Getting started in trading is no small feat… Diving into trading will demand work, discipline, a solid method, and the determination that comes with it! My very first piece of advice — before I even suggest you learn to trade — is to ask you to get to know yourself: are you cut out for this? Do you want it badly enough to begin a process that spans months, even years, of falling flat on your face before you can hope to see the light?
Let’s be realistic… There are plenty of things you can do in life, and most of them are easier than trading, especially in the current climate of the financial markets.
That said, getting started in trading comes with big upsides!
Given the attention it demands, a trading career can exceed your expectations and literally change your life. It’s not an argument I like to lead with, because it’s the first one the small-time scammers lurking online reach for, but it’s the reality.
Personally, it was a choice made almost by default, because when I started out I was bedridden for a few months.
But there are a thousand reasons for anyone to get started in trading, and if you asked me how to start trading right now, here’s what I’d tell you:
👉 My answer to that question is, give or take a few details, always the same:
- Follow my free trading course on YouTube
- Alongside my free trading course on my site (in particular the trading basics and risk management)
- Take stock of yourself: does it fit your temperament?
- If so, then you can begin a professional course.
- Get 3 months of Discord Pro: it’s hard to form an opinion in 30 days!
- Follow the Method & Mindset VOD course
- Opt for the Nail Your First Trade from A to Z course
- Watch the Market Structure/Dynamics course
- Take stock of yourself again
Broadening your skill set: Options, Futures, leveraged trading, Scalping, Swing Trading, etc.
Getting Started in Trading: 10 Good Reasons to Jump into the Markets
- You’re your own boss.
You decide when and why you do what you do. You answer to no one but yourself! You no longer waste time convincing others before you can act.
- You reap what you sow.
Our actions reflect our knowledge. Your capacity for self-reflection will make the difference in your trading just as much as in your everyday life!
- Your time is your own, and that’s a good thing, because nothing is more precious.
True, learning takes relentless work and the effort involved is sometimes brutal. That said, once you’ve mapped out the trading systems that suit you, an hour or two of trading a day will be enough to turn a profit. After that, you’re free to keep going or to take care of yourself.
- If your trading has become profitable over the long term, it’s almost certainly because you’ve managed to conquer your illusions about money.
Contrary to what people sometimes imagine, a trader has to be calm and immune to pressure. Trading psychology is, in fact, a fundamental pillar that many beginners underestimate.
- Your starting capital may be limited, but your profit potential has no limit.
The income level trading makes possible is literally indecent — this is no myth. If you stay disciplined over the long run, you can reach very substantial income from a small amount of capital.
- You’re joining the service sector
That means you can start almost from scratch, because the equipment costs are minimal: a computer, maybe a second screen, and you’ve got all the gear you need to trade. A small starting capital of 500 or 1,000 euros and off you go.
- Your office is wherever you decide it is, and that’s no small thing…
If you decide to stay home rather than head to the office every morning, you lose an average of 5 hours a week. Over a 40-year career, that adds up to roughly 391 days spent on the subway or in your car… It’s a lot cooler to spend them traveling, isn’t it?
- Trading is a game, and you’re paid to take part!
What could be more exhilarating than having fun and making money because you managed to make the difference? Sadly, I can’t put myself in the shoes of elite athletes, but I imagine that when you win a tournament and get handsomely paid on top of it, it must feel pretty good. If trading becomes a game you enjoy, you already have huge learning potential.
- Your destiny is in your own hands, and that too is no small thing.
If you get up in the morning and work until evening, learning relentlessly no matter the setbacks, you’ll very likely get there. Like any business, trading takes time to become profitable, so don’t give up, because if you work less than everyone else, there’s no reason you’d do any better than them! From what I recall, in France profitable businesses become so after an average of 3 or 4 years of operation. Moreover, according to INSEE, about 69% of French businesses (the 2018 cohort, excluding micro-entrepreneurs) make it past the 5-year mark — and the finance/insurance sector even boasts the best survival rate (around 77%). Why would it be any different with trading?
- It has never been easier to start trading.
Careful! I’m not saying it’s easy to make profits, but let’s be honest: the trading platforms built by the crypto world are now super easy to use and need barely a few dollars to let you invest or trade. Among the serious options for getting started in crypto, OKX remains a regulated, reliable and accessible platform that I recommend to new traders — it even secured MiCA authorization in 2025 and appears on the AMF whitelist (European passport), an extra mark of trustworthiness. No joke, when I was a kid I remember having to keep quiet whenever Jean-Pierre Gaillard came on France Info, otherwise my father would have to wait several hours to find out the prices on the stock exchange. Today, everything is at your fingertips. It’s not “easy,” but everything is available!
Still wondering whether you’re cut out for this?
Then I invite you to take a look at my article on the 5 personality traits essential to a trader.
By the way, don’t forget… It’s never too late!
All right, enough beating around the bush — if you think you’re ready for some tips and to start trading right now, then let’s go!
How to Start Trading: My 20 Essential Tips for Getting Off to a Good Start
Before You Dive In: Mindset and Clear-Headedness
- