Ready to go live? I can’t say. But you’re now probably infinitely better prepared to trade than if you would’ve watched YouTube trading videos over the past 3 months.
Binge-watching all kinds of fake gurus does absolutely nothing to make you a better trader. You’re just filling your head with lots of information, often times contradictory and inconsistent with what you learned from another guru last week. And this is actually a normal (although not productive) thing, since every trading strategy, concept or indicator is nothing more than a subjective interpretation of how the market moves. No one, absolutely no one owns the supreme truth in trading. Every decision we make as traders is based on subjectivity and probabilities. That’s why watching more videos, buying more courses and reading more threads won’t make you a consistent trader, but it will only enrich the authors while you end up even more confused.
However, as opposed to 90% of the wannabe traders out there, by following this 3-month roadmap as described on this website, you are taking an active approach to improving your trading skills. You are TESTING. You are DOING. You are COLLECTING DATA. That’s hard work that the 90% aren’t willing to do. You’re not just sitting around consuming content 8 hours a day, waiting to be spoon-fed a holy grail, magic pattern or secret algo. That’s single-digit IQ stuff and you should strive to differentiate yourself from the losing crowd.
Now, a couple of concrete aspects related to this roadmap.
• Assuming you go with my recommended services, during these 3 months you would have spent 3 * $35 for FXReplay, plus 3 * $29 for TradeZella Basic. That’s a total of less than $200 for your education and improvement as a trader. Moreover, that’s less than the price of 99% of the paid mentorships out there, and also less than the price of an average-sized prop firm challenge (which you would most probably fail anyway, tbh).
• For full transparency, the links I have provided on this page are affiliate links, meaning I get a tiny commission for each month you use the respective app or service. Don’t worry, I’m not getting rich off of you and I’m certainly not buying a Lambo with these pennies. You’re paying the same price as anyone would, and also supporting this website and other free educational projects that I’m going to post on my X page.
• For the love of God, stop wasting your hard-earned money on paid courses that teach you nothing new, 1-1 coaching that basically shoves repackaged concepts down your throat, newsletter subscriptions that only propagate the author’s subjective view on the market and adds no real value, or, even worse, trading signals groups. This is beta behavior. You’re choosing to depend on someone else for the rest of your trading career, basically making you no more than that guy’s little b.
• Now back to the original question: “Are you ready to go live?”. I’d be a complete clown to tell you yes or no. Only you will know when you feel ready to jump in. However, I strongly recommend moderation on your side. If you choose to pursue a challenge with one of these so-called prop firms, make sure you go with the ones that have been around for a while. Do your own research before throwing money at them. Also, don’t jump to the largest account challenge they have. Instead, go with a small-to-medium account initially, see how you handle the emotions and turbulence of real trading. Although, you’re basically still trading a demo account with more restrictions and worse trading conditions tbh.
• On the other hand, if you choose the broker route, you’ll have the benefit of not having all those restrictions, hidden rules and payout problems that “prop firms” come with. Also, since you’re trading with a highly regulated broker, the overall trading conditions and price feed will be way better compared with the “prop” industry. Basically, a 50k “funded” account is basically nothing more than a $5000 demo account with tons of restrictions and risks associated. It makes way more sense to trade $5000 with a regulated broker than a fake $50k account with a shady firm that can deny your payout anytime. But that’s just me, I guess. If you choose to trade your own money with a broker, don’t go all in. Start small, trade responsibly and treat it as a pro, not as a gambler.
• At the end of the day, it’s completely up to you how you want to proceed. That’s the beauty of trading, you’re 100% free to do anything. For some people, this is a blessing. For most, it’s a curse. Again, my preferred broker is below, they’re highly regulated, offering tons of instruments to choose from, they provide access via MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView, and a great reputation overall.
Best wishes! And let’s keep in touch on my X page @TraderFDAX