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NIAL FULLER Nial Fuller
Professional Trader, Author & Coach

Trading Forex Part Time Will Help Make You a Better Trader

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By in Forex Trading Tutorials December 10th, 2010 | 27 Comments

part-timeI want you all to understand, that it does not matter if you are employed, a business owner, retired or etc etc ,  my advice will remain the same – Your first goal as a trader must be to become a “Part time trader and student”. DO NOT fool yourself and believe that you take up trading and replace your income and become a full time trader quickly.  Earning money fast does NOT happen, and you must understand that trading IS NOT a get rick quick activity, in fact, nothing in life is that easy.  Sure you can make ALOT of money trading, but to get to that point takes time, still and effort.  I built my reputation on honesty and integrity and you all should know by now that ALL of my posts are genuine insights and truths on the topic of trading.  So if your a novice trader,  a struggling trader or if your into trading in any way shape of form, and have the goal to eventually become a pro trader, then this article is for you.

Keeping it Part Time Early in Your Trading Career.

The majority of people that get interested in forex trading do so because they are unhappy with their job or with the current amount of money they are making, or both. They think they will be able to quit their job and become a full-time forex trader in a relatively short period of time, and it is this thinking that actually sets the stage for losing money in the forex market and for making their journey to become a consistently profitable trader extended and difficult. The reason why having an overwhelming desire to become a full-time forex trader can actually be detrimental to your trading success is simply because it makes you feel like you NEED to trade or that you have no other options for happiness in life. To succeed at making money consistently in the forex market, you need to operate from the mindset that you don’t really need to trade, this will work to positively affect your trading and will actually make it easier to profit consistently in the market. The Pressures on the mind when the trader feels like he/she  must make a trade in order to make money to pay for the rent /mortgage or other living exspenses will ultimately lead to ongoing failure. That is just one aspect and evidence why new and aspiring traders MUST keep their trading a part time endeavor in the initial stages to escape the mental pressures and emotional roller coaster. The less time you spend trading and thinking of the market the better in my opinion.

• Part time trading; keep your day job

As a beginning forex trader, it is important that you realize early on the significance of not devoting all your energy to just trading. No matter what your current job situation is, you need to maintain it and excel at it, and always work to keep it a priority in your life, if you lose your job or quit your job thinking you can take up full time trading, you will stand no chance at becoming a successful trader. At first, you need to keep trading a part time goal, once you learn the ropes and master the art and skill of successfully reading a price chart, then you can set your sights on becoming a full-time trader. I always say, this is NOT something you can rush.

Keeping your day job and having a secure source of income is crucial to maintaining the proper trading mindset, you don’t want to be operating in the market from the point of view that you have no other options, and that your trading has to work out. Trading only part-time will also help to keep you out of the market, this may sound counter-productive at first, but over-trading is probably the biggest cause of failure among forex traders. By taking a part-time approach to the market you can avoid trading addiction easier because you will be forced into a routine of looking at the market at certain intervals each day, rather than being glued to your computer screen.

• Lose the “get rich quick” mentality

Many traders, if not most, come into the forex market thinking they are going to get rich quick, if they don’t openly express this sentiment they are certainly thinking it or hoping for it somewhere in their mind. While there certainly is nothing wrong with wanting to make money in the market and believing you can do it, when it becomes an all-consuming thought, and you think it will or should happen really fast, you are setting yourself up for failure. Traders who feel like they are going to get rich quick in the market inevitably end up over-analyzing it, essentially they think by looking at their charts and / or reading as many economic articles as possible, they will somehow gain an “edge” just because they are putting in a full-time effort.

The reality of this “get rich quick” mentality is that it ends up causing you to attempt to control the market, whether you realize it or not, when you stay up all night staring at your charts until your eyes burn you are subconsciously trying to control the uncontrollable, and the more you do this, the more you get caught up in actually believing that the increasing time you are spending watching the market is paying off, or going to pay off. So, in essence, by believing you can “get rich quick” in the forex market, you ultimately end up spending massive amounts of time over-analyzing market variables, this causes indecision and emotional trading, which ultimately causes you to lose money.

