Forgive me for being blunt and getting right to the point: it’s time to decide whether you’re an amateur or a serious Forex trader. It’s time to decide whether trading is like aweekend in Vegas or Atlantic City or a real enterprise for you.
I don’t care if you trade $500 or $50,000, if you spend 20 minutes each day trading or 4 hours. It doesn’t matter. It’s time that you start treating this as a business. It may not be your primary income, it may be just a little extra on the side, but if you want to make money consistently, then you’d better face up to the facts and realize that it’s time you drew up a business plan for this Forex venture you’re running and begin seeing exactly what you need to do to make it a success.
Here are some of the elements that need to be included in your business plan:
1. Your goals – This should be both general goals and specific ones. General goals are what you want to get out of Forex: secondary income, financial freedom, just a little bit extra money on the side, etc. Specific goals should be what kind of money you want to make and how long is it supposed to take you. Try planning for a year in advance at least.
2. Your time investment – How much time are you willing and able to invest in learning how to trade and actual trading. I want you to do an honest assessment of your free time and how much you can reasonably set aside for Forex related activities: going over courses, reading financial news, trading, analysis, and so on. I want you to make a weekly personal commitment to yourself.
3. Your money investment – Plan ahead how much you’re willing to spend on Forex education and tools. This is important for two reasons:
- To make sure you don’t avoid educating yourself further since it’s important for your long term success.
- To help you avoid falling in for the latest gimmick or “next big thing”. Once you know you have a spending limit, you’d be able to spend it on what you really feel will be worth your money.
4. What you want to learn next – There are many fields in Forex and you need to figure out which to master next. Write down what you want to learn: Fundamental analysis, technical analysis, risk management, and so on. Again, plan for a year in advance.
Planning ahead as if Forex was a true business, will help you improve your trading skills and the future of your business.
