So You Want to be a Trader?

Unless commitment is made, there are only
 promises and hopes... but no plans.
 Peter Drucker

You have made a decision: you're going to become a trader, master the markets and take home huge profits. Each year thousands upon thousands of people make the same decision. Most often the reason is to relieve them of a boring, mundane job. If this is you, the bad news is that the vast majority of these would be traders fail. Why? They have made an apparent decision to trade but they have not made the more important decision to make the proper commitment. You have to incorporate trading into your life and do whatever it takes to hone your trading skills to the point where you can master the markets.

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back" - Goethe.

In his book, "The Mentally Tough Online Trader," Robert Koppel observes, "Top performing traders are committed to overcome any hardship or roadblock to achieve their goals." Besides capital you also must invest time and energy. It's impossible to digest all there is to know overnight. You just can't do it in an hour a week.

Learning about the markets and developing an intuitive feel requires time and practice. In some cases, it can take many years before you can trade the markets profitably. But to the trader who is fully committed, these are minor setbacks. Once you make the commitment to

master the markets, you'll do whatever it takes to attain success.

Trading is serious business. You cannot treat it like a hobby. If you do not have the proper commitment, you will approach trading lightly. You will begin to feel that you might as well have fun, trade on impulse, and seek out excitement. Why not visit a casino once in awhile to satisfy that need. A casual, uncommitted attitude will prevent you from excelling. In fact a casual, uncommitted attitude will eventually wipe out your account balance. I have personally witnessed the effect of non-commitment, far too many times in my career. Don't make this mistake! Trading the markets requires you to passionately commit to becoming the best trader you can be.

If you want to make huge profits, it's not enough to decide to become a winning trader. You must also make a strong commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve enduring financial success.

If you forget you have to struggle for improvement you go backward. - Geoffrey Hickson