Trading is a journey that needs a long term outlook and a firm action plan. It’s important that you know in advance what you’re going to trade as in pairs, when you’re going to trade (session), and what you’re going to trade. Otherwise, you won’t have a general direction and will find yourself switching methodology, market, and strategy all the time, which will have devastating effects on your trading performance. In trading, consistency is key to success, provided that your methodology works and self discipline Here are some of the things you should make clear in your trading plan before placing any trades: What type of trading concept should you focus on? Are you going for a trend following or mean reversion approach, are your scalping or some other less common trading style? It’s essential that you decide this first since you’ll benefit a lot from learning the trading styles one at a time. What timeframe are you going to trade? Different market timeframes vary a lot in terms of characteristics and trading performance, and as a new trader, you’re better off learning to trade one timeframe than jumping from one timeframe to another. The best timeframe to start with, according to us, is the daily timeframe. What securities are you going to trade? Most people start trading stocks, and although all stocks may seem the same, there are some important differences you should be aware of. The most important difference is perhaps that between “regular stocks” and penny stocks, where the latter should be avoided. You may read more about penny stocks and the associated dangers in our article on penny stocks. Now, a trading plan is good to have, but it’s worthless if you don’t have an edge to trade. Sometimes it is even important to take a break if things are not going your way.