It is simply a myth that forex trading is a quick and easy fix for income; it’s not possible to make quick and easy money on a consistent basis, unless you are doing something illegal. Traders need to have realistic expectations when coming into the market, by taking a part-time approach to the market you will keep your mind clear and you will trade from a nearly stress-free mindset. The reality of trading the market is that the only thing you can control is yourself, the more control you have over your own actions, the more success you will have in the market. It is easy to fool yourself into thinking you are controlling yourself even as you over-trade and over-leverage your trading account, but when you really step back and think objectively about every action you take in the market, it becomes much clearer as to whether or not your actions are logical or emotional.

The ironic and perhaps metaphorical aspect of forex trading is that taking a part-time approach, or a “less is more” approach will actually make you more money faster, because you will be far less likely to trade emotionally when you accept the fact that you can make money by only trading a few times a week or less. So, to really make consistent money in the forex market, you need to accept the fact that it’s not going to happen fast, unless you are risking way too much and get lucky a few times in a row, or if you have a very large sum of money to begin trading with.

• Part-time trading helps keep you accountable

Probably the biggest reason why making money consistently in the forex market is difficult for most people is because there is no one to be accountable to. Unlike your current boss, who will fire you if you lose money for the company or do something else he or she doesn’t like, the forex market will not fire you no matter how much money you lose, it doesn’t even know you exist or how much money you have or don’t have, or anything else. To put it succinctly, you have to figure out a way to make yourself accountable if you want to excel at forex trading.

Being a part-time trader forces you to study and trade higher time frames, if you work a full-time job you are probably going to have to trade off the daily charts. This is actually a blessing in disguise though, despite what many traders think there really is no advantage to trading the lower time frames. Sometimes you can improve your entry by trading the 4 hour or 1 hour chart, but because the market provides daily setups each week for traders to take advantage of, there is no real reason to feel like you NEED to trade any time frame lower than the daily. Essentially, trading part-time forces you to master the higher time frames early on in your career, when it is the most critical to do so, then as your talent and skill begin to show you can start implementing lower time frames to improve your entries or exits. Many traders unfortunately take the reverse course of action; they start out by analyzing the lower time frames, and only after losing tons of money and time to these noise-infused charts, do they finally figure out and accept that trading less frequently on the higher time frames is key to making consistent money in the forex market.

If you want to learn more about improving your forex trading success and how employing a set of price action strategies can help you achieve this, please visit my Price Action Forex Trading Course page here – Good trading as always – Nial Fuller

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Nial Fuller

About Nial Fuller

is a Professional Trader, Investor & Author who is considered ‘The Authority’ on Price Action Trading. His blog is read by over 200,000+ followers and he has taught 25,000+ students since 2008. In 2016, Nial won the Million Dollar Trader Competition. Checkout Nial's Professional Trading Course here.
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  1. Благодарность

    Thanks Mr. Nial! Super article!

    Reply
  2. kingsley joseph

    nice work keep it up

    Reply
  3. Stephen

    Great Article Nial, of all the sites and blogs I was running into, this is the best, sincere and full of honest advises. Well done !! and BIG Thanks !

    Reply
  4. ONYEKA

    hmmmmm!all these sounds interesting but as a novice with not much capital,i hope i will come back to write on this plantform how success full i have become as a part time trader.
    thanks for the information provided.

    Reply
  5. emmanuel

    Well articulated subject…keep it up Nial.

    Reply
  6. Yohance

    I’ve been following Nial for nearly 3 years now and his articles and advice come from a place of truth and philanthropy, it is what traders need to hear no matter what stage of their trading lives they are currently at.

    The Source of all things will bless you Nial, keep up the good work!

    Reply
  7. Steve

    Nial. I’ve been following your articles for some weeks now and all of them have made sense. like others I thought forex was a get rich quick plan and has cost me near on £10k. I’v now been trading a demo account since August this year following pure price action on the daily/4hr time frames and to date have doubled the 10k demo accout using proper money management. Really hope you keep up your excellent work.

    Reply
  8. Mgp

    Thank you great master !!

    As always excellent article. It gives the new trader the importance of using daily charts than messing up with lesser time frames…. Fan of you dear :)

    Reply
  9. Cameron

    you just descrbied me m8.
    im working 12 hour days 6 days a week, as soon as i get back im on the forex as long as i can trading low time frames and have lost a coupple of k.
    now uv posted this its opened my eyes so much, chears nial!!

    Reply
  10. bridgespotter

    “We’ve all heard the story of the tortoise and the hare…the tortoise took his time but he…got…there.” cannot remember who sang that.

    Reply
  11. seb

    yes, i recomend anybody to take nial’s advice seriuosly, as i have been down that road, and traiding partime and daily charts is the way foward..

