That’s a fair question. No one can decide what’s best for you.
Right. Trade demo first.
I did that haha. I was hoping for a big win to offset all my losses. It never came. Reality hurts.
I think @chesterjohn is trying to give you a heads up about the reality of trading. The path is different for everyone, because the market holds a mirror to you; it reflects your weaknesses back to you.
You can overcome them, but it’s not easy. Be prepared for persistence. once the excitement is long gone.
I don’t take it as criticism. It’s helpful feedback to me. Even if it was criticism, I welcome it. That’s why I post things on the forum. I’m not going to learn and improve if I can’t take criticism.
The nice thing about being broke is that I can’t trade at all. 
I’m not worried about losing money since I don’t have any. 
I’m not someone who sees trading as a path to easy money. I admit that before I joined babypips, I was excited about trading because of the lambros making millions on YouTube. But after a few months into the School of Pipsology, I became more realistic and practical about what I can and cannot do in trading.
I’ve been in babypips for two years, and I’m still going through the School of Pipsology. I haven’t even started demo trading. I’ll finish the course by February 2024. I’ll start a demo account around that time. I might be on demo for a year or two.
That depends on whether or not I get a job in coding which will be my main source of income. I’m currently learning to code which will take longer than learning to trade.
If I get the job, I’ll save up money and start with a $100 account, but only if I’ve already done well in demo. I’ll add more money gradually if I’m getting better as a trader. Trading will just be a side hustle for a couple of years while I work full-time as a coder.
I really can’t know if trading is right for me until I’ve traded a good amount of money (10% of my annual income) for at least five years. I think that’s how long it will take for me to just become a decent trader who has significantly reduced my mistakes and my losses.
If I’m not able to make consistent profits after that, then I’ll know for sure that trading isn’t right for me. I’m in this for the long haul. It will probably take me ten years before trading ever becomes a main source of income, but I’m not expecting that it will.
I know that trading is a skill. It will take time and dedication to become a true professional. There are no guarantees that I’ll get there. All I can guarantee is how committed I am to master the craft day in and day out.
Thanks for looking out for a brother. 
Thank you for your thoughtful response. You brought up some important points. I appreciate your concern as well as your honesty.
Gung-ho Student
“As long as you are disciplined and laser-focused on learning the markets, your chances of success increase exponentially. You have to be a gung-ho student. If not, you’ll end up in the poor house.”
That quote was from the lesson How Much Trading Captial Do You Need For Forex Trading? It brought a smile to my face because what I’ve been doing here for the past two years is being a gung-ho student. It will increase my chances of success exponentially and keep me out of the poor house.
I see myself as someone who will always be a student in learning to trade as well as learning about myself. I have 56 lessons left. I’m on track to finish before February 2024. After I finish the course, I will still be a gung-ho student.
“In the end, forex trading is a numbers game, meaning you have to tilt every little factor in your favor as much as you can.”
I’m focusing on mastering my psychology with this journal because it’s one way to tilt every little factor in my favor. It’s painful to admit my mistakes and failures because it makes me look stupid. It’s also painful because I have to take responsibility and make the necessary changes that are difficult to do.
I like what @dushimes said about making changes in yourself in one of his recent posts.
This is the way. This is the way to change myself. This is the way to a new me. I will always be a gung-ho student learning to change myself.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
-Leo Tolstoy
Hey brother, I really dig this post, I’m 40 years old myself, been through hell and back like you, I don’t live with my Mom as she’s in CA and I live in Colorado with my wife and 3 kids, however, I’ve come to a place in my life where I DO WANT TO MAKE FOREX MY PRIMARY INCOME, I just can’t because I own another company that has multiple streams of income and I can’t stop it to start another, however, I plan to go through the entire training here and get started on Trading View afterward and see where I can get to with a $1000 to start on a broker like Forex or Interactive Brokers. Let’s walk the path together, okay?
Thanks for reading my post and reaching out BrunsonFX. I’m happy to hear about your success in business and having a family in Colorado after you’ve been through hell and back. It gives me hope.
