There are many advantages to becoming a trader. No more difficult bosses or annoying co workers, no more tedious 9 to 5 routines and no more tiresome commutes to the office. However, don’t be misled. Trading is no holiday, you need to commit to some very hard work and understand how to do some goal setting techniques. Let me assure you that your hard work will pay off in the long run.

You must have a strong motivation to succeed when you embark on a life of trading. There will be difficult times to go through when none of your trades seem to be working out. At times like these, you need to be able to draw strength from the strong commitment you have made to see this thing through.

Have some clears goals about exactly what you want to achieve in a certain period of time. A mere decision to ‘achieve financial freedom’ is not going to cut it. You need to know why you want financial freedom. Is it to provide well for your family? Is it to be able to give generously to those less fortunate than yourself? Whatever the reason, it must provide you with a strong enough motivation to withstand the pressure to quit before you have given yourself a decent chance. Write down what your motivation is and keep it beside you as you go through the hard yards.

You may know of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. Until recently they were the tallest towers in the world. What you may not know is that the foundations for these towers go down to a depth of 800 feet into the ground. My point in mentioning this astonishing fact is that you will need strong foundations to support the work you do in trading. In my opinion, there is no such thing as overnight success. Overnight success only comes about after many years of solid preparation.

So as your preparation for a profitable trading future, write down the goals you wish to achieve within a certain time frame. One of your goals may be to ‘pay off my mortgage within ten years.’ Another may be to ‘pay for my two children’s high school education and support them both through university.’ These are quantifiable goals with a specific end point.

Unfortunately, just attending some seminars and reading a few books is not enough to ensure that you will become a successful trader.

You need to be prepared to take some action. Be prepared for some losses right at the start. In fact, 80% of traders lose money when they begin to trade. But do not lose heart. This is a learning curve which you must go through before you learn the lie of the land. As long as you maintain your strong motivation to trade and goal setting techniques, you will learn from your losses and you will begin to evolve into an intelligent trader who sticks to his system come what may.

So before you embark on your trading, write down your goals, create your own goal setting techniques and do some background reading. You will then be ready to begin the task of undertaking some serious trading.