I have often seen that this is where most traders break. Those who do not give up but continue to implement a new system repeatedly will slowly become consistent.
There are a few keys to becoming consistent as a forex currency trader.
Deciding what your consistency goal should be ahead of time
An aspiring currency trader can only define his goal for trading consistency by setting a trading style. A trading style determines the market types you consider yourself comfortable enough to trade with high accuracy.
If there is sufficient data available, I recommend you backtest all styles on historical data until you find one that is profitable over the period you are considering.
When deciding on a style, make sure there is enough data available to backtest it with confidence. Also, notice that an effective trading style should not depend heavily on market volatility, as this changes all the time.
Timing is everything
The right time frame to choose is also essential. It depends on your comfort zone and how much you can process, but I recommend traders not to trade faster than 5-minute charts for this reason ( because volatility decreases then).
So, if you are planning on a daily trading chart, make sure there’s enough data available, say at least one year of history. If you cannot afford a more extended period due to budgetary constraints, find a broker which allows you to backtest strategies with trusted 3rd party tools.
Once you have defined what style your strategy should fit, then find the most suitable market type.
For example, scalping styles are usually more profitable than smaller time frames (less than 5 minutes), ranging markets on 4hr-daily charts, swing trading on weekly pairs, etc.
Defining your goal
Now you can define your consistency goal:
My style is short term, ranging with an average win rate of at least 3 out of 5 trades per day.
“I would like to achieve this level of consistent profitability in 1 month or less.”
If you keep practising, you will become consistent eventually. But do not expect things to happen overnight! Consistent trading, like any other skill which needs to be learned step by step.
Having the right mindset for consistent profitability
You must have an extremely positive mindset if you want to achieve consistency easily and fast.
It is where your focus goes when you get caught up in bad trades. It is what drives your research and motivates you not to give up.
It is leaning towards nothing but success! The following factors are essential:
Self-trust
Your past failures should not make you doubt yourself. Sometimes it takes many attempts before one finally succeeds at something, especially if it is an entirely new experience.
Learning to trade, for example, does not have any experiences that you can lean on as an indicator of what will happen in the future. You need to build your success criteria and trust yourself to know when you are ready. That’s why consistency is so important.
If you work hard enough, success is inevitable!
Have faith
Someone might convince you that trading needs luck or some sort of magic, which makes it sound very attractive yet unreachable. Trading requires discipline and patience, which leads me straight to my next point.
Self-discipline
There are countless stories from highly successful traders at one stage, only to lose all their money. This happens when they can not control their emotions and start chasing losses, becoming too greedy or afraid to take profits.
Making a living from trading is no joke! It requires strict discipline every day by planning your trades ahead of time and sticking to your plan.
Patience
One almost inevitably needs tons of patience before one becomes consistently profitable. Remember that the learning process takes time.
It may you are going nowhere at first. But once you have an excellent strategy in place, pay for education and tools which help you boost your performance dramatically.
