I first got involved in trading during the summer of 2013. I was convinced I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in an office working for someone else’s dream, but hadn’t yet figured out how I’d make my own way. Throughout most of my teenage years I was an avid poker player, but realised I didn’t have the patience to spend long hours alone playing online tables to build up a bank roll. This is when I first got introduced to trading by a chance ad online – it changed my life so significantly that I moved from a path in Chemical Engineering to landing one of the most prestigious jobs in investment banking, to starting my own trading business – all by the age of 23.
It was immediately clear that trading opened a whole world I didn’t know was possible. On top of this, I saw people who weren’t exceptionally clever or exceptionally special living their dreams because they were able to overcome a few certain pitfalls and develop the traits that make successful traders. These are the reasons why learning to trade will be the best thing you ever do
1. Get your time back
If there’s any reason to start trading, it’s the flexibility that it gives you. I repeat over and over that I only trade 15 minutes per day. If you want to trade more, you can. But why would you? You can make exceptional returns on longer time frames, so leave the rest of your days open to do the things you enjoy!
Most people dream of having the financial freedom to take control of their own lives, yet there are very few paths that can turn this into a reality. Trading is one of them.
Only trading 15 minutes a day leaves plenty of time to explore
2. Work from anywhere
As long as you have access to an internet connection, you can trade. How many other jobs give you that much flexibility? I love nothing more than travelling to new places, and I have traded from nearly everywhere I’ve been in the last few years. From the US mid-west to the Himalayas, a hostel in India to a resort in the Maldives. I have always found a way to check the markets and place my trades.
I’m fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be able to travel the world using the money I have made from trading – and I continue trading the entire time.
Even in the most remote areas of the world I found sufficient wi-fi to trade
3. You get rewarded directly for your efforts
The most frustrating aspect about a 9-5 is that even at your most productive, your life is still controlled by your superiors and the organisation. Have you ever found yourself working twice as hard as someone else, but still getting the same pay-check? The market is the ultimate unbiased employer; it doesn’t care if you’re black or white, a man or woman, the only thing that matters is your determination. Provided you are willing to study hard and develop the traits that make winning traders, then you can reap the benefits
4. Go full or part-time
Some people would prefer the security of a full-time job, and they are happy in what they do day-to-day. That’s fine. Trading isn’t an either/or scenario. In my first years of trading I was studying, then I worked in the Oil and Gas industry, then I completed a Masters. By trading just 15 minutes a day I have been able to trade alongside other activities. You can too. Whether you want up pick up and travel the world or earn a little on the side, trading affords those opportunities.
5. Near-unlimited potential
If you understand how exponential growth works then you’ll know that you can very quickly increase your wealth by compounding your returns. Given how much money flows around the markets (the $ value that trades in FX is around $4 trillion per day. Yep, that’s 12 zeros), with a winning strategy the possibilities are almost endless.
Take Warren Buffet as an example – one of the richest men in the world, and arguably the greatest investor of all time. He has ‘only’ averaged a return of 30% a year for the last 30 years, but provided the markets are still there (and they always will be), he can continue to make billions. Check out how Warren Buffet’s wealth has grown over time. He was ‘only’ worth $1 million when he was 30, but by consistently taking from the markets he has able to get to where he is now.
If that isn’t enough incentive to learn how to trade, I’m not sure what is.
The Two Traders
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