TRADING MENTOR: ALL YOU SHOULD KNOW

Trading Mentor: All you should know

According to Wikipedia, mentorship is “a developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person—who can be referred to as a protégé, or apprentice — to develop in a specified capacity.”

And evidently, there are several advantages attached to learning a skill or trade from a mentor. A few of these advantages are a reduced learning curve, reduction in the time spent on trial and error methods, more valuable time to invest in other productive processes, faster achievement of set goals, and so on. Factually speaking, the list of advantages to be enjoyed from employing a credible and experienced mentor in any field is limitless. Having said that, we must mention that your mentor needs to be legit, qualitative, and also exhibit a few more specific characteristics. In this article, we as an online trading academy have carefully explained all that’s needed as regards having a mentor when trading forex, futures, and stocks.

So, without much ado, let’s get to business.

Who is a mentor?

As humans that we are, there are several distinct ways that we gain knowledge and learn new skills. One of such is self-education. At the moment, we now see several people teaching themselves how to do some stuff, such as how to cook, playing an instrument, and so on. Typically, things you self-educate yourself in simply allows you an internal sense of achievement and gratification, all thanks to our natural talents. Besides, as humans, another means by which we learn is by a systematic education, either through private or public school. And ultimately, another form by which one can learn is by taking instructions from another person who must have been certified to teach that particular subject.

Nonetheless, irrespective of our mode of learning, especially the two latter forms, once we are done with just enough course-work, we attain a college or diploma degree, which is yet another testament to our mastery in such a field. However, more often than not, these college degrees don’t tell that such persons have a particular industry-related skill. What it does basically is to make you employable.

Also, even if you have been conferred with a college degree, often, most job-related skills are best learned through learning on-the-job, especially from someone who already has a better experience than you. This person is regarded as a mentor. Typically, a mentor trains his or her mentee – you – according to his or her expertise in those fields too. That is to say, you learn from your mentor’s mistakes, wins, lessons, and so on.

Why you need a mentor to help you learn how to trade

Just as it is in other skill-oriented fields, beginners are susceptible to several mistakes in forex, futures, and stock trading, and unfortunately, these people can eventually make a mistake repeatedly.

So, by learning first-hand from someone who has repeatedly traveled down the rocky and rough road of forex, futures, and stock trading is essential after-all. Without gainsaying, it exaggeratively contributes to the number of success a novice achieves in trading and investing in the financial market.

When trading and investing, almost all initial mistakes that one makes result in the loss of money, which is very different from other professions. And this is why having an experienced and credible mentor in the business of trading and investing is paramount to your success as a trader.

Except you are a stark beginner and this is your first encounter with trading and investing, then you obviously have realized how much jungle there is in the world of forex, futures, and stocks, and also the large chunk of information available for you need to digest on your journey to trading success. One of the early-issues you will encounter, especially as a newbie, is getting quality information. At the moment, there are loads of persons out there who just want to make quick money off newbies, thereby offering questionable and subpar information for unsuspecting humans who are relatively new in the world of forex, futures, and stocks. And this is more reason you need someone you can call a mentor in trading and investing.

Having agreed that you need a mentor to trade forex, futures, and stocks, then the next logical step one is expected to take is seeking an experienced and credible mentor – remember, not everybody qualifies to be a mentor. When seeking a mentor, ensure that you end up with someone who primarily practices what he or she teaches, someone who is going to offer you on-going support, someone who can be easily contacted, and so on.

Basically, there are several things to look out for when seeking a mentor. So briefly, we will be explaining in detail what and what you need to expect from your mentor. This way, you will be sure of being on the right track.

What you should look for in a trading mentor

Skeptical and unsure of what to look out for in a mentor for trading and investing? Let us put you through – keep reading.

Firstly, your mentor should build your belief in any of the trading methods that they are teaching, and also help you attain a reasonable extent of confidence that such an approach is worth learning. This way, you will find it easier to commit and study the method in question. Your mentor should also be able to confidently teach and describe his or her method of trading. This would ensure you believe in such a technique as much as they do. However, if they can’t correctly describe their trading methods, then definitely, it is either they don’t believe in such a method themselves, or they do not use that method at all.

A truthful fact is that trading – forex, futures, or stocks – is one of the most challenging things to wrap one’s head and mind around. And the funny thing here is that many of these so-called trading gurus and mentors have long left trading and all they do now is seek short-cuts to making money by selling trading manuals or road maps to unsuspecting newbies. So, if your mentor is genuinely an active cum successful trader, then he or she must be able to discuss specific trades, trading steps, market view, and so on, with you via your medium of communication, be it emails, calls, etc.

Another thing you need to look out for in your mentor is if they practice what they preach.

Many a time, these so-called mentors do not actually trade the same way they teach people to trade. And really, a mentor who treads on this same path is either not legit or unsure of what he or she is teaching. When your mentor practices precisely what they teach, providing daily market commentary and a discussion forum where you are provided with regular market updates and insights, it shows that such a mentor is an active participant in the market and is connected with a passion for what he or she is doing. And indeed, any substantial and legit mentor will provide just this service, or better still, something similar.

In summary, what we are trying to say is that to know and be sure of the credibility and legitimacy of any trading mentor. Such a mentor must be trading precisely what they are teaching. This way, you will even be sure that their strategy is valid and worth the stress of learning.

