How Long Does it Take to Become a Successful Trader?

How Long Did It Take You To Become A Successful Trader?

  • Less than 6 months

    Votes: 18 4.8%

  • 6 months - 1 year

    Votes: 30 7.9%

  • 1 - 3 years

    Votes: 93 24.6%

  • 3 - 5 years

    Votes: 56 14.8%

  • More than 5 years

    Votes: 58 15.3%

  • I'm still not a successful trader

    Votes: 123 32.5%
  • Total voters
    378
JillyB

JillyB

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How long did it take you to become a succesful trader?

From those first days when you realised there was such a thing as trading - to the time when you were consistently taking profits out of the market. How long would you say that was?
 
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jilly

mmm, if 95% are supposed to lose money don't you need a still waiting choice :)

good trading

jon
 
My turning point came when I became break-even, ie, stopped losing money consistently.
Because, at that point, I knew I was on the way. (I feel I became a trader at that point).

That is an interesting question, in that, there should also be a sub-set question of the method used, such as 1-2-1 mentoring, reading books, attending seminars, level of back-up and support, etc.
To see if there was a particular mode of learning that helped some get there in a quicker time-frame. Particularly if the trader thinks back-up and support from others accelerated their becoming a successful trader.
( I dont think I would have pushed myself to do better after my mistakes if I didnt have T2W in general, and some members support in particular, to keep going. )
 
How long it's gonna take? what are the conditions?

I think its typical that most may "have" to start on an as and when basis part time due to the shackles of previous life ties . jobs, family, big considerations and probable psych chains based on "others" worries concerns, needs and securities that we may have to weigh up.... and feel the pull of.... this will cut the success as a figure, likely "big" sacrifice for others concerns over their / our own decision to do what we feel we must do for ourselves, our life...

I think any trader needs to position to give him/ herself total time to pursue all week, for a good year / 18 months full time. how many can do that? how many will have the support of close ones in doing that? everyone loves winners in life right?

now if you had the likes of Mr Marcus over your shoulder and you had that time , no other ties, then I'd say 1 year.

doing it yourself part time juggling jobs, families their worries etc, 3/5 years until something gives, ie you give in or you drive yourself into availability to focus 100% for the next year or 2 (youve got that itch and over the years your still scratching it) so 5 to 7 years. good grounding... then you may be ready.

on your own but available, with no Mr M. 3 years id say..... ?? (so much depends doesn't it, character types etc??)

on all of the above I'd say you have to want it bad...... to the level that you know there are not enough hours in the day.... ie you stop when you physically need a break...... you'll keep on but your body says, we need to ease up here for a sleep. well you push through that.... lol how many 20 hour shifts have been done ? .... exhaustion points that hunger level I mean.

That intuition master bloke couldn't focus for more than 45 minutes?? oxford says that the level of typical human endurance.... lol.... second word Off.... tradings not for you....

sum up. if your the character that is naturally driving and supplying all the time you can in the quest for knowledge , experience and the challenge of it all and can position yourself to be available to do just that, then no ones gonna stop you any how... no one....

how many and who knows they feel/felt like that ? I dont think you could manage if you are the take it or leave type.. you know, well i'll give it a try for a while see how i go etc...... no you need to be the type who's been bitten by the mother of all ware wolves and you howl at the moon...

dollar dump.

lordy

Fx.
 

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There may be a difference between becoming a trader and trading somebody else's system. The latter might take just a few weeks, perhaps less if he or she is "standing over your shoulder". But does that make one a "trader"?
 
How Long Does it Take to Become a Successful Trader?
It can take a life time for some. But in general I would say 4 to 6 years, to make any money worth talking about.
 
What about if u work F/T?
would take even longer !
 
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dbphoenix said:
There may be a difference between becoming a trader and trading somebody else's system. The latter might take just a few weeks, perhaps less if he or she is "standing over your shoulder". But does that make one a "trader"?
Click to expand...
And what's a system ?
 
Come in drop your trousers and Bend Over Now, Im standing right behind ya.

ImranQ said:
What about if u work F/T?
would take even longer !
Click to expand...


