Step 1 – Secure a Stable Income
Goal: Generate a reliable cash flow before risking capital in the market.
Recommended activities:
- Video editing, freelance work, social-media management, subtitle creation, content writing, etc.
- Aim for a minimum of 8,000-12,000 per month; any steady amount is sufficient.
Rationale: Trading requires capital and a safety net; you must not become a financial burden for your family.
“If trading drains your funds, you still need food on the table and a roof over your head.”
Step 2 – Develop a Back-Tested Strategy
- Design a simple setup
e. g., breakout with candle confirmation + price-action + indicator. - Back-test on historic data:
- Load 3-4 months of charts.
- Move the window back 1 month, 4 days, 1 week, etc., and apply the setup.
- Record how often the breakout actually occurred and the resulting profit/loss.
- Calculate risk-to-reward:
RR={Average Reward}/{Average Risk}
- Assess win rate:
Win%=({WinningTrades}/{TotalTrades})×times100$
- Key point: A back-tested strategy is not a guarantee for live markets, but it filters out obviously weak ideas.
Definition – Back-Testing: Applying a trading rule to past price data to evaluate its historical performance.
Step 3 – Test in Live Paper Market
- Use paper-trading or demo accounts
e.g., TradingView’s paper-trade tool, PocketOption demo. - Follow the exact entry/exit rules from your back-test; record every trade.
- Compare live results with back-test statistics to spot discrepancies.
Aspect | Back-Test Result | Paper-Trade Result | Observation |
---|---|---|---|
Win rate | 70% | 55% | Live execution is tougher |
Avg. RR | 2.5:1 | 1.8:1 | Slippage & emotions reduce max reward |
Max drawdown | 12% | 18% | Need tighter risk limits |
- Outcome: If performance degrades significantly, refine the strategy before committing real money.
Step 4 – Find a Mentor
- Why a mentor matters:
- They have already made and learned from mistakes.
- Provide real-time feedback on your journal and trade ideas.
- Offer guidance on risk management, psychology, and market nuances.
- How to locate one:
- Join trading Discords, Telegram groups, or local meet-ups.
- Offer to share your back-tested results and paper-trade logs.
- Ask for a free critique – avoid paid “miracle” courses.
“A mentor is a guiding light; without it you’re stumbling in the dark.”
- If you can’t find a mentor: You can message me on Instagram or Telegram; I’m available to review strategies and journals.
Step 5 – Capital Allocation & Risk Management
- Allocate 20% of monthly income to trading capital.
- Example: Earn ₹10,000 allocate 2,000.
- Continue until you have at least 10,000 reserved for trading the starter fund!!
- Never risk more than 1-2% of your trading capital on a single trade.
Risk per Trade = Capital × 0.01-0.02
- Re-invest profits: As your account grows, keep the 20% rule for new income, but do not exceed the 1-2% per-trade risk.
- Stop-loss discipline: If a trade hits the stop, accept the loss and move on.
Month | Monthly Income | 20% Allocated | Cumulative Trading Capital |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ₹10,000 | ₹2,000 | ₹2,000 |
2 | ₹12,000 | ₹2,400 | ₹4,400 |
6 | ₹15,000 | ₹3,000 | ₹10,000 ready for live trading |
- Important: If a losing streak wipes out part of the capital, pause trading until you rebuild the safety buffer.
Step 6 – Record Keeping & Performance Review
Maintain a trading journal with the following fields:
Date Symbol Entry Exit Reason Stop-Loss Target setup Result RR Notes P/L Ratio
Review weekly:
- Identify which setups produced losses.
- Spot assets that consistently under-perform.
- Re-calculate overall win rate and average RR.
- Adjust the strategy based on journal insights; keep the process iterative.
Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them
- Relying on “YouTube” strategies without back-testing. Always validate on historic data.
- Buying expensive courses. Real-world paper trading teaches more than any paid module.
- Investing more than 20% of income. Protects you from financial stress and family pressure.
- Skipping a mentor. Missed opportunity for rapid learning and error correction.
