A lot of questions that come into BullRush Academy have to do with the topic of the most profitable trading strategy.
Questions such as:
How much can I expect to make if I take X trades every week?
How much have you made with your trading strategy this year?
If I am trading with X amount of money, what can I earn?
Sure, we can give projections based on the numbers – but that is going to do nothing in helping you actually achieve profitability in trading.
There are several key things to consider when you start looking at developing a most profitability trading strategy.
If you take a look at these points, you will be well on your way to understanding exactly what it is you need to pursue in order to achieve your goal of being profitable.
Consistency in Profitability
Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions in trading is pursuing the goal of consistent profitability.
Earning 10% of your account every month as a goal may seem achievable, but the reality is it is next to impossible. The most experienced traders in the world cannot acheive 10% month on a consistent basis. In fact, the most profitable and consistent traders in the world take an entire year to achieve those results.
The simple reason is that losing is a common occurrence in trading. No trader has 100% win rate for 1000’s of trades. So, your account will go up, and it will go down. The goal is to have it consistently go up over a longer period of time.
You have to set your sights on a larger timeframe and accept the reality of losing. Some months you may lose 2-3%, whilst the next one you see a profitable month of 4-6%.
Ultimately, you need to set your sights on developing the most profitable trading strategy that is based on an annual goal. Not a day by day or month by month view.
Even then, the word consistency is still misused. Some years you may not have account growth because it is a difficult year to trade, like 2019 was for many traders due to covid-19.
When it comes to profitability, the most important thing that needs to be consistent is your daily trading process and approach.
If you can find consistency in your method, you will be much better placed to make adjustments and comb through your results to adjust. This is essential if you want to achieve profitable results because you need to play to your strengths, not your weaknesses. Having a journal lets you do that with great precision.
Numbers Game
Trading is a numbers game plain and simple. The most profitable trading strategy in the world all take into consideration profitability targets.
If you stick to a minimum RR (risk-to-reward ratio) of 1:1.5 for your risk per trade, your win rate doesn’t even need to be over 50% in order to be a profitable trader!
This highlights the previous point that you need to be open and accepting to the reality that you will lose.
If you can master this, you will find freedom in your trading and overcome the psychological stress that comes with losing. Our society shuns losing, making it harder to accept it.
But in trading, losing is a regular occurrence.
And that is fine!
Do you want to be a trader with a positive win rate but still be losing money?
Because that is possible… If your average target is below your average stop loss size, that will end up happening to you.
Whereas you can instead be consistent and stick to the numbers game, achieving profitability. If your average target profit is 1.5 RR, you only need to win 40% of trades to break-even – anything higher and you are profitable!
So don’t get distracted by conventional ideas of success and instead, focus on the numbers game.
Finding Your Style
Over your trading career the most important long-term process you will go through is finding your trading style.
This is why there isn’t a single most profitable trading strategy or golden ticket that anyone can use and make money from.
We all assess risk differently, prefer different risk levels, prefer certain time frames and styles of trading like day-trading, scalping, or longer-term approaches.
Simply put, what works for me may not work for you.
Flexibility and adaptability is really important with strategies. Being flexible and open to different interpretations is vital to long term success as a Forex trader.
As a trader you have understood yourself. It is fine to take someone else’s strategy and adapt it to fit with your personaility and risk management.
Tweaking a strategy is a more advanced aspect of trading because it needs to be balanced with a consistent approach though.
However, when done right, it is extremely profitable, both metaphorically and literally.
Experience is necessary in order to find your style, so don’t rush into this aspect of your trading journey and be patient.
Gaining experience is something you can’t rush – you have to put in the time and effort.
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Time and Effort
Look, independent forex trading has to be given the proper amount of time and effort.
Too many people come into this career with misconceptions about the ease of earning money.
It isn’t their fault! Unfortunately, there are a lot of influential people that feed people these misconceptions in order to push a signal service or a product.
The fact of the matter is that you have to dedicate time and effort into forex trading if you want to have any hope of finding financial freedom.
The majority of trading accounts lose money. That is a reality. Do you want to be part of that pile? Probably not. This is where failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
One of our mantras is that ‘Discipline Equals Freedom’.
You essentially should treat your trading as running your own business.
Yes, that comes with responsibility and accountability. Yes, you need to become reliant on yourself and dedicate time and effort in order to find success.
You are also your own boss. You can decide when to trade, how to approach the market, what works best for you.
If you put in the time and effort, you will very much reap the benefits of being a successful forex trader. But that doesn’t come without sacrifice, without the proper planning, or without high expectations of yourself.