Well perhaps time taken is linked to the heading of this post... I saw a bit of TV last night... ol denzel washington, taking on some bad guys, robbing banks, but the intent was honourable, anyhoo. denzel comes out after testing the robber and was asked how did you get on to which he replied

"ive got him just where I want him"
"where is that?" said partner.
"Standing right behind me with my trousers around my ankles"

Perhaps we need to be willing to assume the above position as quick as we can, by that I mean be submissive to the big dicks who swing the market.

who remembers charliechan saying something like "I sit at home trading in me pants scratchin me scroats" ? well hell yeah...i hear ya.. he's ready for those big dicks, swinging their lead.

Perhaps when we recognise this ,we can submit and go with the big dicks, if we dont then we should expect them to follow through with their intent and take a shafting from the market.

Its not gender specific so the above applies to skirt as well of course... .


cheers.

Fx.
 
Intent, ("The EYE") mental interconnectedness within a social group

fxmarkets said:
Well perhaps time taken is linked to the heading of this post... I saw a bit of TV last night... ol denzel washington, taking on some bad guys, robbing banks, but the Intent was honourable, anyhoo. denzel comes out after testing the robber and was asked how did you get on to which he replied

"ive got him just where I want him"
"where is that?" said partner.
"Standing right behind me with my trousers around my ankles"

Perhaps we need to be willing to assume the above position as quick as we can, by that I mean be submissive to the big dicks who swing the market.

who remembers charliechan saying something like "I sit at home trading in me pants scratchin me scroats" ? well hell yeah...i hear ya.. he's ready for those big dicks, swinging their lead.

Perhaps when we recognise this ,we can submit and go with the big dicks, if we dont then we should expect them to follow through with their intent and take a shafting from the market.

Its not gender specific so the above applies to skirt as well of course... .


cheers.

Fx.
Click to expand...

"Sheldrake -- who believes in the interconnectedness of all minds within a social grouping."

From; "http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060905/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_britain_telepathy"

Amazing what would the chances be that even though I have spent years reading lots of Socrates posts, made a cursary look into Sheldrakes work, yet I didnt have much ideas regarding the Biomind sides. Then reading the last post recently primmed my mind and brought many bits of data to the foreground. Itself, that arrangement did not spark. But then days later (though I was not looking) I surprised myself after I chanced upon that news piece on the fromt page of a website I do not visit often. The probabilities of the sequence of events is quite small I would say qualitativley.

The thunder bolt was quite impressive though I was deaf to it. I'd love to have been in a brain scanner at the time to see the result.

Again thank you Socrates and every one else.

As an aside - If you read the link then maybe you will notice the more than avergae sloppiness in the publishing - I came away feeling it was perception management? Or may be some one who has risen above from my mistake could share another perpective on my view.
 
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sp1 said:
"Sheldrake -- who believes in the interconnectedness of all minds within a social grouping."

From; "http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060905/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_britain_telepathy"

Amazing what would the chances be that even though I have spent years reading lots of Socrates posts, made a cursary look into Sheldrakes work, yet I didnt have much ideas regarding the Biomind sides. Then reading the last post recently primmed my mind and brought many bits of data to the foreground. Itself, that arrangement did not spark. But then days later (though I was not looking) I surprised myself after I chanced upon that news piece on the fromt page of a website I do not visit often. The probabilities of the sequence of events is quite small I would say qualitativley.

The thunder bolt was quite impressive though I was deaf to it. I'd love to have been in a brain scanner at the time to see the result.

Again thank you Socrates and every one else.

As an aside - If you read the link then maybe you will notice the more than avergae sloppiness in the publishing - I came away feeling it was perception management? Or may be some one who has risen above from my mistake could share another perpective on my view.
Click to expand...
It is inevitable that when a group of humans gather together, the group is apt to adopt what is common to what the group leads itself to percieve in sacrifice to what is individual. The group first looks to unity of purpose but what effectively happens is that the individuals in it supress their individuality in compulsive favour of what is warped to become the group agenda. If you study crowd behaviour closely you will observe that this is the first stage in the development of a crowd at the expense of individuallity.