    Reply
  12. Brian

    Spot on Nial (again). Decided I really need to start trading daily setups now. By the way, are you on twitter?

    Reply
  13. Agnes Alungat

    Thanks alot Nial, its like this article was addressed to me!I have learned forsure.

    Reply
  14. Raj

    Nail, your each week article appears to have written for me, have made all those mistakes, now doing demo trade with a plan following your golden words. Would not like to lose time, money and myself. You are doing an excellent Job. Thank you

    Reply
  15. Bart

    Thanks Nial for another great article.
    I enjoy your weekly articles a lot and they have helped me heaps with my trading.
    I agree totally with your slow approach, and have found that now after several years studying charts that I can actually read them totally different to a year ago, when I thought I understood it all, but could not make a successful trade.
    This last month I had over 90% gains on a very small account, just playing really, but which gave me the confidence in slowly slowly stepping up the pace.
    Your help and the great people on the forum have been an invaluable contribution to this.
    Thanks again and keep up the good work.
    Bart
    Denmark Western Australia

    Reply
  16. John from Sweden

    Hi Nial
    Thank you for this article – and you continued, consistant work to help us struckling beginners / intermediates.
    During my 1,5 years forex experience, I have followed a few “internet gurus”
    However while offering free tips based on their own “glorious trading career”, most of these “gurus”
    seems to spam more and more endorsements of other “gurus” products – this being courses, trading robots, manual systems – ect.
    All leaving me with the feeling, that – the forex market might not be as easy to trade as it used to be – and they just might need the extra income, because, their trading business might not be going quite as well, as the pretty picture they like to paint.
    In this scenary, it looks, like you – together with a very few others, stand out as always being completly honest about your agenda.
    Adapting other peoples idears into something that directly influence your economy – like forex trading, takes trust – lots of trust, and thats where you differentiate – Thank you for that – like Holyfield – although allot younger – you are “the real deal”
    Thanks from
    John

    Reply
  17. Mauricio

    MUCHAS GRACIAS!!

    Reply
  18. DAN DARE

    I agree that the stress on trading depending making a living & paying your way is nearly impossible
    DAN D’

    Reply
  19. T Allen

    Great Article Nial – Thanks again.

    Reply
  20. Thank you Nial.
    This article will help me in my desicion to be a part – time trader.
    Ilya.

    Reply
  21. Butch

    This article is the absolute truth. I too am guilty of all the above shortcomings. It is very difficult to control the urge to “Always Be In A Trade”. I finally gave up and found much less stress trading the Daily charts. Not as many signals ,but the ones I get are consistently reliable. I still like to peak at the charts during the day, but I make no decisions until NY close. I’m still trading demo account ’cause I’m a trader-in-training. Thanks again Nial for saying what needs to be said.

    Reply
  22. Galen Tarrence

    Hello Mr. Fueller

    Yes, Yes, Yes to the concept within your article. I will put into practice the experience in which you offer.

    Galen

    Reply
  23. Riaan Bredell

    Excellent article!! I’ve made ALL the trading mistakes you are referring to.

    Reply
  24. Fabian

    Hi Nial

    Thank you. Another very good and helpful article. I appreciate your work!

    Reply
  25. Jason

    Good article Nial..You pretty much summed up every hole i fell into when i began trading 4 years ago..I jumped in up to my neck thinking i had it all sussed..3 months later and $28.000.00 + poorer..I discovered your videos on YouTube..I have been trading a demo account for the past several years..Getting better and better to the point where i am consistantly profitable..I don’t know about you..But i believe this market is highly manipulated the BIG players..With this in mind..My main trading stratagy is based on the big stop loss hunts..Simply jumping on their tail as the big moves occur..Also before any 3 star economic news release..They tend to take out a high or low point before moving to a mid range shortly before time of release..Do you notice this..or is it just me..Jase..Queensland

    Reply
  26. Ellis Russell

    This is so true. Trading the daily market with a good trading set-up will force you to become a much more disciplined and patient trader; to my mind two of the key ingredients of success. With this approach you can analyze the market in a fraction of the time trading the lower markets. I have the time, but would have to consider long and hard before trading anything lower than the 4 hour chart. Even then I prefer to trade the daily charts because I think my trades are much more solid.

    Reply
  27. Zacharias

    Nial,

    I love you more than anyone ever loved you; in a manly way of course. :-)))

    Reply