.png){kind=small}
This is my recommendation for new/beginner traders.
Learn how to trade wrong (it’s actually my superpower) + lose money. (it’s part of the process). Fat fingering orders, accidentally buying instead of selling and vice versa, all mistakes new traders need to make so they understand why it’s super important to double check your orders.
Learn to control your emotions. If you are an emotional wreck if you lose money, no joke, trading is going to be a struggle for you. If your mood for the day is based on whether you made $$ or lost $$, then you have an uphill battle.
Learn to execute a written plan & be disciplined + consistent. If you cherry pick what days you want to trade one strategy or the other, you will ultimately zig when you should have zagged. As a beginner, one strategy, only one, nothing else, stay focused.
Learn to “practice” (back trade) your plan. Take at least 100 back trades & paper trades before jumping into risking real money. “But Matt, I’m ready to make money now“. You need confidence in a strategy, yes you, don’t follow someone else’s traders. You are responsible for your own trades and your own account. Period. HARD STOP.
Build a daily routine, log your trades & take it slow. This is a big one, getting your mindset strong enough to withstand losing days, it’s part of trading and if you struggle here, you will be on the permanent struggle bus.
The quickest way to get through that list of recommendations is to GET A MENTOR to shorten the learning curve, absorb what they are doing, dive in deep and you will eventually figure out your personal style and strategies that match.
There is a huge difference between “extra money” and “full time money”. I play golf, but not good enough to pay my bills with my golf earnings (I would be homeless), same is true in trading. Mastering yourself and your emotions is the hardest thing to do, and that ladies and gentlemen is why 95% fail & only 5% win.
Fail in love with the process and then after lots AND LOTS of practice, blood, sweat, and tears, then you can set goals, otherwise you are setting yourself up for failure.