I’m thinking about moving to Pagosa Springs. I like being in nature and want to live close to the mountains, forests, rivers, and lakes of Colorado.
Your experience in business with multiple streams of income will puts you in a good position for building your trading business. We have a long path ahead of us to establish our trading businesses. I’m grateful to walk that path with you.
Let me know if you think I might be able to help you with your studies in the School of Pipsology. Welcome to the Babypips Community. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
If you want to join an accountability group, follow me @playwiththegods and @RedEyeRishMan. We stay in touch with each other through our trading journals while holding each other accountable. We are Ildánach.
Hey BrunsonFX!
Awesome to see you’re interested in Forex, more specifically making it a primary source of income.
I’d most definitely encourage you to start a journal here in the forums to track your progress through learning. It’ll help keep you accountable and also provide opportunities for help in your studies!
Best of luck man!
Also, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
Looking Back
I’ve only been able to do two lessons in the past week. I finished 307 out of 361 lessons. I’ve been spending a lot of time with family while eating a lot of food during the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend. I’m getting back into the routine of studying today.
I did take some time to review my journal and think about how far I’ve come since my first post in the babypips forums:
Looking back at these posts in the forums is a great way to appreciate what I’ve accomplished so far and to celebrate these small wins that help me to keep going.
One important insight I got from this journal is that I need to keep my thrill-seeking nature in check, and make sure it doesn’t make me do crazy things in trading like risking 100% of my balance.
I’ll have to learn to be okay with the boredom of trading just like I’ve been learning to be okay with the boredom of studying.
Imagine, years from now you’re in your office after an incredible trading day. Maybe. Maybe in this moment you realize you’ve made it. You pour through your old progression posts and journals. You laugh at the mistakes you made and relish in the wins and losses that made you who you are now.
Anything is possible. Never forget that. We see around us all the time the death of ambition, dreams, and hope. But not you, not you friend.
See you at the top 
Ildánach
I look forward to that time when I can laugh at myself and all the mistakes I made. 
Thank you, my friend!
See you at the top 
Ildánach
Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.
I’m done with 314 of 361 lessons. The lessons in The Number 1 Cause of Death of Forex Traders and Position Sizing were fun and I had some good takeaways.
I like that pic of leverage as death. It’s a good reminder of what will happen to my account if I don’t use proper leverage.
"Most brokers want you to trade with a short-term mindset. They want you to trade as much as possible as often as possible. It’s the only way they make money. One or two pips are important to them. The more you trade the more they make on the spread. It’s not in their best interest to tell you to let your trades run longer than the same day. If you want to give yourself the best chance to succeed, first learn to trade profitably without leverage."
I had a funny thought that if I really wanted to make money in forex trading, I should become a broker. They’re making a killing off traders who don’t know how to use leverage.
"Leverage is a very powerful tool but both old and new traders use it to destroy their trading capital simply because they take its destructive force too lightly or ignore it altogether. It’s a pity, but the more of them there are, the easier it is for us smart traders to make money. Sad but true."
If I blow my account because I used leverage wrong, I’ll have to call myself the worst trader of all time because the lessons were loud and clear about how not to kill your account with leverage. I have a better understanding of why over 90% of traders fail. I have to make sure I’m not one of them.
"Destroy traders taking the opposite side of your trade. Don’t destroy yourself."
I’ll have no mercy on any reckless traders taking the opposite side of my trade. My training is making me more powerful day by day. I will be Death, the destroyer of traders. 
Drawings
If you experience a Stop Out and see the aftermath in your account, this is how your eyes feel…
Margin call warning!
ZOMG!!! I should have opened a demo account!
Why does my stop loss keep getting hit!
The cartoon with the giant teardrop was from the lesson: What is a Stop Loss?. The look on that girl’s face and that ridiculous teardrop cracked me up. 
After I drew that cartoon, I went back in my notes and took photos of my favorite cartoons so I can post them here to remind me of what I’ve accomplished and what I’ve learned. If I still make the terrible mistakes from these funny cartoons, I’ll call myself the worst trader alive!