Having understood this, the next big question you should ask yourself is, can trading and investing be taught in its entirety by a trading coach? Fine, we already understand the need for a trading mentor (read as coach), and how we can identify one when we see them. But then, can you, as a newbie, understand everything about trading and investing from your trading coach? Wonder less; we will show it to you in the next section of this article.

Can trading and investing be taught totally by a trading coach?

In this section, we seek to explore the argument of whether or otherwise, a stark newbie can learn everything and anything on trading forex, futures, and stocks from a trading coach or mentor. So, now, the question is, is it possible for an aspiring trader to learn how to trade and invest in the financial market successfully, or is it an innate ability?

Actually, there are a series of arguments and theories in the trading industry about the extent to which an individual can learn trading from a trading mentor, and consequently, there are loads of responses in this regard too. however, based on our experience, below are what we have to say about the matter:

Firstly, and most importantly, we believe it is very feasible and possible for aspiring traders to learn and understand how to trade and invest successfully. Although it all depends on if such a trader is prepared to do what is necessary. By saying, “what is necessary,” we simply refer to being realistic in their dealings and also ensuring that they are learning an effective Supply and Demand trading strategy. And then, besides, there is something referred to as the “psychology factor.” This is tricky and in fact, the most delicate part. And in as much as we won’t delve into the section of traders’ psychology in this article as we have a few articles dedicated for that cause, it is imperative that we as an online trading academy mention that the mind of a student and the psychology of trading plays a crucial part in determining if such a student will succeed or fail.

Is trading by nature or nurture?

We try all possible bests to teach traders the psychological factors,” and also help them develop how they think and discipline themselves. However, in the long run, it is up to such trader to invest so much effort into working on his or her mindset and developing essential trading properties such as patience and discipline. We must also add that many traders of forex, futures, and stocks find themselves failing, not necessarily because they are not employing an effective Supply and Demand trading strategy, but because they either over-trading, or they have succumbed to an overly addictive trait with their trading. And honestly, these addictions ruin trading accounts faster than you can imagine.

However, we must also state that of a truth, trading does occur naturally for some particular people. And this is because some humans have the brain chemistry that is way more in tandem to what is required in other to achieve success when trading forex, futures, and stocks. Things that are heavy influencers of one’s brain chemistry include discipline, natural motivation, patience, and some other positive habits. Evidently, some people have more of this right combination than others. This accounts for why trading can appear so easy for some persons, while some might just get to pull through. No matter what it sounds like, trading successfully isn’t impossible for anyone.

Indeed, to overcome the deficiency of one’s brain chemistry in regards to trading, you just need the right amount of passion and drive.

A trading experiment in nature versus nurture

One of the best examples of how a good trading coach or mentor can teach newbies to trade successfully is Richard Dennis’s Turtles. This is a group of people that were trained to trade by Richard Dennis, following a bet from William Eckhart, his friend, who argued that trading could not be learned.

With just a requirement of being committed and disciplined, set by Dennis, and 23 individuals with most of them having zero trading experience, each of them started trading with amazing results just after a few weeks of trading by Dennis. This success made Eckhart accept that trading can be taught successfully, although only by an effective mentor, and, of course, open-minded students.

Successful vs. unsuccessful traders

Do you know that even with the best trading methods and strategies, money management skills, and trader psychology, you might still fail in the markets? Well, that’s not that from the truth. To succeed in all ramifications of the market, you need to have yet another element called “gut feeling.” This element is a heavy influencer of a student’s failure or success in the markets.

What we mean in the paragraph is that to be successful in trading and investing, you need to do the things unsuccessful traders are scared, lazy, or not prepared to do. The thing is that the majority of traders expect someone to introduce them to a system that will make quick money for them. However, in the real sense, a system doesn’t make money for traders but in the other way round. And to do this, as a trader, you need to learn your trading method to the max – both in and out – and you need to master your trading methods, and these are things that the turtle traders did. And that is what you will also need to do with any method that you must have chosen to trade with.

Learning how to be a successful forex, futures, and stock trader is like any other profession in the sense that you will need to spend time to develop and hone the required skills. In the real sense, no one is actually born a good leader – even though there are a few who have good brain chemistry for trading. To become one, you need to spend time to learn – it doesn’t just happen over the night.

Conclusion

We can never over-emphasize the importance of finding an experienced and credible trading mentor. And as we have also mentioned above, there are several chunks of misleading information available now in the trading industry. And these kinds of stuff actually pose more harm than good to traders. However, if your trading mentor beats all the criteria that have been discussed in this article, then you are most likely good to go with such a person. At onlinetradingcampus.com, we hold a firm belief in fulfilling these essential requirements for the betterment of a trader’s trading career and learning experience.

If you want to learn more about professional trading and investing across multiple asset classes such as forex, futures, and stocks, please sign up HERE for free at our online trading academy www.onlinetradingcampus.com and get access to a free three-hour introductory course.

Happy trading!

Author Bio: Bernd Skorupinski teaches the undiluted truth about trading and investing at Online Trading Campus and takes you through what it takes to be a consistently successful trader. His favorite moment as a trading mentor is the way peoples’ eyes light up with excitement and confidence when they understand how Supply and Demand trading strategy works and how it can help win in the trading arena. He believes in building core values and discipline that ensures his students do not succumb to the pressures and temptations of the market. He very much believes in following plans and strategy through. If you want to know more about the author Bernd Skorupinski please read HERE