Do I Absolutely Need to Have a Stock Trading Strategy in Order to Be Successful?”.

There is one question that I am asked more virtually than any other when it comes to stock trading. That question is simply, “Do I absolutely need to have a stock trading strategy in order to be successful?”.

Initially that seemed like an unusual question to me. After I gave it a bit of thought, I decided that the question made a lot of sense based upon what many would-be beginning traders were reading online. You see, those would be beginning traders or beginning traders had expectations based upon advertising hype that had nothing to do with the reality of successful trading. In other words, the expectation levels of what is necessary to be a successful stock trader were out of whack with what it really takes to be a successful stock trader.

Essentially, far too many of the stock trading products that are advertised basically tell people that all they have to do is press the “easy button” and in no time they will amass vast riches and live on their own private island. So you may be asking, “What does this have to do with expectation levels?” Well, when a beginning trader hears or reads such information they may purchase the product or service with the expectation level that stock trading is so easy that you don’t even have to be prepared to be successful. Well, as a result of that inaccurate expectation level the beginning trader that purchases that product or service will not prepare them for effective trading.

So what’s the end result of not being prepared by not having a strategy? Simple. The end result for most everyone would be failure. The only exception to that rule is someone that just happens to be extremely lucky during the period of time that they were trading. Basically, not having a strategy would be a way for someone to virtually guarantee failure in stock trading.

We’ve all heard the famous Boy Scout saying, “Be prepared”. We’ve also heard the age-old saying, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail”. Both of these things stick in our minds because time and time again they have proven themselves to be true. We can think about our plans and strategies in the same way that we think about a roadmap. Would we – embark upon a dangerous journey through uncharted territory without having a road map? I don’t think so. It simply would not make sense to do so when we could just as easily prepare ourselves to successfully travel to our destination.

Let’s face it, anything really worth having is definitely worth working for. So it follows that anything that is really worth having is really worth working hard for. If you want success in stock trading, then it is important to prepare yourself for success in stock trading. Don’t look for the easy button or the next new shortcut or the next new whiz-bang, can’t fail strategy de jour. Sharpen your pencil, roll up your sleeves and prepare yourself to be a successful stock trader for the long haul.