Plan, Start, Execute and Grow

As a trader, you first need to understand which stage of a trader's life cycle you are in. Also you need to be aware of what are the steps you have to take, what are the parameters you have to achieve, before you can move on to the next stage.

Planning Stage :

You are still in the planning stage, if you are trader,

• who has just begun his trading
• who has traded for several years but still lack in confidence
• who is not sure about which platform, indicator, tool, analysis to use for your next trade.
• who has still not found a reliable source for taking his next trades

Start - up Stage :

You graduate to the start - up stage, once you

• prepare a clear and decisive intent about your capital, platform, indicator,instrument, time frame, size and frequency of your trades.
• have a clear sense of how much you are allowed to lose on a trade
• are clear about the number of consecutive failures you are allowed
• have made for yourself a clear definition of what a successful trade means
• are confident about reaching your goal of consecutive successes based on your study while you were in the planning stage
• accept the fact that you might have to refinance your trades until your goal of consecutive successes is achieved and,
• accept that you may have to revisit the planning stage if the plan fails to deliver

Execution Stage :

You can count yourself above the planning stage but in the execution stage, if you have 

• come out a winner for more than your goal of successful consecutive trades
• belief that the trade setup of your liking will appear sooner or later
• confidence on your tools, indicators and analysis that the next trade will succeed
• more winners than losers and need to raise your level of trading

Growth Stage :

Once past the first three stages, which are the most difficult ones, you are ready for the last and the most gratifying stage. Here you will have to

• decide on a money management plan
• decide on a withdrawal plan
• decide on a reinvestment of profit plan
• get used to making larger trades than what you are used to
• know what are the market wide limitations to these larger quantities
• know when to "reset" your investment cycle due to these limitations

Once you get to know where you are on your path to success and what are your next milestones, it becomes easy to take the "Next Steps" toward the next milestone.