Many new Forex traders have a naïve sense that Forex is easy. Ofttimes, this impression originates from hyped Forex advertisements like "How I made 300% per month in Forex!" and "Earn like professionals do! Use 100% Automatic Forex signals'... to 'Earn Thousands of Dollars Each Day!". These hype mongers distort the realities of Forex trading. They create a false sense of trading ease and in doing so are building an impressive army of new and ambitious Forex losers.

If you have spent any time researching Forex you have likely come across the statistic that 90% of Forex traders ultimately lose money in Forex. While, I don't know if someone has ACTUALLY commissioned a study to prove that statistic's accuracy, my experience in most every financial endeavor, including Forex, is that 90% of people do fail. Take selling Real Estate as an example, the common saying is that 10% of the salespeople make 90% of the money. And why is that? Because making money requires EFFORT. So it is with Forex, beating the market in Forex requires more than just a computer program that takes the trades for you. It takes more than just opening a demo account and practicing for a week. The traders in Forex that are successful long-term are those that take the time to truly understand what moves the Forex market, execute with complete discipline a strong trading strategy and management plan, and have learned to control the emotions that will destroy any trader.

With that said, I have compiled a list of 3 Easy Steps to lose it all in Forex. I have also included counter measures that will help you turn those losing steps upside down and make you money.

1) TRADE FOREX ON YOUR OWN. The simplest way to lose it all in Forex is to say to yourself: "I don't need anyone else's help. I bought this 'Forex auto trader robot monster thing'" or "I read 'Forex Guide to Making Billions', This is going to be easy."
Counter Measures -Don't stop learning. Interact daily with other Forex traders by visiting Forex Forums or chat rooms. Join a signal service and try to figure out why and how the signals are chosen. Read blogs written by other Forex traders and market analysis by Forex professionals. And if you don't have the time, find someone successful who KNOWS how to trade Forex and hire them to trade for you.

2) UNDERCAPITALIZED - OVERLEVERAGED. Want to lose it all in Forex? Open a "micro account" at your broker and trade with $250 or open a "mini account" and trade with $2500 or a "standard account" with $25000. Most pros trade a standard lot for every $50,000 and a mini-lot for every $5000. But the loser says, "Why trade with such low risk? I'm not going to lose it all."

Counter measures - Continue to trade a demo account until you save up enough money to trade $1000 in a "micro account", $10,000 in a "mini account" and $100,000 in a "standard account". Design a system that does not risk more than 2 or 3% per day. I trade two strategies. One risks, on average, 0.25% per trade and takes about 8 trades per day (2% risk per day). The other risks 0.75-1.25% per trade and takes about 5 trades per week.

3) JUST GIVE UP. Lose confidence in your trading strategy. Stop believing in your money management plan. Give up on yourself and your ability to trade. This will not happen when you are winning, it only happens when you are losing. Here is how it goes: You start trading and soon find yourself in a winning streak. Your confidence builds and you come to believe that your system is invincible. Then comes the losing streak. After the first loss you say, "bummer". After the second you say "that sucks". The third makes you start to question your trade rules and the fourth loss has you throwing your arms up in the air and saying "This trade system just doesn't work". What all to often happens next is that the you STOP trading the strategy and return to the drawing board to find another system. The final result - you have given up and your account balance is smaller than when you started. This can turn into a deadly cycle. Each time, you build a new system only to give up when it starts to lose. Eventually you quit all together having lost significant money in Forex.

Counter measures - Remember that you WILL have losing streaks in Forex. Learn to understand why your system works and why it loses. Consult your system backtest and note the maximum drawdown and losses. Know your system and it's limitations. Stick with your plan. The great American author, Harriet Beecher Stowe once said: "When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."

You CAN lose it all in Forex. In fact losing it all is much easier than making it big. But for every nine Forex traders not doing the right things to win, there is one disciplined, educated, persistent trader sticking to his plan, using the right leverage for his trades and leaning on others for help. It is this one noble trader in ten that makes it in Forex.