The Road to Successful Trading

 
Personal Goals 
 
Try to be as honest as possible as you answer these questions. Moreover, it might be a good idea to 
have somebody who knows you well to participate in the questionnaire in an attempt to keep the 
answers as objective as possible. 
1.1a What are your professional goals today? (Not limited to trading) 
1.1b Why are you trading? 
1.1c What are your trading goals? 
1.1d Where do you want to be in your professional life five years from now? (Not limited to 
trading)
1.2a What do you see as your greatest strengths as a trader? 
1.2b What strengths do you have that you can make even better and how can you do that as quickly 
as possible? 
1.2c What are your most detrimental weaknesses as a trader? 
1.2d How can you improve these weaknesses? 
1.2e What do you see as the greatest threat to your success as a Trader? 
1.2f How can you eliminate or best handle this threat? 
1.2g Are you enchanted by the image of being a trader? 
1.2h What would you tell people when they ask you what you do for a living? 
1.2i How would your trading activities fit into your life? 
1.2j How much time can you commit to trading? 
How to Design and Construct An Effective Trading Plan 
13
1.3a What are your personal goals for the next 18 months?

---

1.3b Where do you want to be in your personal life five years from now? 
1.3c How do you deal with stress in your life?
1.3d What do you do when you are burned out? 
1.3e Do you have a plan in place to keep healthy in mind and body? 
1.3f How do you plan to keep as positive an attitude as possible? 
1.3g Do you have a daily routine to keep physically and mentally alert?
1.4a How to you react to failure? 
1.4b On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate the importance of money (10 being the high). 
1.4b How do you react to losing money? 
1.4c Do you consider yourself to be intellectually curious and enjoy constant studying? 
1.4d Do you have a lot of patience? 
1.4e Are you persistent and usually finish what you start? 
1.4f Do you worry about not having enough money? 
1.5a Is the idea of being a trader an important factor in your decision to become a trader? 
1.5b How would your family and friends feel about you becoming a trader? 
1.5c If you run through your trading capital, what would you do? 
1.5d When you think of profits do you consider the effect of taxes? 
1.6 What is your idea of a successful trader? 
When you complete the book, many of the questions you answer in the above questionnaire may 
change. Go back and review these questions and analyze why the answers to some of the questions 
changed. If none of the questions change, something is wrong. Either you are already an 
experienced trader or you are not giving serious thought to the questions.
Most of us-if we are doing the proper things-will experience fairly constant change as we mature.
Our view on life changes and what may have been important before may lose significance. Money 
may have been a major motivator but as you experience financial success it loses some of its 
importance. We should not remain static and we should be in constant pursuit of our potential. It is 
desirable to change and being constantly tested and constantly evaluating is an excellent way to 
progress.
How to Design and Construct An Effective Trading Plan 
14
As a matter of fact, to successful traders, money is only a way of keeping score. The emotional 
significance of money is always there but as traders learn to live more of their lives without 

---

certainty, the impact of having money becomes diminished. And with that comes victory over fear 
of uncertainty and the increase of the understanding that life is not threatening but bountiful.