The crowd, and it does not matter whether it is big or small, now compuslively corrupts itself to think collectively and behave as members and not individuals, meaning the ability to individually discern goes out of the window in preference to what is now percieved whether correctly or not, to be the common cause, or if you like, the new common cause.

The crowd's new biomind activity and slant of perspective becomes defineable IF you are able to tap into it, to effectively tune into it. This is what is meant when you hear "The Mind of the Market" being discussed as if it were a tangible reality, which in part it is, but the ability to tap into it and tune into it is not within the reach of many people or small groups because, in order to do so, a whole process of submission has to be undergone in preparation for the correct mental state that leads to the acquisition of this faculty.

The ultimate possession of this faculty is the desired mental state required for a proficient trader and to be able to maintain it and to be able to summon it, at will, on command.

The crowd or group proceeds along clearly defined stages of developmemt, which are percieved objectives, unity of purpose, sublimation of individuality, creation of a cause, election of a spokesman or self election of a spokesman, but the ultimate result is eventual decay and disbanding, such is the nature of the cycle in the habit of crowds.

The process of submission in order to cultivate the correct biomind facrulties is arduous and takes such a long time and involves the jettisoning of ego, being the first hurdle, that it is if not impossible, then extremely difficult for most but the most patient, dedicated and persistent. It is arduous because it is an affront to the ego besides all the hurdles that have to be overcome at an intellectual level to precede it.

Now, human beings are not constructed to jettison ego easily, or to resist joining crowds, or to not succumb to percieved objectives prompted by a blend of impatience and percieved self interest, and so on. Therefore, this is another reason why the right thing to do is often described as being "contrarian". It is not contrarian at all, it is the correct protocol derived from not becoming immersed and contaminated and succumbing.

This aversion to crowd contact is very difficult for most people to self motivate themselves to do, and for some, impossible. It is neither right nor wrong, it is just part of being human. The problem is the market does not respect or consider being human of any relevance other than its own existence, its mere existence, creates crowds and the attendant crowd behaviour. It just does what is needed to be done, whether from a humanistic point of view it is an affront or not is of no consequence. Then therefore to view the market from a humanistic perspective is not helpful.

It requires other perspectives to be developed which are the direct opposite of what from a human perspective appear or seem to be the correct ones, and then and only then, the mind of the market and ultimately the intent, can be tuned into and understood, and not before.












The space above this very line is left blank, purposely.
 
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Still trying. 1 year now, and keep finding that no matter how well I progress in price reading (I use no indicator, only read price), how well calling moves, or reversals, etc., I keep finding that there is only one thing separating me from "really becoming a trader" and that is myself. The emotions I attach, or the psychological negative aspects I can't overcome. No matter how much I advance in understanding them and working on the required improvement, under different circumstances they continue arising.

I guess that until one can truly separate oneself from emotions and that when one is able to understand the psychological "issues" one faces and how to overcome them prior to, during, and after trading, one can call oneself a trader.

Profitability is secondary, in my opinion. I guess my conclusion is that 90% is emotional and psychological selfcontrol, and 10% are price reading and analytical skills (that is if one doesnt use indicators or a system, and even in that case, I still think the above aplies).

Everything one needs to know is in a chart. the rest is noise or events that could not have possibly been expected. ;)
 
jacinto said:
Still trying. 1 year now, and keep finding that no matter how well I progress in price reading (I use no indicator, only read price), how well calling moves, or reversals, etc., I keep finding that there is only one thing separating me from "really becoming a trader" and that is myself. The emotions I attach, or the psychological negative aspects I can't overcome. No matter how much I advance in understanding them and working on the required improvement, under different circumstances they continue arising.
Click to expand...

How disciplined are you with regard to following your trading plan?
 
jacinto said:
Still trying. 1 year now, and keep finding that no matter how well I progress in price reading (I use no indicator, only read price), how well calling moves, or reversals, etc., I keep finding that there is only one thing separating me from "really becoming a trader" and that is myself. The emotions I attach, or the psychological negative aspects I can't overcome. No matter how much I advance in understanding them and working on the required improvement, under different circumstances they continue arising.

I guess that until one can truly separate oneself from emotions and that when one is able to understand the psychological "issues" one faces and how to overcome them prior to, during, and after trading, one can call oneself a trader.

