Know your journey and the outcomes expected
You may enter a series of say three triathlons being run in your city over the next 12 months and start to ask others‟ advice on training. It is highly likely you will get different advice based on the expertise, ages, strategies, openness, strengths and weaknesses of different competitors. Buying an $8,000 super bike, learning about complex food combinations or spending 20 hours a week in a pool may be useful advice from those already doing it, but it may not be relevant for your desired outcomes (of say general fitness and fun). It can be very confusing when deciding who to listen to and what is relevant for you without first determining exactly what you want out of the event. Are you after a challenge, being number one in your age group, using the focus to improve your swimming, something different to do, losing weight, cross training or beginning a new career? Either way, the advice you seek must be from a likeminded source and be tailored to your relevant outcomes.
Active investing and trading CFDs is a numbers game. We are aiming to build a method (system) that we can consistently apply to a very competitive and volatile market to make a return and manage the risks and leverage available to us. Before taking any advice or setting a direction you need to define your outcomes for the next stages of your development. For instance:
Stage 1. Awareness of the markets and where you want to go
Stage 2. Understanding of the markets, tools and trading methods
Stage 3. Basic proficiency in trading shares and/or CFDs
Stage 4. Intermediate proficiency in trading
Stage 5. Advanced trader looking for additional markets
Stage 6. Professional trader (if this is part of the plan)
These stages are detailed in the bonus ‘Define your strategies and outcome’ for you to complete. Once this is done, decisions on what you need to learn, which markets to start trading, who to listen to, what tools you need and setting achievable outcomes can begin. Write down a few pencil notes in the exercise now and then you can review and refine it when you have digested all the information that follows.
