Hello,
I'm from Belgium and I'm 30 years old. I have been trading since october 2014 (bad timing, i know
). I've been introduced to it by a friend who made quite a lot of profits over the course of a year (much of it was because he took too much risk (but it turned out good) he realised now). Nevertheless it struck my interest and I've been reading and trying out things ever since. Overall I lost some money but I also learned a lot in the process so I don't mind having lost the money, I'm in it for the long haul so in the end it won't matter.
The reason I'm joining this forum and community is because I know communities like these are beneficial to me and in time I'm sure I can give some value back as well. In 2010 I joined some kind of self help community to get a certain part of my life fixed and I was very determined to do so. Now, being 2015, I can say I reached my goal on that part of my life so my focus has shifted somewhat. Although I'm still part of that community and I'm still in contact with a lot of people from there it's not my main focus anymore.
I also see that a lot of the principles in trading are the same principles that were important in that self help community. I see a lot of similarities and that's very interesting to me. It seems like some things are universal principles of life.
Lastly, I also think it will be interesting to keep a trading journal for myself. I now see myself taking notes on my trades but they're a bit scattered and infrequent. I used to keep a journal in the forums of said self help community and I know it helped me tremendously. Just to be able to look back in the past objectively is already a great asset. And for trading it will be equally important for my chances to succeed I can imagine.
My long term goal with trading is to be able to trade for a living, freeing up more time in my life for my hobbies and projects. Working for a boss 9 to 5 just isn't satisfying for me. I always had the feeling that I was supposed to do more with my life. I've never been one to conform to societies standards or whatever people try to conform me with. Working for a boss has no real growth in it. There is no real goal. You show up to work every day so you have your income but generally you're not going forward in life. I'm one that always must have a goal in sight to work towards. Sure if you work your ass off and do a really good job you might get a promotion and earn 30% more. But you'll also have to work longer hours most likely. I don't like to trade my time for money cause in the end, time is the most valuable thing we have.
Looking forward reading and contributing to this forum.
Cheers!