I thought about frequently asked questions! — What was the moment I started to win? How long was the period? —

Q: How long did it take you to become able to win? Also, what triggered your ability to win? Before and after you became able to win, what big changes occurred?

A: It took about 5 years to become consistently able to win. The trigger was learning a study method. The difference before and after becoming able to win is whether it was gambling or not. I would like to summarize this area in this article.

◎ The start of FX and the period of losses

The reason I started FX was that I became physically unwell and could no longer do physically demanding work. Since I dropped out of school early and had little formal education, it was difficult to obtain an office-type inside-the-organization job, so I stepped into the world of investment that does not require a formal education.

In the early stages of starting FX, I thought that if I traded enough times, I would win. I traded vaguely, and even when I lost, I would say “it’s experience,” and would keep adding funds. That period lasted about four years.

From the following triggers, I gradually started to win, but it took about a year and a half to become consistently profitable. So, in total it took a little over five years.

Looking back now, the first four years were mostly just spending money without real experience. It was a wasted period, I think.

◎ The study method that made me win

Even though I say “the study method that made me win,” I didn’t find a guaranteed method.

During the four years of continual losses, I was just repeating trades. So I decided to enroll in an FX school in Fukuoka. There I learned the basics of FX and approaches to trading, fundamental concepts. Because I had not studied in middle school or high school, they also taught me how to study. I learned many things there, but the most important I felt was “strategies and verification are more important than trading.”

Build a strategy → trade → record results → verify → reflect into the strategy

To build a strategy means creating a benchmark for trading. For example, commonly heard “Double top” and “Double bottom,” and decide to sell or buy when the neck line is broken. It’s better to decide in detail. For example, “On a 5-minute chart, if there’s a ‘double top,’ sell; if there’s a ‘double bottom,’ buy; stop and limit are 10 pips,” something like that.

Next is trading. Trade according to the strategy.

When you trade, you will inevitably see results. Record those results. It’s better to record as finely as possible. For example, “date and time,” “currency pair,” “sell or buy,” “entry and exit rates,” “double top or double bottom,” “profit or loss,” and so on.

As the results accumulate, it’s time to verify. What is the win rate for doubles top? What is the win rate for doubles bottom? What are the win rates by currency pair? And so on, verify from several angles. Then you’ll see which ones perform well and which don’t. Keep the good results and modify the others. Implement the modified ones into the next trading strategy.

When a new strategy is created, you again trade, record, and verify as described above. Through this, even a strategy that initially never won can gradually become profitable. It’s all about constant repetition.

◎ Shortening time with a school

There is no guaranteed method in trading. You have to develop your own trading style. To do that, you must repeatedly trade as described above.

In that sense, a school isn’t strictly necessary, but building it from scratch through trading and verification takes a lot of time.

I’m not saying to push through schools or products entirely. Some are deceptive. However, schools and similar programs carry the experiences and knowledge of many people. By leveraging them, you can acquire experience and knowledge. So I believe schools are not places to learn guaranteed methods, but places to acquire knowledge and experience, which would otherwise take you a long time to accumulate yourself.

◎ Before and after becoming able to win

During times of continuous losses, trading was everything. I put 100% of my energy into trading.

Encouraged by the triggers above, I started to value recording carefully.

Even now that I can win, I still value recording. Not only numerical records but also videos to capture price movements during big events.

Also, I believe there is no end to strategy, trading, recording, and verification. Therefore, what I record changes over time. Trading is not the main focus anymore; strategy and verification are. This is the difference between before and after becoming able to win.

As long as you prioritize trading, I think it is gambling. When strategy and verification take precedence, it becomes investing.Always aim to investin your approach.