Profitability is secondary, in my opinion. I guess my conclusion is that 90% is emotional and psychological selfcontrol, and 10% are price reading and analytical skills (that is if one doesnt use indicators or a system, and even in that case, I still think the above aplies).

Everything one needs to know is in a chart. the rest is noise or events that could not have possibly been expected. ;)
Click to expand...
Maybe this will boost you on. If you start off with 5k. and compound it over 5 years on a rate of 20% a month, which one can achieve through trading. you would make 4,777,969.09 :D in just 4 years

Year Balance
0 15,692.14
1 49,248.66
2 154,563.40
3 485,086.17
4 1,522,408.20
5 4,777,969.09
 
laptop1 said:
Maybe this will boost you on. If you start off with 5k. and compound it over 5 years on a rate of 20% a month, which one can achieve through trading. you would make 4,777,969.09 :D in just 4 years
Click to expand...

Or if one starts off with 5k and loses 10% a month, in a year he'd have just over 1k.

Perseverance alone does not guarantee success.
 
dbphoenix said:
How disciplined are you with regard to following your trading plan?
Click to expand...

Overall, I would say quite well. There is the violation here and there, and I pay the price for it through feelings. What I mean is that if I break my rules, I am fooling myself, independently if it turned a profit or not.

Example of what I meant in prior post was yesterday.

I thought I had overcome the issues with chasing losses. I traded a pattern (bear flag on cable, with a precise target of 90 pips). When it was time to tighten stops, I did so to a level that was not "safe" for the sake of not giving away 10 PIPS while my target was still 30 pips away. Result: pullback takes me out, and goes its merry way.

The psycological effect was similar to suffering a loss of 40 pips, even though I had banked 50 already. I decided to take a break. When I came back, and the consequence of a feeling I was not understanding ended up being a loss of control and chasing losses. Result, 2 losing trades with no rationale, no analysis, etc. Since my day was still 30 pips positive, I was more upset with the "lost profit" rather than losing the plot and giving 20 pips back.

The rule is that if I chase losses I cannot trade the next day. I took the day off today for that, and have understood the problem. I never would have thought that "not making an expected profit" would be the same, if not worse than a loss.

New experience, and new learning. If lesson has been learned properly, it makes me be one step closer to being a "real trader".
 
jacinto said:
Overall, I would say quite well. There is the violation here and there, and I pay the price for it through feelings. What I mean is that if I break my rules, I am fooling myself, independently if it turned a profit or not.

Example of what I meant in prior post was yesterday.

I thought I had overcome the issues with chasing losses. I traded a pattern (bear flag on cable, with a precise target of 90 pips). When it was time to tighten stops, I did so to a level that was not "safe" for the sake of not giving away 10 PIPS while my target was still 30 pips away. Result: pullback takes me out, and goes its merry way.

The psycological effect was similar to suffering a loss of 40 pips, even though I had banked 50 already. I decided to take a break. When I came back, and the consequence of a feeling I was not understanding ended up being a loss of control and chasing losses. Result, 2 losing trades with no rationale, no analysis, etc. Since my day was still 30 pips positive, I was more upset with the "lost profit" rather than losing the plot and giving 20 pips back.

The rule is that if I chase losses I cannot trade the next day. I took the day off today for that, and have understood the problem. I never would have thought that "not making an expected profit" would be the same, if not worse than a loss.

New experience, and new learning. If lesson has been learned properly, it makes me be one step closer to being a "real trader".
Click to expand...

If you're having that much trouble following your plan, perhaps you don't trust it enough to rely on its preventing you from departing from it.
 
dbphoenix said:
If you're having that much trouble following your plan, perhaps you don't trust it enough to rely on its preventing you from departing from it.
Click to expand...
He is not talking about a plan or a map.

He is talking about his FEELINGS and how his feelings get in the way of his trading and being able to behave rationally and how when the FEELINGS are very intense he needs time to recover.

That is what he is talking about and not maps, drawings or plans.

Maps and plans are not a solution, otherwise everyone who had a plan would succeed, or for that matter, a system, or what you nebulously describe as a system but never clarify.

See my post number 10 on this thread, above.
 
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