Many of those new to forex trading are either too intimidated to seek out a mentor or unaware of the importance and value of one, but Casey Stubbs of WinnersEdgeTrading.com highlights what a mentor brings to the table when it comes to your new adventures as a forex trader.

The unique element of forex trading makes it difficult at first for even seasoned stock traders to navigate.  With a market that never sleeps and responds within seconds to worldwide events with unexpected fluctuations, a new trader will benefit from having a seasoned one to mentor them.  Not someone who is basing their knowledge on theories and probabilities, but one whose knowledge comes with the experience they have gained by trading in the forex market themselves.

What a Great Trading Mentor Offers

If you want to stop losing your forex account money quickly, adopt the attitude of learning from your own mistakes.  If you want to learn how to increase the amount in that account, seek a reputable mentor who’s willing to share his years of learned knowledge with you.  Intelligent traders are the ones who realize that they have a lot to learn and are not afraid to ask for help.

To find the mentor that is going to help you be a success, you want to look for the trader who is willing to share with you the results of all of their profitable and failed trades during their career.  He will be the one who is willing to open up his forex journal and allow you to peruse his pages of notes on what worked and what tanked.

Finding a Great Forex Mentor

Before you begin to blindly invest your money in currency pairs, invest your time in finding a reputable mentor that you can work with.  Ask around in your forex circles for recommendations on traders who have a proven track record of success.  A great forex mentor is going to already have a great reputation among his peers.

Once you have found the person who may be right for you, invite them out for lunch.  Test the waters and ask a few pointed questions about the market and their personal strategies.  If they open up and start sharing their secrets then you have found the trader who is not selfish with his knowledge for success.

If you feel that this is a person you could work with, go ahead and ask them to mentor you. It’s that simple.  Remember, they too were once a novice and possibly had someone in their professional career that was willing to take them under their wing.

Chances are they will be flattered by your request and happy to offer help.  If not, end the lunch on a positive note and move on to someone else.  Don’t take the rejection personally, some successful traders may find the idea of taking on the role of mentor to be too time consuming.

What a Great Forex Mentor Will Do

Your forex mentor should be meeting up with you at least once a month and perusing the notes in your journal.  They will be looking for signs that you are practicing profitable trading methods like risk assessment, stop loss orders, and time trend tracking. If they don’t see signs of these good trading habits, be prepared to be reprimanded.

A great forex mentor is not going to be shy about pointing out your mistakes and holding you accountable for them.  If they are, then you are gaining nothing from this relationship.  When your mentor does point out your weaknesses, don’t make excuses or try to defend your choices.  Instead, listen intently and take notes on what they are offering you.

NEXT PAGE: More Tips to Jot Down in Your Notebook

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After going over your monthly list of successes and defeats, a great mentor will than take the time to share with you what he would have done differently.  Not only what, but why.  The why is more important in showing you how to better analyze your charts and the market trends to make more profitable decisions in the future.  I look at it as trying to teach a small child not to stick his finger in a socket.  You can say stop a hundred times, but they most likely won’t until they feel that shock.  It is that knowing why that makes humans change negative behaviors.

Once your mentor is done with your notes, expect him to share some of his own.  This is where you get to see real life scenarios where a successful trader’s plans were devised and executed.  Take notes, particularly on what analytical tools the trader used when making profitable decisions.  They are employing methods that you probably never even considered while constructing your own plans and strategies.

Traders tend to have short memories when it comes to their failures, but will remember a success for decades.  Your mentor will not let you forget the mistakes you make and will be looking for signs at future meetings that you have changed those habits.  Don’t hold back on sharing if you didn’t take his advice.  Sometimes, there are mitigating factors affecting your decisions that you are not aware of.

I have found that when young traders begin to make bad decisions based on an emotional need to meet a goal, they are not even aware of what they are doing.  This could very well be the reason for your lack of discipline.  If you are honest with your mentor, he will be able to point out how you are emotionally trading, and show you successful ways to get out of that crippling cycle of loss.

If pride is standing in your way of finding a mentor, consider that even highly successful professionals will still rely on the help of others to improve on their own skills. Wimbledon tennis stars are never seen on court without their own coach standing by.  If you want to be a successful forex trader, you need to be as humble as Rafael Nadal and accept help and advice from a trader who has years more experience than you do.

By Casey Stubbs, Founder, WinnersEdgeTrading.com