Education

Imagine yourself in a legal situation and you decide to hire the cheapest lawyer you can find. On the day you have to stand in front of a jury, your lawyer says to you, “Don’t worry, while this is my first time, I’ve read ‘How to be an Awesome Lawyer in 28 Days for Idiots’ a couple of times, so I know what I’m doing. You’ll be fine.”

Do you think your investment in that lawyer will pay off?

Probably not.

You’ll probably end up in prison with a tattoo covered cellmate named “Killer” for the rest of your life.

Now I’m not a professional lawyer, but I’m pretty sure that it takes more than one book to become one. More likely, lawyers have read and studied a wide range of books, journals and case studies in order to fine-tune their practice. So why should it be any different to become a professional trader?

Trading involves becoming proficient in a multitude of disciplines, including fundamental analysis, technical analysis, sentiment analysis and self-awareness (also known as trading psychology or what I call “mental analysis”).

Within those disciplines are different topics that should be studied individually.

For instance, while the School of Pipsology does a fantastic job of introducing the Elliot Wave theory and making it easy to understand, there’s abundant amount of entire books written on that single subject. The same thing goes with many other technical tools (i.e. candlestick charting, Fibonacci numbers, pivot points, etc.), fundamentals and trading psychology.

If you limit your education to a basic high-level overview of a few subjects, how do you think that will help you acquire the skills needed to become a successful trader?

I’m not saying go out there and read everything there is to read on trading. While that would be ideal, realistically it’s not possible.

What I am saying is this…

Before you enter a single trade, read and study enough to know why a tool works, how it works and how well it has worked in many different situations. After you start trading your live account, continue reading and studying some more. The forex market is dynamic and continuously changing. (What market isn’t?) Being well versed in all the disciplines of trading gives you the ability to adapt and make quick decisions in this fast-paced market.