The Destructive Focus on Money : The Greatest Enemy of New Traders

In my career as a professional currency trader and through my whole experience with Asirikuy members I have been able to gain some great insights into how new and experienced traders think. There are several thought processes that seem to change from the time you start to trade to the time when you have your first profitable year and develop your first profitable system but I think none of them is so crucial as the evolution of your focus in trading. The way new people see trading and the way in which experienced profitable traders see it is absolutely and completely different. The main difference - if anyone asked me - is the focus in money. During the following few paragraphs I will attempt to explain a little bit how new experienced traders view their trading and how the view of professional traders is very different, focusing not on the money, but in the way in which this money is to be obtained.

Viewing things like a new trader is actually not very hard since we all have walked those steps. When you are beginning to trade the forex market you are hoping to "make it big", learn a lot, have small draw downs and huge gains. It is natural to think this way - perhaps due to all the hype - and most inexperienced traders enter the market with a sole focus : to make money. Although the objective of trading is to make money - for all traders - it is true that the main focus of new traders is the money and what happens to it, neglecting almost all other aspects of trading.

The difference here is that new traders don't know almost anything about trading in general. The bast majority don't have strong formations in economics, finances or statistics and they come from a wide variety of different backgrounds with the sole idea that they want to make money. The problem here comes when you see that there is a disconnection between the goal and the technique. New traders know they want to make money but they don't have the slightest idea of how this is made or how others who are successful actually achieve this. It is a world in which they are lost and where there doesn't seem to be any true guidance.

New traders also often come with pressures to gain money which may originate from different sources. They may be pressuring themselves to succeed, they may need the money to live from it, they may have a desperate financial situation, etc. In the end, new traders are simply people who don't have the slightest idea of what they are doing with the only idea that money is what they need to make.

Now the professional trader mindset is very different. Money is not actually the main objective but a consequence of succeeding at many other different aspects of trading. When you don't focus on the "money target goal" but on developing a statistically meaningful edges against the market, money comes to you as a consequence of your rational and sound based effort. Money comes as a consequence of succeeding at trading in general through analysis and understanding. Professional traders know that the most important thing is not to focus on making money but to focus on protecting capital and developing tools that guarantee long term statistical success under varied market conditions.
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The difference between both mindsets can be better explained through a simple example. Image there are two restaurant owners who just opened their businesses. One of them is an experienced restaurant owner while the other one is just on his/her first venture. The first restaurant owner knows that he/she must focus on developing a great menu, get some professionally trained staff and do some well planned advertising. The second restaurant owner rushes in with whatever menu he/she can get, employs half of his/her family and advertises everywhere he/she can. Five years after inauguration the first restaurant remains open while the second one filed for bankruptcy 4 years ago. The morale of the story, focus on the method and the objectives will take care of themselves.

In forex it is quite similar. Often I see Asirikuy members who are new traders focusing on using systems with higher risks and less understanding and evaluation while Asirikuy members who are professional traders focus a lot on the risk and develop an in-depth understanding of the strategies before even considering to use them. It is a matter of how things need to be done to get to a certain point, something which is sadly not known until you actually realize that making money in trading is a difficult goal to reach and it is only achieved in a consistent manner when the focus is on establishing the potential, reliability and robustness of methods and not by perusing an irrationally set money making goal.

If you would like to learn more about trading -especially automated trading - and gain a true education to achieve long term profitability please consider joining Asirikuy.com, a website filled with educational videos, trading systems, development and a sound, honest and transparent approach to trading systems. I hope you enjoyed this article ! :o)