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Everything takes time. The proverb is the same in the forex trading industry. Being branded a professional trader takes a lot of commitment and dedication, and a firm, clearly defined FX strategy acts as support.
Trading FX is not challenging, but following the market rules is, since controlling emotions is not everyone’s cup of tea. The time dedicated by the professional traders is worth every penny as they bags big profits and have a unique lifestyle.
Professional traders have a lot of room for opportunities around the globe. A few of these opportunities include jobs in international banks, hedge funds, and managing client’s accounts. Along with financial freedom, what these top gainers achieve is time freedom. They have the ease to trade from anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection.
But qualifying and grabbing your position in the top 5% is a long and stressful journey. In this article, let us see what a life of a professional forex trader entails.
Early bird gets the worm
FX trading is all about entering and exiting the market at the right time. Traders have to get up early and fresh to keep themselves ahead of others. As we know, trading is psychological, meaning how you feel the day you are trading matters a lot. Your sleeping, your mood, and your thought process matter a lot in the forex trading world.
Professional forex traders do not trade when they know they are upset or going through ups and downs; instead, they practice and look for real trade opportunities.
Trading shortlisting and preparation
The new trading preparation starts with shortlisting the trading assets. Professional traders know what kind of traders they are — some prefer trading-in bullish, bearish, while some in a choppy market.
Before deciding on which asset to trade, they go through the news and fundamentals to know what’s happening in the market, followed by chart analysis. Then forex traders play out their trading strategy in their mind, also making sure to keep the risk-management in check.
Day trading
It is about entry and exiting the market with profit in a day’s session. Day traders usually deal every day, starting from 9:30 to 10:30 AM EST-London session followed by the US. At the same time, forex works 24×5 Monday to Friday, the previous trades, if any, keep on running overnight throughout the sleeping hours, making profit or loss.
A trader usually chooses the overlap time of London and the US session for more volatility and market movements. Experienced market participants know when to take the trade and when not to, so we say — “A good trade is worth trading for, and sometimes no move is the best move.”
It is vital to trade when the market volatility is what you want it to be, and if not, it should be a pass. Hence, switching to a different asset will be a blessing in such a scenario.
The vital thing to notice is to have a good and trusted broker that keeps the funds safe while they have their SL and TP in place. At last, it all comes to one crucial aspect of trading, and that is a well-back tested and proven system that can give you a consistent profit. So, every professional trader thereby has a strategy that he uses to conquer the market.
Taking breaks
Not controlling your emotions is deadly in forex trading. One of these emotions is hope that leads to overtrading. So, FX traders take breaks from time to time to change their mental presence while entering again when feeling fresh.
Some traders take coffee, watch Netflix, or videos on YouTube as a break and brain booster. These breaks can be short or long depending on the trader’s mood, but it is necessary to keep yourself away from the charts for a while. While some exercise and do a little stretching.
Review trades and maintaining journals
At the end of every trading session, market participants review their trades by writing them down in a journal. These reviews may include the asset traded with the number of pips gained or lost, if any, the entry and exit price with the reason for executing the trade. The habit of maintaining a journal is crucial to analyze whether the trading strategy is working or if it needs any changes.
Lifestyle management
The 24hr grid in trading is stressful if the lifestyle is not adequately maintained. Traders’ ultimate result depends on how much they control their emotions while trading with real money. As told by Jim Rohn — ”Everything affects everything.” Meaning a bad start can swallow your entire day.
A proper lifestyle has to be maintained to develop discipline and focus. Because a focused mind ultimately helps traders achieve their goals without distractions. The forex professional enjoys working on relaxation and personal health issues as they do watching world markets. These folks also know how to have fun, take regular time to get away from their trading screens, and unwind with friends and family.
Final thoughts
As we have heard, “What comes easy goes easy” applies in trading as the professional traders have to go through many challenges and stress working multiple hours, market watch, and research. Sleep pattern change and insomnia are typical for these individuals until they build the trust required to allow their trading strategies and risk management to work without constant monitoring.
Day trading is not exciting as everyone thinks; from a professional point of view, traders wait for a long time for that perfect trade set up according to their strategy. An average work time would be 2-6 hours, six being the highest, depending on how fast they find the setup.
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