Make Forex Trading Learning Process Easier

by Ntombi Malatsi | May 7, 2017 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING

Make Forex Trading to work for you, simplify everything

Hi, welcome back. If it is your first time here or you just stumbled upon this blog, you are welcome to subscribe for future posts (hopefully you’ll love this particular post). Today I want to talk about how you can make your Forex trading career less stressful (mine is less stressful because I simplify everything and I do not follow the crowd). Forex trading is all about performance. In any area of our lives, we tend to perform better when we operate from a clear and a sober mind.

You do not get fit just by joining Virgin Active and lazying around at the gym. For you to have that rock hard six pack and a killer flat tummy, you have to work very hard. Going to the same gym does not mean we will all come out with great bodies, only those who are committed to eating clean, drinking water and following all the necessary instructions to attain a great body. You do not jog for only once a month and go for the Comrades Marathon right away, it doesn’t work like that at all. You have to train and exercise for months before the Comrades.  OK, before I lose track, let me stop talking about the gym and great bodies (I am already looking at my scale as I write this, I did drink 2 glasses of water on an empty stomach though, trying to follow instructions as well, let me focus).

Make your Forex trading learning process easy, simplify it

So you enrolled yourself for my private lessons (or any other institution) and you are learning how to trade. Now 4 weeks of learning is over ( with some institutions, it is only 2 days though, post for another day) and you are now required to practice what you have learned. I personally offer mentorship to help a learner to master the skill. That is one of  the most challenging exercises ever, simply because most of the time, learners lose focus by not following the method of trading that I taught. Instead, they start to experiment a lot with other methods (which is not a bad thing at all) but it is bad to experiment with something new when you are still trying to figure out or master the current. The process should be easy: Enroll→ learn→practice→ and go live (start with small lot sizes only after practicing) →Continue to follow your mentor and be coachable (if you have one), learn until you become a master. But the unfortunate part is that most learners want to do things their own way and their process goes like: Enroll→learn→NO practice on what you have learned→listen to friends→exlpore other methods (before you even grasped or understood what you were taught)→disregard your mentor→go live (start with a huge lot size without any practice on demo or whatsoever). 

The biggest mistake that newbies are likely to make is to not follow up on what they have already learned. There is so much information on the net regarding Forex trading, it is really overwhelming and not to mention the fact that everyone claims to have the best strategy than the other. If you do not believe me, go to Google and type Forex, you’ll get millions of sites popping up and they all have a different approach towards the markets. Imagine how confusing that can be to someone who is still trying to learn. There are things that I do not even mention in my class (simply because the method of trading that I use is fundamentally based and has a lot to do with the understanding the economy, central banks and politics and it does not require all those things). If you have never ever heard me talking about Elliot wave theory, RSI or Bollinger bands, Moving Averages, and many other popular methods, do not feel deprived at all. Maybe your mentor has never mentioned any of the things that I talk about the most on this blog, your mentor has never mentioned anything about Central Banks, FOMC, Yellen and all the other things that I mostly talk about (that does not mean he/she is depriving you of some information, we teach what we believe in and what works for us). The success rate will remain low as long as most people’s views of Forex trading are still influenced by what people see from social media which is far from reality mostly.

Is there any solution to the above mentioned?

I believe there is a solution. It worked for me and it works for others even to this date. Learning never stops and reading is good but at some point, reading, research, and learning must be paused and practicing must begin or take over. Did you know that there are people who have been paying one mentor after the other and all they have been doing for the past 5 years is to learn how to trade Forex without ever practicing what they were taught or paid for? If they do practice, they only do it for a week or two and switch to pay another mentor who has the “best strategy”. These people are now a jack of all trading methods but a master of none. Their learning journey is a sad one. Do not be like that. Learn, practice, practice even more and be a master of your craft (simplify things for yourself, it is your money after all).

Two years ago I was shocked to discover that one of my learners went on and unknowingly paid her fellow classmate for mentorship(by fellow classmate I mean the one offering mentorship at a price was not even done with his own training and the other one was not aware that she was learning from an amateur). My lessons are private and I do not train people in groups but as individuals (so yes, they do not know each other). It happens if your keep on learning without practicing, you will end up paying your fellow classmate and for what you already have). I asked one trader if she has made at least 20 trades using what I have taught her, the answer was NO, I only made about 6 trades in 3 weeks. But she has already decided that she is not good enough, what kind of learning is this? Learning is a process, not an event, learning is not about perfection but it is all about messing up and fixing the mess.

To wrap up this post, the saying might sound too old or insignificant or even boring, but it is the truth. Practice makes perfect. Never ever take it lightly. Before I started writing this post, I was too sure it was going to be very short. I am glad I did not even mention anything about keeping it short (I would have lied again) it seems like yours truly does not know how to keep it short. I hope you learned a few things or at least enjoyed reading this post. If you did, kindly share with your peers. If it is not too much to ask, please help to keep this blog going. If you need to open a live account kindly register with one of the recommended FSB regulated brokers using the links provided HERE. For further assistance you can WhatsApp me on: +27 76 966 9392 Or +27 64 510 4132. For paid private lessons (you have to be coachable though) fill in the form below. Your details won’t be seen by the public, they will go straight to my email, alternatively, you can view all details HERE.