I’ve gotten back into drawing because of these cartoons I copied. I used to draw a lot when I was a kid. My favorite comic book characters to draw were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’m drawing again for fun and to get better at it.
"The saying, ‘Live to trade another day!’ should be the motto of every trader on Newbie Island because the longer you can survive, the more you can learn, gain experience, and increase your chances of success.
This makes the trade management technique of ‘stop losses’ a crucial skill and tool in a trader’s toolbox."
I like thinking of the things I’m learning from babypips as skills I can develop and tools I can have in my trader’s toolbox. I’m looking forward to improving my skill in using stop losses and using the other tools in my trader’s toolbox when I start my demo account around February 2024.
I completed lessons 320 of 361. I have 41 lessons to go before I start demo.
You’re a lot smarter than I am. I didn’t stay in demo long enough, and I suffered for it.
Great job. Keep up the good work!
Keep at it bro!
P.S. - Love the little comics
haha, you’re learning something that wasn’t taught in the School. At least one perspective anyway.
Yup, super important. Position sizing along with what your stop loss is (or isn’t). Biggest things I learned this year. Add in account size/funds for trading. You need enough cushion in your account down the road to be able to take multiple trades and or a string of losses. Of course, if you’re sticking with 1-2% risk per trade, you should be fine with whatever account balance you have. I started with $30.
Keep up the learning!
Expecting Failure
"Like anything else in trading, setting stop losses is a science and an art.
Markets are dynamic, volatility is well… volatile, and a rule or condition that works today may not work tomorrow.
If you continually practice the correct way to set stops, record, and review your thought processes and trade outcomes in your journal, then you’ll be one step closer to becoming a professional risk manager!"
I like this definition of traders as professional risk managers. Another word for professional risk manager is gambler.
It made me think about how much I’m going to suck at trading for several years before I ever become a pro. I’m expecting to make mistakes and fail a lot before I master the art and science of trading.
I learned how to use stop losses and how to scale in and out of trades, but that doesn’t mean I’ll do it right when I start trading. It’s going to take a lot of steps before I become a professional risk manager. I expect to be a trader that sucks for a long time.
"A friend of mine who is very wealthy said if you never bet your lifestyle, from a trading standpoint, nothing bad will ever happen to you, and if you know what the worst possible outcome is from the outset, you will have tremendous freedom."
"If you treat trading like a game, because that is what it is, then you will find there are a lot of variations in trading, but a good process will work over time and you will get rich if you stick with it."
I got lucky with the random quotes from the lessons this past week. I got two different quotes from Larry Hite that were relevant to the lessons I completed.
I found tremendous freedom in knowing the worst possible outcome for me as a trader. I’m going to suck for several years. I look forward to it. I expect it.
I’m not going to get sad, upset, or miserable about it. Since I’m going to suck for a while, I might as well have fun with trading by treating it as a game.
I love the out-look this provides.
We’ve got a long road ahead of us and a large portion of that will more than likely suck
But I have no doubt you plan on forging the path ahead.
Awesome progress dude. Cheers
We might as well have all the fun we can even though it will suck. 
Cheers
Almost Ready to Lose All My Money
I finished the lessons in Undergraduate Senior. My training is almost complete. Will I become part of the 95% of new traders who end up losing all their money? If I do, I will only have myself to blame for not applying everything I learned.
"The forex market is like a schizophrenic patient suffering from bipolar disorder who constantly eats chocolates, experiences extreme sugar highs, and has volatile mood swings all day long."
This quote from the lesson called Be Careful! Currency Correlations Change! is so funny. It made me laugh out loud and think of this picture.
Say hello to Little Miss Forex Market.
I’ll keep this image in mind when I deal with the volatility of the forex market. Maybe it won’t be that bad if she takes all my money. 
Why set your expectations so low for yourself?
Be careful about seeking others who have lost, so that you may find comfort in your losses. Sometimes, we laugh about our losses because we are scared to try only to fail again. It would be too invalidating for us.
Discussing losses with others should be constructive, in my opinion. It shouldn’t be about seeking solidarity in bad trading.
Eagles don’t fly with sparrows, and peacocks don’t stroll with chickens.
