Awesome points about learning to trade

I get a free newsletter from Dirk DuToit who offers forex training. I have not taken his course nor read his book but I do find his emails insightful.

The one I received this morning has some extremely important information, in my opinion.

This is not amateur hour

So let’s talk a bit about training, because training precedes trading. It is important that you grasp from the outset the reality of the trading environment you are training for: trading in the financial markets is highly professional. Two examples:

Golf: Will you be properly prepared on the Pro PGA tour after watching some golf video, being madly keen on golf, completing a coaching programme at your local club, hitting some practice rounds on the driving range and putting green for a few months? In other words, trading demo for a few months before going live without a plan and a proper understanding of the game you are in.

Boxing: Or, similarly, you work out in the gym, hitting the pear ball and punch bag for a few months, and then you get in the ring with a pro. The theory of the gym is suddenly going to seem a long way away, isn’t it?

People’s misconceptions about what trading is about is often shown by how few of them give credence to the notion that in order to be successful they are going to have to trade for at least a considerable period. The all too common attitude is that I am going to retire after a couple of years because the forty dollar e-book I bought said I would turn my five hundred dollar capital into a fortune within that time. Ain’t gonna to happen.

I strongly believe so many more people could have made a success of the early stages of their trading if they just had a more realistic approach to what it would take if you really are serious about trading.

This is the healthy start you should be visualising and one of the first points I want to make. Training-to-trade is a D-I-Y (Do-It-Yourself) process. You are both the student and the teacher. You are also the examiner and moderator of your progress and success. Buying a book, e-book, course, service or programme does not mean you can pass any responsibility for your education on to someone else. You have to be in charge of your destiny.