Do you guys love a challenge which will not only force the best forex trader out of you, but also make you quite a bit of profits? I admit that this will not work for every trader as it is a bit of a different approach to trading that what many call your bread-and-butter approach. Hi, my name is Lacy and I am a rare breed of female forex trader who just turned 40 and officially quit my job on on April 30th. I was able to follow my dream of becoming truly independent which was possible thanks to forex trading. I know there are many out there who have this dream, yet very few actually trade well enough to realize it. As my ex-boyfriend used to tell me: “Dreams are meant to be realized!”

No worries, we parted on good terms as we both agreed that our journey together came to an end. He was the one who introduced me to the world of forex trading and for that I will always be grateful. Another very important part about forex trading I learned from him was that psychology will make or break any forex traders and that in order to remain mentally strong, you need to be in good physical shape. Now I have come across a lot of forex traders who believe this is non-sense, but it has made all the difference to me. It makes perfect sense once you take a deeper look into the physiology of humans and how everything is connected.

I am not suggesting that you need to start the type of workout regimen a professional athlete undergoes, but I have made it a habit to include a 90 minutes period during the day as part of my forex trading strategy. Ideally you do this Monday through Friday, but sometimes it may not be possible. I include 20 to 30 minutes of stretching as part of my workout, 45 minutes of cardio and only about 20 minutes of weight training. It works great for me and has not only made my forex trading performance more profitable, but obviously it keeps me in great shape as well. Another positive side effect is that you want to start eating healthier as you see the great results which further adds to your mental strength and to an increase in your profits.

This may be the most overlooked aspect of successful forex trading. Everyone focuses in strategy and how to make money fast. In my experience, those who are motivated by earning money in the forex market usually end up with losses. Never let money be the key motivator of you doing anything. The way I approach it is that earning money it the goal and I want to to everything I can in order to reach that goal. I am not motivated by earnings, but view them as a side product of forex trading. Once you change your priorities, you will see a change in the entire process and as a result actually start earning more money.

Obviously there is more to profitable forex trading than a rigid workout regime. I have taken the same approach to forex trading as I do with my workouts, another attribute I picked up from my ex. When you hit the gym regularly and want to make sure you get a weekly, full body workout, you split your days into different sections you want to train. Usually you work out your chest and triceps in one day, then your back and biceps the other day and reserve one day for you leg workout. Cardio is every day and so are exercises for your core such as abs. I do the same when it comes to forex trading. I take a long-term approach and the divide my days each week in order to cover all aspects to accomplish my goal.

On Monday’s I take a broader global economic look, sort through geopolitical events and check my custom economic calendar. While I trade based on technical analysis, it is very important to know what is coming your way in the form of fundamental announcements as they will have an impact on price action. The more information you have the better your overall analysis will become. I like to focus on only five currency pairs + 2, or FX 5+2 as I call my strategy. This is plenty for my long-term trading approach. I am not running a professional outlet here so my resources are limited and there is plenty of work required in order to cover my seven currency pairs.

The five currency pairs I always trade are the EURUSD, the GBPCHF, the AUDJPY, the EURGBP and the NZDCAD. This forms the core part of my forex strategy. For the other two, it depends on what my Monday preview highlights as the best trading opportunities. Once I have my 5+2 group, I dive into technical analysis every Tuesday. I analyse the MN, W1 and D1 charts first and want two of them to confirm a signal. This will produce the currency pairs I end up trading, sometimes this can reduce my already limited group to just one currency pair. That’s fine, never try to force the market into your strategy, see what the market gives you with your strategy.

On Wednesday I run a technical analysis on the H1 chart for the currency pairs which remain in my active list and start placing trades according to my strategy. I use the Fibonacci Retracement Sequence for support and resistance levels and then the MACD to identify entry and exit positions. Since I have now a very focused group of currency pairs to trade, I analyze the charts once every three hours, five times per day. On Thursday’s I run my technical analysis on the MN, WI and D1 charts again to make sure that I remain with the trend and see if something has changed in the currency pairs which didn’t make the cut on Tuesday.

I will keep adding positions to my portfolio on Thursday’s, but never place trades on Friday. I reserve this day for portfolio and inventory management which prepares me for the next trading week. I repeat this process every week. Managing your portfolio will be crucial as you are adding to the same currency pair over multiple days, something known as dollar-cost-averaging. As you can see it is the same approach as with workouts. Getting in shape takes time, and so does creating a consistent revenue stream from forex trading. Once you get in the right rhythm, everything will flow a lot easier and you will see you health and wealth increase. I am running my portfolio at PaxForex because it is important to have the right venue where you can grow. This is the same like picking the right gym for your workouts. I can only recommend that you open your own PaxForex trading account and give my FX 5+2 Profit Strategy a trial. I am sure you will enjoy the dual benefits to your life it will bring. I was able to quit my job and focus on trading full-time thanks to this strategy!