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How Does Ego Affect Your Trading

by Ntombi Malatsi | Apr 14, 2017 | FOREX FOR BEGINNERS, FOREX TRAINING

Ego Is An Enemy That Stands Between You and Your Success 

Hi, welcome back again. I want to keep this post as short as possible. I might sound a bit controversial (I’ll probably go hide after this, smiles) but that is not my intention. My intention is to create a platform where all traders feel free to speak about real issues that affect us. The net is full of Forex blogs and sites.They are mostly focusing on issues that are not applicable to us in South Africa. Sometimes the information is just so unrealistic to what we face on daily basis. Now let’s talk about these issues here. Over the years that I have been trading, I have noticed that everytime I read Forex related books or articles, they always refer to traders as “him/he”. I always complain in silence and say but I am right here (ahem! hoping that an author out there will finally recognize us and start using words like she/her). Ok, enough about my whining. Shout out to all female traders out there. If you are here reading, Hi.

Ego is mostly associated with men. This is not a total truth though because I am sure we all know that one lady who has an inflated ego. We always say to those women that they have men like-egos (now I am really not sure why we say that when the ego is not only a men issue). Ego has no place in the markets. Let’s take a closer look at how traders get affected by their ego. Below are some of the ego related issues.

I know how this is going to turn out, I have never been wrong about it

Now, this is definitely an ego talking. A person who has an inflated ego is likely to repeat his/her mistakes simply because this person wants to be correct all the time. When he/she gets caught in a bad trade, it is so difficult for this person to take a loss and move on. This person just wants to be right (do not be that person). Unfortunately, as a trader, you are going to be wrong sometimes and when it does happen, your ego shouldn’t stand in the way.

 I have been self-teaching for a year now and I do not need much from a mentor, I just need to brush up my skills and up my game

Just so you know, I took a deep sigh after writing this sub-heading. This is what I hear almost every day. My observation got me thinking that it is mostly men who have this issue (women as well, but not as much as men). Most people who are followers of this blog stumbled upon it while searching for Forex related information (maybe you also stumbled upon here today from Google search). The fact that you are on Google searching for information means that there is something that you need to know or “crack” even after so many YouTube videos and downloading manuals trying to self-teach. When you finally found this blog, the information that you were looking for should be enough to brush up your skills. If after reading here, you still need to talk to me, just throw your ego out of the window and admit that you need help. But it does not always happen like that. Ego always takes over. Get rid of the internal Ego so you can learn.

Ask yourself this question, how many times have you missed out on opportunities to be mentored simply because you allowed your ego to stand in the way? Accepting help does not mean you are a failure. We all need mentors or help from time to time to take us through. Whether it is a paid mentor or someone that you just follow (like you follow on this blog), we all need it.  I am actually about to pay a mentor to teach me a few tricks about blogging. In case you are reading here and you actually do need a mentor, this is now your cue to pick up your phone and call or Whatsapp me on +27 64 510 4132 or +27 76 966 9392.

Sitting in a losing trade that will never come back to positive is somehow linked to an inflated ego because  all you want is to be right 

Think about that day when you made only winning trades from morning till evening. Think about what that did to your confidence, it skyrocketed to another level right? But if you have mastered the art of keeping your trades to yourself, often you have no bruised ego or confidence to worry about.

Very few traders have mastered the art of keeping their trades to themselves (get yourself to that list or stay there if you already have, I intend to stay). When you make a habit of trading and posting your immediate results on social media, you are likely to develop an ego as you get fans who will constantly like and praise your winning trades. When you get it wrong even when you know very well that your fans cannot see what’s going on, you kind of feel like you are letting your fans down (because you have made it part of your daily routine to trade and publish your immediate results). You are also likely to feel pressure and that might lead you to leave a losing trade for longer. Ego (sometimes, you are not even aware that you have developed it) is now talking “you are always right, leave this trade a little bit longer”, at the back of your mind you are already thinking about your fans and your next screenshot ( I know someone out there is going through this, take this unnecessary pressure off your shoulder). Please do not get me wrong here, I am not saying everyone who trades and publishes their immediate results has an ego issue. This is just something I experienced and I hear about it from time to time from my followers. I did mention on my previous post that I treat my Forex account as a business, I stopped doing the publishing thing as soon as I started to see my account as a business. That on its own contributed a lot in my overall outlook of Forex and my consistency (I still make a bad trade from time to time, we all do). Every time I close a trade  (good or bad), I use the time to revisit it, check how it went, check if there is anything that I should have done to get better results (even on profited trades), check what I can improve to do better than I did. And all that information goes straight to my trading journal. Now see why I never find time to publish my immediate results anymore? I try to get rid of all destructions. I am not saying be like Ntombi (I was just sharing).

On my previous post, I mentioned that I treat my Forex account as a business. I stopped doing this publishing thing as soon as I started to see my account as a business. That on its own contributed a lot in my overall outlook of Forex and my consistency (I still make a bad trade from time to time, we all do). Every time I close a trade  (good or bad), I use the time to revisit it, check how it went, check if there is anything that I should have done to get better results (even on profited trades), check what I can improve to do better than I did. And all that information goes straight to my trading journal. Now see why I never find time to publish my immediate results anymore? I try to get rid of all distractions. I am not saying be like Ntombi (I was just sharing).

Thank you for reading. I enjoyed writing this post. It actually felt like I was standing in front of you having a conversation about real issues that we face as traders. I know I said I will keep it short. I always say that even to my mentees, but look at this post now…