Competition Entry from Frieda, I love a challenge… I live in a sweet little town in Mexico; very tourist dependent… not much is going on here these days. I own an art gallery, but between the recession, the swine flu, the drug war media coverage in the states, … let’s just say I have a LOT of time to think and learn and figure out how to make a reliable income to become financially independent.

And yeah, I love a challenge. I love to pick the hard way, just to see if I can do it. Once I have decided that I can, and shall i learn this, I am not afraid to put in time, studying, studying, studying… (Little did I know what a trail of self discovery this would be, knowledge is but a small part of the equation

So I downloaded a few platforms, blew a few demo accounts, wow, this is like a game…

And then I decided to play for real, $1000 account… and it lasted me for a while. Trading a bunch. I read everything I could find, looking at charts, kept trying, I figured $1000 dollars to learn this stuff was not wasted money, so I started trading harder, blowing it faster.

Its like I thought the quicker I could loose it, the faster I could learn.
Blow my first account and move on… what a weird way of thinking! (The challenge was looking more like learning to control my head, rather than just learning trading)

My favorite way to lose was the following method: Oh, yes, right, the trend is my friend. Let’s see… this pair is going down on a daily chart, yes, 4 hour as well, 1 hour… still red… and wow, perfect timing, the last half hour has been going down, 15 min chart, 5 min chart… and it is actually going down still, right now. Yes! Quick, quick, let’s make some pips right now, what are the chances it will stop just now? The answer to that question? I think the chances of it stopping were about 99 %.

I was losing the enthusiasm, but having taken on the challenge… what could I do. Minimum deposit into my live trading account was 250 dollars, so I did that a couple more times… Tried an automated tipping service… no need to tell you more. Then I ran across the LMT. What caught my attention was the lack of hype. In Deans little demo videos, he did not try to convince. Just showed what he did, and that’s it.

After I bought the LMT, Dean sent me a few things, sharing interesting forex stuff, and I started to believe I found someone who really cares. Then, the forexmentorprogram came up, and I found my mentor! Someone who really cares about teaching, has his students’ interest at heart, and does not mind repeating the same stuff over and over. Someone who is always a step (or two) ahead of the mistakes and the traps that are lurking… It is uncanny, and actually very funny, how Marc knows what is going on not only in forex, but in the students’ minds.

“Now don’t get despondent.” or… “You are all on a high and cannot wait for the markets to open”! What I also learned from Marc is that it does not have to be all that stressful. “Move on.com”, a missed trade is something you chuckle about. When I am on my own, trading, I hear the chuckles in my head, I hear the advice and it slowly sinks in. So often,” I will hear the “don’t do it”, and it will actually keep me from pulling the trigger!

I am learning that you need serious reasons to place at trade, and more importantly I am learning that when you do not have good reasons, multiple good reasons… you stay out. After all, the loosing trades you do not take, are the ones that keep you from blowing the account, or loosing weeks worth of hard work in a reckless moment.

A serious break through for me was to not only understand, but accept, that you do not just jump in, when the price is going one way or other… even if you know where it will end up. I realize now that is akin to gambling, you might as well trade randomly or blind, because you can be sure a pullback will happen and take your stop loss.

How I finally got it was to think of a balloon, when after a day or so it starts to deflate, and just floats around the room… if it hits a barrier, like the ceiling, it will slowly move down. If it drops on the floor it may bounce up… even all the way to the ceiling again, but if it does not touch anything, it will just float without direction, up and down…

Now I look at trend lines, resistance, ema’s etc as physical barriers that sometimes let the ball go through, and sometimes bounce it off.

My losing trades are often for more pips than the winning ones, but overall I had a few winning weeks, so I may go live again! I realize I should wait for a few winning months, maybe, but I feel like I turned a corner. To keep me from getting too confident I shall keep listening to the tutorials, over and over and over… until one day, I will not only understand, but live the good advice given.

I've Never had so much fun in my life! And… no need to look for a new challenge yet… this forex dream will keep me learning for a long time to come, for sure. I do believe that one day; I shall get it, though. How could I not, with a mentor chuckling in my head, pointing out the mistakes that I am about to make that day… The day will come that I will say… ” I shall close this trade, made enough with it. I can go to my favorite restaurant tonight and not give a damn” Then, I will consider the challenge a success, and I will toast to Marc and Dean, the forex mentors.

Frieda