- Neglecting risk-per-trade limits. Leads to large drawdowns and emotional trading.
“Discipline beats intelligence when it comes to consistent profitability.”
Trading Journal Fundamentals
- Purpose: Record every trade detail to spot patterns, mistakes, and improvements.
- Frequency: Write daily; treat it like a habit e. g., eating meals.
- Review Cycle: After 6 months, read the entire journal in the 7th month – no live trading during that review month.
“Writing and reviewing your trades is the only way to fix problems in trading and in life.”
Trade Execution Checklist
- Stop-loss placement – Did I set it correctly?
- Target price – Was it defined and realistic?
- Trailing stop – Applied if needed?
- Mentor discussion – Did I discuss the trade with my mentor?
- If any of the above is “No”, note the reason and plan a fix.
6-Month Improvement Plan
Month | Goal | Main Activities |
---|---|---|
1-3 | Identify & fix mistakes | Back-testing, paper-trading, journal analysis; adjust strategy. |
4-6 | Trade with real capital | Apply refined strategy; aim for capital growth from ₹500 to 1 Lakh safely. |
7 | No trading | Read the 6-month journal, reflect, and plan next cycle. |
- The timeline is subjective: some may finish in 15 days, others in 6 months.
Capital Allocation Strategy
Initial trading capital: ₹500 minimum to start.
- When 100% confident mistakes are fixed, allocate 50% of monthly income to trading.
- If a known mistake repeats, revert to 20% of capital.
- Goal: Grow from ₹500 to 1 Lakh with high safety low drawdown.
Performance Tracking & Metrics
Metric | How to calculate |
---|---|
Total trades | Count of all executed trades per month. |
Wrong trades | Trades that end in loss beyond the stop-loss. |
Error rate | $$\frac{Wrong~trades}{Total~trades}\times100$$ |
Profitability trend | Compare month-over-month error rate and net profit. |
Example:
- Month 1: 100 trades, 50 wrong – 50% error.
- Month 2: 100 trades, 40 wrong – 40% error.
- Month 3: 150 trades, 45 wrong – 30% error improvement.
Continuous Improvement & Tweaking
- Treat trading like any other life problem: identify, analyze, tweak, re-test.
- Spend time each day finding the “session” of the mistake – whether in relationships, work, or markets.
- Iterate until the error no longer appears; then move to the next issue.
Risk Management Principles
- Stop-loss: Must be set before entering a trade; never move it arbitrarily.
- Trailing stop: Use when the trade moves in your favor to lock profits.
- Position size: Never risk more than a small % of total capital e. g., $1.
“Even a perfect trade can be ruined by a market crash; proper risk limits protect you.”
When to Scale or Reduce Trading Activity
- Scale up only after:
- Consistent profit for 3-6 months.
- Error rate consistently dropping below 30%.
- Reduce or pause if:
- Losses increase or error rate climbs.
- You cannot maintain 50% of income allocation confidently.
Quality vs. Quantity
- Quality over quantity:
- 1 well-analyzed trade > 50 random trades.
- Spend 3-6 hours analyzing a single trade if needed.
- Avoid over-trading: more trades higher chance of repeated mistakes.
Mentor Interaction
- Daily: Bring every trade to your mentor for feedback.
- Key questions for mentor:
- “Was my stop-loss appropriate?”
- “Is my target realistic?”
- “Should I have used a trailing stop?”
- Record mentor’s suggestions in the journal and act on them.
Practical Action Steps – Start Immediately
- Grab a pen & paper or open a digital notebook (Phone, iPad, etc.).
- Create a template with fields: Date, Symbol, Entry, Stop-loss, Target, Trailing?, Mentor feedback, Outcome.
- Log every trade today – no exceptions.
- Review the log at the end of the day; mark any “No” answers from the checklist.
- Plan the first month’s focus: fix identified mistakes through paper-trading.
Remember: Consistency, honest self-review, and disciplined capital management are the three pillars that separate the 5% who succeed from the 95% who fail.