People who take up FX as a side job should first discard: the fate of a 500,000 yen account that earns only USD/JPY without chart analysis
Many people who start FX as a side business have a common initial misunderstanding.
It is the belief that “to win, you must watch a lot, think a lot, and make many judgments.”
However, there is something that people who trade FX as a side business should discard from the outset.
It is the attitude of “always prepared to respond.”
People who have a main job cannot spend all their time only on FX. They have work. They have family. There are many things to do. In that context, they keep checking the market on their smartphone whenever they’re curious about price movements. When they move a little, they panic. Even at work, price moves stay on their mind. At night, they end up watching charts and don’t sleep enough. This is supposed to be about increasing money, but life ends up collapsing instead.
If you’re trading as a side business, the most important thing is to keep a sustainable form.
Nevertheless, many people try to imitate the method of professional full-time traders: constantly monitor the market, look for chances, make fine judgments, and respond each time. Even for people with time, this is hard. For those trading as a side business, the burden becomes even greater.
Moreover, the more you look, the more judgments you make. The more judgments you make, the more doubt you have. The more doubt you have, the more your rules crumble. As a result, your entries become unstable. Your exits become unstable. Both stop-loss and take-profit move emotionally. What started as a casual side business ends up eroding only your mental state before you notice it.
What side-business FX traders should discard first is the premise of “staying glued to the market forever.”
You should not live according to the market; you should change your approach to fit your life.
Decide your viewing time.
Decide your entry time.
Decide your exit time.
Do not increase unnecessary analysis.
If you fix your rules like this from the start, the number of judgments will be greatly reduced. What side-business traders need is not instantaneous agility or talent, but a model that can be executed without wavering even with limited time.
Personally, I found the most realistic approach to be a rule-based method that is completed by time, not a strategy based on constant monitoring. Check at a set time, enter at a set time, exit at a set time. With this form, it’s harder to disrupt your life. It reduces needless hesitation. It’s easier to continue even as a side business. That’s why it’s suitable for beginners.
The people who are most likely to fail in FX tend to think, “If I try harder, I’ll win.” But what a side-business trader needs is not to work harder, but to reduce overexertion.
If a full-time worker tries to align everything with the market, they will eventually suffer. Therefore, the first thing to discard is the method of “always chasing the market.” Letting go of that will enable you to continue longer and more stably.
If you trade FX as a side business, it’s better to choose a method that doesn’t collapse rather than a flashy win. A form that can be continued while protecting your life may look like a detour, but it remains much more realistic in the long run.
I have compiled beginner-friendly, low-risk oriented, time-based strategies that do not require chart watching.
It’s a rule-based approach that proceeds only at the designated times, making it easy to implement even for busy people.
If you want to continue FX as a side business but don’t want to be exhausted by constant monitoring or discretionary trading, please take a look at this ↓
I’ll also include the next entry date.