1. Money Management & Psychology
1.1. 1 or 2 trades at a time
1.1.1. Keeps you focused
1.2. 1-3 capital risk
1.3. Indecision breeds fear
1.3.1. If you don't know why you are taking a trade - don't take it!
1.4. Meditation helps!
1.4.1. Less anxiety
1.4.1.1. You won't quit trades early or make rash decisions
1.4.2. Better concentration
1.4.2.1. Longer concentration means more time to make good trades
1.4.3. You'll accept your flaws
1.4.3.1. If you accept your flaws, you know what to work on. Ego costs money here!
1.4.4. Forced introspection
1.4.4.1. When you sit down and close your eyes, your brain will inevitably think about things. This will bring insights you might never have gained.
1.5. Take a break!
1.5.1. If you experience subsequent losses, take a break - an hour or week or day it doesn't matter. Just make sure you get time to recuperate and avoid revenge trading.
1.6. Creative Visualisation
1.6.1. Creative visualisation is the process of using your imagination to creatively to gain insight and practice in a particular field.
1.6.1.1. If you sit down, close your eyes and concentrate - ask yourself the following questions...
1.6.1.1.1. How would I react if I'd just found out my trades were exposed to some economic data. Would I take the loss? Or, would i ride it through? What would be the consequences of my actions?
1.6.1.2. Likewise, you have to make the experience as realistic as possible.
1.6.1.2.1. Imagine your desk, the feel of the chair on your behind.
1.6.1.2.2. The Smell of the room
1.6.1.2.3. Have you just been fed? Have you had a drink? What did you do prior to walking into your trading room?
2. Strategy
2.1. Plan 2 Win
2.1.1. Never enter trades without a plan
2.1.2. Do not expect your strategy to work forever
2.1.2.1. Markets change - learn to adapt
2.1.3. Patience is everything
2.1.4. Overtrading will kill your account
2.1.5. There should be a reason for every entry & exit
2.1.6. Accept your losses
2.1.7. It's quality, not quantity
2.1.8. If you have hit your pip target, quit for the day.
2.1.8.1. If you don't have a target, you are likely to over trade.
2.1.8.1.1. This increases the chances of a bad trade and undoes all your good work.
2.1.8.2. On the contrary, if you are letting your profits run anyway - this shouldn't really matter.
2.1.8.3. 50 pips per pair a week is entirely do-able.
2.1.9. The money is in the review
2.1.9.1. Record all your trades, no matter what.
2.1.9.1.1. You'll find the factors of failure & success here. Looking back on your trades is second to having a mentor.
2.2. KISS
2.2.1. Minimize Indicators if any at all
2.2.2. Assume institutions have already factored fundamentals into the current price.
2.2.3. Don't use robots or signals
2.2.4. Don't copy other peoples trades
2.2.5. Perfect patterns don't exist, close is close enough
2.2.6. Keep your targets realistic
2.2.6.1. Targets have a massive influence over your game, so don't underestimate them.
2.3. Essentials
2.3.1. Only trade Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
2.3.2. Accept this is not get rich quick
2.3.3. Accept your losses.
2.3.4. Only institutions can make the big market moves
2.3.4.1. Use this to forecast their opinion
2.3.5. In a trend - 70% chance of seeing weekly high (bullish) or low (bearish) by wednesday london open
2.3.6. Biggest moves happen during london sessions
2.3.7. Never go against the trend
2.3.8. Let the profits run!
2.3.8.1. Don't quit your trades early, let them run. Rake in the pips!
3. Additional points
3.1. Checklists may help traders
3.1.1. It'll keep you focused
3.1.2. A pre-defined list of requirements for a trade will bolster your success %
3.1.2.1. It will eliminate variables and bolster a robotic approach.
3.1.3. You are bolstering your trading plan
3.1.3.1. If trades fail, you know it's not yourself because you are autonomous. Chances are it's your strategy.
3.1.3.2. Give your strategy atleast 6 months, this avoids you "system swapping" which is guarenteed to lose you money.
3.1.3.2.1. All systems lose sometimes. Be aware of this.
3.2. The #1 quality for traders is athleticism
3.2.1. Being athletic breeds discipline. Which is the best quality to have as a trader.
3.2.1.1. It means you'll persist when things are tough
3.2.1.2. You won't make stupid decisions because you'll persist with your plan.
3.2.1.3. You'll continue on with the boring paperwork which is essential to success.
3.2.1.4. You have the mindset to win and you understand that you don't start out a champion you have to work for it.
3.3. Traders are not born, they are made.
3.3.1. Trading is a peculiar profession in that, no child can become talented at it straight away like mathematics or music. Likewise for all humans, it doesn't come naturally - none of the best traders started that way.
3.3.2. Contrary to popular opinion, trading IS easy. It was never hard in the first place, it's just time consuming. If you have the passion for such a job, you shouldn't see it as hard - you shouldn't see it as a necessary evil. If you don't want to be here, you won't win.
3.4. If you don't quit, you can't lose.
3.4.1. Some traders take longer than others to develop, it's like puberty - once you've got the tools there's nothing stopping you getting what you want.