Making the decision to become a Forex trader, whether it's full time or part time, requires answering some questions and considering the reasons for embarking on this venture. Being a Forex trader requires the following:



- Focus and discipline.

- Time to learn and time set aside to trade.

- Limited external stresses or the ability to put these aside when trading.

- Some capital, which you are fully aware, you could lose.

- Space to trade away from distractions.

- The capacity to learn and absorb information.

- A general interest in the global economy will help too!

- The ability to manage your trading account and not get carried away!

But fundamentally and most importantly is to be true to yourself. The only reason to be trading is to maximise the profits of your trades and not because you think it's cool, or want to impress your friends. It's important to do everything possible to learn, develop your skills and be fully committed, to be a successful Forex trader.

At times the Forex market will seem to have a life of it's own – and you would be right to think that! To be a successful Forex trader, you have to understand that knowing when not trade, or to sit on your hands, is equally as important as knowing when to trade.

As a Forex trader, making sure you are emotionally detached from your trades is important or else, pretty soon, greed keeps you in too long or fear takes you out too soon. You are then forced to break the trading rules that you had previously formed and your profitability as a Forex trader will be short-lived.

If you want to become a serious Forex trader, you need to know how much you can afford to risk, or, at worse lose. Just like starting any business venture. Make sure you are fully aware of the risks and make logical decisions. If you plan to trade Forex full time, you need to treat it like a job or a business, and not like a get rich quick scheme. You have to manage your finances, adjust your lifestyle as needed and work hard.

Success will come from your work ethic and your discipline, and your ability to maintain your emotions and follow through on the plans and systems that you've worked so hard to establish. Life as a Forex trader can be great with plenty of rewards. However, it is a fact that the Forex market made lots of people rich as consistently successful Forex traders but has also taken a lot of people in the brink of financial collapse.

Consequently, importance is placed on researching and testing every aspect of your trading strategy as a committed Forex trader before trading the market for real. First of all, use your demo account and often! Then you need to stick to your plan or as I'm sure you will have read – 'Plan your trade and then trade your plan'.

The key to success as a Forex trader is to be consistent. Focus on a set number of pips per day, or whatever your strategy is and be consistent in trading those pips. If the market has more to give and you are able to let your profits run, then that's a bonus.

However, the other side of the coin dictates, if the trade goes against you, then you have to accept the fact. Move on to the next trade and don't try to make up for the losses. Remember, losses are the cost of doing business as a Forex trader, nothing more, nothing less.

The main factor to successful trading is learning how to deal with the gains and losses. This will ultimately make the difference between a long and successful future as a Forex trader, or early retirement. Happy trading and good luck.