What’s the best advice that a weather-beaten Forex trader can give to the new guys? And …How to get guaranteed success at Forex trading.

We all have great ideas and plans, when we first discover the wonders of Forex trading. Dreams soon become dashed, after throwing hard-earned money at scammers and down the drain of brokers who willingly accept new credit-card-funded account applications from the naive. Yet, when things haven't gone to plan and you're unwilling to tell your family and friends that your dreams have been scuppered, you go in search of some trading system or mentor that’s ‘guaranteed’ to give you the financial returns that ‘you deserve’.
 
A google search of Forex-related terms will reveal the following …
 
Top of the list will be the Forex brokers; the ones who have the marketing budget to keep themselves at the top of every google search that’s loosely related to Forex but not even close to what you were searching for.
 
Then, there will be a myriad of forums and Forex thieves (‘scammer’ would be too kind a word for them).
 
Forums can be a mixed blessing: you get the occasional genuine and intelligent trader, willing to share some wise advice. You might also get useful information about forthcoming news that might move the currencies. Some of the better forums even offer proper trading advice and education. For the most-part though, you get ignorant people posting stupid trading ideas with a thread that lasts for a few months, at best, sucking in many ardent followers, only to gradually disappear into obscurity; all previously enthusiastic followers have long-since lost interest. The forums are invariably dog shit for hungry flies: a vacuum for ignorant wannabe traders who think they’ll find the golden goose, either by reading every thread going or begging for someone to illegally share the greatest indicator or robot ever made.
 
Forex thieves need no introduction. How many ‘next-best-thing’ $69 indicators / systems / EAs have you bought? How many thousands of bucks have you thrown at so-called mentors / coaches who don’t really have a clue how to trade but are masters at selling their bullshit? How much have you lost by subscribing to trade alerts that promise great monthly returns but deliver only despair? In Forex trading, this adage is most pertinent: if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. Unfortunately, the genuine good guys in this business are few and far between. They might appear on page 26 of your google search, if you’re lucky. In my very humble opinion, a google search for the golden Forex goose is like handing your wallet and credit cards to a heroin addict.
 
But … come on guys, how many of you have gleefully shared an indicator that’s not yours to share; or used someone else’s without paying?  Some of you deserve to be scammed by the Forex thieves and don’t cry when you have been, since you’re as guilty as any other thief. How do you really expect to succeed at this game when you have so little regard for what’s right and wrong?
 
I know of no shortcuts to earning the stripes of a veteran Forex trader (or trader of any financial instrument). For many, the learning time will be twice as long as that of a brain surgeon; for most it will be a like trying to build a perpetual motion machine: it just won’t happen, despite all the promises found by a google search.
 
The university of Forex trading is split into three subjects: fundamentals; technical analysis; self. 
 
Self? What’s that got to do with it? It’s only the most important part of being a successful trader. It is also the hardest part to get an A+ score in.  You might have a doctorate in fundamentals and a first-class degree in technical analysis; but if you haven’t got a masters in ‘self’, you won’t succeed in trading … full stop.
 
What’s the good of first class setups, in the right fundamental conditions, if you’re too scared to risk 1% of your trading account for a 5% return, because you either see ‘something that you don’t like’ or because you want to protect every pip when price moves in your preferred direction? What’s the point of knowing about first class setups when you’re too keen to chase pips from less-than-second rate setups? How on earth do you expect to succeed when you’re trading ‘scared money’: money that you can’t afford to lose or must protect as if it’s the last human child on planet earth? How good is life when you’re addicted to trading like many are addicted to slot machines: you have no idea when to stop due to losses or profits? How useful is the best trading approach in the world when you bin it after three losing trades and go looking for something else or succumb to adding extra indicators in search of those fantastical guaranteed profits?
 
You must master ‘self’ if you want to succeed at trading. You must; you must; you must.
It need not be that hard, if you have a trading plan and can abide by it.
When do you trade?
What do you trade?
Why do you enter, manage and exit a trade?
When will you stop trading?
When will you start trading again?
How will you review your trades and improve the rules?
etc. etc. etc …
 
If you don’t have, at least, these rules agreed with yourself, you have no chance at all.
 
So, what’s the best advice for new traders?
Wear sunscreen … while you’re enjoying the rewards of having mastered self.
 
And … How to get guaranteed success at Forex trading? If you found this blog post by googling those very words, then more fool you.  There are no guarantees of success in this business; but covert guarantees of failure and thievery are plentiful. We place trades based on probabilities, not certainties.  Having said that, there are approaches to trading (such as those covered in the Trader Training course) that have better-than-average probabilities of success. When you know what those approaches are, and have mastered self, then dreams really can become reality – but it’s not guaranteed.