10 Steps to Becoming a Profitable Binary Options Trader

These 10 steps will help you be a profitable trader.

Binary options trading is easy, right? All you have to do is deposit, pick an option, click “High” or “Low,” invest your money, and submit your trade, right? There are many websites and advertisements which will tell you that becoming a profitably binary options trader is as easy as 1-2-3. While the steps you take to actually input your trades into the binary options broker’s website may indeed be that quick and easy, being able to click your way through a trading interface does not mean you will become a profitable trader. Profitable trader relies on having a good systematic method in place for making consistent trades. It also relies on being able to manage your money intelligently and responsibly, and having the discipline to follow through. Here are 10 steps to becoming a profitable trader—not just a trader who relies on luck and ultimately loses, but one who relies on skill and ultimately wins.

1. Learn everything you can about binary options and trading.

All great journeys in life rely on having a road map, and binary options is no exception. You absolutely must have a strong working knowledge of the markets and how to trade in order to do well in this field. If you have only a casual, passing interest in binary options, you will never become successful over the long run. Researching gets you started on the path to choosing a trading method, which is essential for success.

2. Choose a great broker.

If you have a great trading method and everything else in place for success, but you do not choose a trustworthy broker which offers you the trading features you need to reach your goals, you will not be able to become profitable. Do plenty of research here as well, and be highly selective according to your own criteria.

3. Find a trading method.

You will need to find a way to stack the deck in your favor, in a manner of speaking. There is always going to be an aspect of chance involved in trading, and therefore an aspect of risk. You can never totally eliminate that, but you can learn to control your risk and reduce your chances of losing a trade. How? By looking for patterns in the market, and coming up with a testable method for entering and exiting binary options trades which allows you to avoid losing trades. You’re not totally on your own here; there are tons of free systems out there which you can use to get started. Check out these charting methods to help you.

4. Backtest your trading method.

Once you have found some candidates for trading methods, you need to test them out on historical market data to see how they might have performed in the past. This does not take nearly as much time as demo testing, and thus can actually save you a lot of time (and money). Do this before you demo test or trade live to ensure you are on the right path.

5. Demo test your trading method.

After you find a trading method which performs well on historical data, try test driving your method using a demo account. Demo accounts are available from some of the better binary options brokers, and allow you to place free trades using virtual currency. By doing this, you can make sure your method is working in real time before you put real money on the line. You will encounter plenty of hurdles while testing your trades, both in real time and in backtesting, and those hurdles would cost you money if you simply went live with your trading without testing. Testing thus saves you money, and since time is money, it saves you time as well.

6. Never stop testing and learning.

Even after you start trading profitably with real money, never stop discovering new things about the market and working on perfecting your method. Plus, you will quickly find out that the market is not a static entity; it is an evolving ecosystem, and you and your trading method will have to be flexible enough to evolve with it. Never let yourself become complacent.

7. Live a balanced life.

This may not sound like the most important thing, but it really is critical. If you slack off, you will not make much money trading, but on the other hand, if all you do is work all day, you will eventually burn out. So it is up to you to find a balanced way to conduct your life, balancing trading with work, relationships, and other aspects of your life.

8. Stay healthy.

This is related to living a balanced life, but you would be surprised how many traders overlook its importance. If you do not eat right, exercise, and sleep well, you will have a difficult time having a clear mind. Trading without mental clarity is generally going to result in a lot of avoidable losses. Plus this is the sort of behavior that will eventually cause you to burn out. So take your health seriously. A healthy body and mind lead to a healthy balance in your trading account.

9. Write down your trading plan and come up with realistic goals.

Binary options trading can be a very complex activity, and as such, it pays off to write down your trading plan. This includes all the details of your trading system, a checklist for entering trades (so you do not skip steps on mistake), and also other aspects of trading like your schedule and your mindset. This is a good place to record your trading goals, which should be realistic and meaningful. You also should consider keeping a detailed trading journal so that you can track your past progress and make changes which will help you profit more in the future.

10. Know thyself.

Possibly the single most important aspect of trading is your own psychology. You can be the weakest or strongest link in the trading chain of success. No matter how great your system is, how excellent your banker is, and how much work you put into trading, you will not succeed if you do not have a strong understanding of yourself, your emotions, and your motivations. To do well trading, you have to be consistent, and that means you have to develop self discipline. This can be one of the biggest challenges of trading, but it can also be one of the most rewarding—financially and in general.

Now you should have a better idea of where to get started with binary options trading. If you thought that binary options trading was easy, maybe now you realize it is actually a lot of work if you intend to do well. If on the other hand you were feeling completely overwhelmed and were not sure where to get started, hopefully now you feel like you have some direction and can begin. Good luck and profitable trading!

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