One of the trickiest things I'm finding as a mentor, is managing trader's expectations. Many of them think that they can turn around their fortunes and become consistently profitable within a few weeks of trying a new strategy, a few days even - it just doesn't work like that. A good strategy is only a platform to work off. If you do not intrinsically understand the sport, the markets or the psychology behind trading, it doesn't matter how good the system is - you will fail.
Amongst the enquiries I received about the trading academy, I found that I could separate traders into two distinct categories. Category One: Traders who had specific monetary targets and / or specific time periods by which they wanted to be profitable. The monetary targets are almost always unrealistic and the time periods almost always too short. These are the guys who are interested in how much money you are making, what size bank you've got and how much they can expect to make from a strategy.
Category Two: Traders who just want to learn and improve. They are not so bothered about specific goals and making large sums of money. What is more important to them, is learning the ropes, with a view that one day, hopefully, they will know enough to be consistently profitable. These guys tend not to worry about time and are prepared to be patient and work over a long period.
When I first advertised the academy, I asked people to email me and tell me a bit about themselves and their trading. Those who fell into category two are the ones I see most potential in and they are the ones I mostly chose to work with. Traders who fall into category one, I believe are going to struggle much more to find success in trading. Until you can put monetary targets and quick success to the back of your mind and focus on just learning, it's very difficult to progress as a trader. The frustration when those targets are inevitably not met, cause most traders to lose discipline and spiral out of control. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. I was a category one trader once and let me tell you, it added YEARS to my learning curve. Once I entered category two (after many failures and lost time) I started to turn things around.
It really boils down to two things: being patient and being realistic. Now of course, with the right help, someone can improve quite quickly and turn around their trading. I can already see a couple of my members who I think stand a fantastic chance of making it as a trader. And it's not about showing specific skills when executing trades; it's about ATTITUDE. When I see someone who exhibits positivity, patience, realism and hard work, that to me, is the right attitude to become a successful trader. When I see greed, impatience, negativity and laziness (wanting me to do all the work for them), I see someone who is about to lose their bank.
Perhaps the hardest expectation to manage, is stake sizes. Most new traders stake way too high after the merest hint of a winning streak and pay for it not long after. It was only 18 months ago that my maximum liability was just £50. I learnt with small amounts until I was consistent. Well, I did once I moved into category two! Then once I was able to work with a bigger bank, the profits rolled in on a larger scale but it wasn't because I had a bigger bank - it was because I was ALREADY consistently profitable from working with a small bank. I've tried to instil this from day one of the academy - let's see who listens!
Maria Kirilenko:
![]()
Amongst the enquiries I received about the trading academy, I found that I could separate traders into two distinct categories. Category One: Traders who had specific monetary targets and / or specific time periods by which they wanted to be profitable. The monetary targets are almost always unrealistic and the time periods almost always too short. These are the guys who are interested in how much money you are making, what size bank you've got and how much they can expect to make from a strategy.
Category Two: Traders who just want to learn and improve. They are not so bothered about specific goals and making large sums of money. What is more important to them, is learning the ropes, with a view that one day, hopefully, they will know enough to be consistently profitable. These guys tend not to worry about time and are prepared to be patient and work over a long period.
When I first advertised the academy, I asked people to email me and tell me a bit about themselves and their trading. Those who fell into category two are the ones I see most potential in and they are the ones I mostly chose to work with. Traders who fall into category one, I believe are going to struggle much more to find success in trading. Until you can put monetary targets and quick success to the back of your mind and focus on just learning, it's very difficult to progress as a trader. The frustration when those targets are inevitably not met, cause most traders to lose discipline and spiral out of control. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. I was a category one trader once and let me tell you, it added YEARS to my learning curve. Once I entered category two (after many failures and lost time) I started to turn things around.
It really boils down to two things: being patient and being realistic. Now of course, with the right help, someone can improve quite quickly and turn around their trading. I can already see a couple of my members who I think stand a fantastic chance of making it as a trader. And it's not about showing specific skills when executing trades; it's about ATTITUDE. When I see someone who exhibits positivity, patience, realism and hard work, that to me, is the right attitude to become a successful trader. When I see greed, impatience, negativity and laziness (wanting me to do all the work for them), I see someone who is about to lose their bank.
Perhaps the hardest expectation to manage, is stake sizes. Most new traders stake way too high after the merest hint of a winning streak and pay for it not long after. It was only 18 months ago that my maximum liability was just £50. I learnt with small amounts until I was consistent. Well, I did once I moved into category two! Then once I was able to work with a bigger bank, the profits rolled in on a larger scale but it wasn't because I had a bigger bank - it was because I was ALREADY consistently profitable from working with a small bank. I've tried to instil this from day one of the academy - let's see who listens!
Maria Kirilenko:
