Demo trading…how hard can it be? It is monopoly money. You are not strengthened or weakened financially by the trades you take. You only try to build confidence and see how well your “eye” develops.

Despite this philosophy, I had my problems:

• First, I insisted on using my MacBook. Then, I got frustrated and set the tools (MetaTrader4 [MT4] primarily) up on my PC laptop. Then, I switched back to my MacBook because I thought it would be easier. Then, I realized the only way I could win was to set up a Virtual Private Server (VPS) that was configured correctly.
• Second, after looking at enough charts and viewing enough training videos, I developed some skills in entering trades. Making money on the trades was a skill I have yet to develop consistently. If I want to make money on the trades, it typically is not much. And when it is, I have to manually close the trade. (When you are a better trader, there is less guessing and more instinct at work. When you are a “chart-whisperer,” you sometimes just “know” where the trade will close. My commitment to this status would be great if it wasn’t so hard to get there!)
• Third, do you want to test your logic on a setup? You should mark up a chart of a particular pair and post it. I have failed to take full advantage of this tool. With demo trading, I have thought, “If it works on demo trading, it was a good setup. If it fails, you must watch more videos or ask more questions in the accountability group.”
• What pair to follow? They advise choosing a 4 or 5. This way, you should always have something going on. When something is going on, you can set a trade-up in MT4. If nothing is going on, then you let the week slip by and take no trades. Or, if you insist on taking trades, you expand out to watching additional FOREX pairs.
• What time frame do you look at on the trades? If you see “something” on the 4H, you may need to go down to the 2H or 30M to see the point of interest. Once you commit to working with shorter time frames, you are likely to be sitting in front of the computer to babysit the trades. I never got into trading to be the “guy” who parked in front of his computer for 4 hours looking at trades. I am more the “set it and forget about it.”
• Once you find your Point of Interest (POI), you are encouraged to use “The Ultimate Confirmation Checklist.” While training is provided and the community helps you to have confidence in your ability to check the boxes in the checklist, there is still a fair amount of “instinct” and experience.
• I was fortunate to fall into a great accountability group. Sometimes, we look at charts and pick the brains of the more experienced members. Mostly, it is talking about goals and mindset. Some of our group’s members have had success, but none of them are yet full-time traders. If we have questions or need help with something between our meetings, we can always text each other or use Slack.

Any FOREX training program will need a many-faceted approach to provide the maximum chance of success. While I have listed a few of the tools available, it is still a buffet. The help is there if you are patient enough to buckle down and do the work. The question is, “When will the work pay off?” Will it take 3 months or 2 years? The people I interact with fall all along the spectrum.