself.
How to become a better Forex trader?
Do you remember when you went to school, you used some tools for the lessons? The same is in forex trading. You’ll need tools to become a better trader. In Forex, trading tools are known as technical indicators. You’ll have to know how to use them when trading. Also, you’ll need to use the fundamental analysis to be able to understand the markets. And, a lot of practice. Yes, we know it is the hardest part since many would like shortcuts. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut. In forex trading, it is essential to have realistic expectations. But also, you must have a bit of courage only once you learn how to trade and what may happen after you make some move.
If you think you know everything after a few weeks of practicing, you’re in big trouble. That is the perfect way to lose everything you have. And to do it quickly. So, what is the proper amount of time to learn trading forex? No one can tell you that because it is different from person to person. But if you keep in mind all these things mentioned above, the odds to become a successful trader could be bigger. Be patient, learn how to profit from trades consistently. That’s the way! If you do so you’ll never ask again why forex trading is hard. It will not be for you.
Bottom line
Why Forex trading is hard is the question for those who want to give up, to quit, and go to sleep. Forex trading isn’t hard, it is a fantastic opportunity to increase your well-being. Don’t expect to be a great trader from the first trade. You’ll make mistakes, you’ll lose money, but you’ll learn. Sooner you accept that the sooner you’ll learn. No one became a great trader by birth. Everyone had to learn how to trade and how to adopt the whole process. It isn’t hard unless you make it hard.
In forex trading, as it is in trading in general, you’ll have a lot of enemies. But remember one thing, the most dangerous enemy for your success is you. Risking too much, betting, trading too often, just pick one or all of these to make losses. The forex market is tricky to read, but you have the trading rules to be able to do that. Rules will protect you from making decisions driven by emotions. Let’s go, play the market! But do it smartly.
