Risk Disclaimer

Thou Shall Play The Long Game.

Every forex trader is either playing the long game or looking at forex as a get-rich-quick thing. The choice is an illusion, the long game is the only way to being a successful forex trader. You need to be more worried about where you will be in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years as a trader rather than worrying about whether your next trade will be a win or loss. Playing the long game is the paradigm that gives rise to the other 9 Commandments.

Thou Shall Protect Thy Trading Capital!

90% of people lose 90% of their trading capital within the first 90 days of trading forex. This should give you an idea of what the destiny of trading forex without risk management looks like. It always ends in horror stories. At Forex Made Simple we recommend that you only risk 1% to 2% of your trading capital in one trade. If you risk 2% per trade, you will have to lose 50 times in a row in order to lose all your trading capital. When it’s said like that you realize how unlikely it is. Even if you don’t have a strategy losing 50 trades in a row is very close to impossible.

Thou Shall Document Thy Trades!

I like to say that every trade is a winning trade. This is because every trade that I place will either grow my account balance or give me an opportunity to learn. Staying obedient to this commandment will make sure you have access to all the trades you have ever taken. Which in turn gives you access to all the learning opportunities you’ve ever encountered.

Thou Shall Reflect on Thy Trades!

“Experience is the best teacher”, I’m sure you hear this a lot. I hate to break it to you that this is not true. If that was true, every trader who has traded for more than 2 years would have been profitable. Experience only gives you an opportunity to learn. You only start learning when you start asking yourself empowering questions. “What can I learn from this experience?”, “What should I have done differently?”, “What should I keep on doing?”, “What should I stop doing?”.

After documenting your trades, it’s very crucial that you take your time to make a thorough reflection on your trades. This will expose you to what’s working and what’s not working. Keep on doing what’s working and stop doing what’s not working.

Thou Shall Have a Personalised Trading Plan!

Everybody understands that a trading plan is a must for every trader. But no one emphasizes the importance of having a trading plan that is very specific to the unique personality and values of a person. It doesn’t make sense that two people can have the same trading plan even if follow trade exactly the same strategy. A truly relevant trading plan comes from your reflections on the trades you have taken. “Keep on doing what’s working and stop doing what’s not working” that is your trading plan.

Thou Shall Trade Thy Trading Plan!

It’s another thing to have a trading plan and it’s another to trade what’s on your trading plan. It’s crucial that you carefully consult with your trading plan before taking the next trade to make sure it meets all the requirements.

Thou Shall Keep It Simple!

Simplicity equals brilliance. As a trader, you want to have a trading plan that you can follow again and again. When the trading plan is complicated there are a lot of ambiguities and second guesses. Simplicity and clarity are a must.

Thou Shall Eliminate Thy Emotions from Thy Trades!

You’ll agree with me that nothing destroys your trading balance like emotional trading. Fear of losing, fear of missing out, greed and excitement. I call these the 4 devils. These are the emotions that may come between you and your trading plan. Let’s say you took 4 losses in a row. Would you be looking forward to the next trade? That’s fear of losing.

Realizing that you cannot get rid of all these emotions is the first step in the right direction. It’s not realistic to think that one day you will finally get rid of these emotions. Human beings are emotional beings. It is hardcoded in our system.

Between feeling the emotion and reacting lies the power of choice. You only have to realize that feeling these emotions doesn’t mean you should act upon them. You need to feel them and still decide to stick to your trading plan.

Thou Shall be Consistent

Opening a trade doesn’t make you a trader. Taking one winning trade doesn’t make you a profitable trader. Following your trading plan once doesn’t make you a person who trades his trading plan. Applying risk management once doesn’t mean you’re a responsible trader. It’s all about doing it again and again. You need to show up every trading day and be consistent with what you do. The efforts you put in daily will compound and over the months you’ll become a better trader.

Thou Shall Sharpen The Saw!

In a constantly evolving market, you cannot afford to not keep on improving your strategies. Your entries, the way you manage your trades, the way you analyze all those must be improved consistently. There’s always a better way of doing something than the way it’s being done now.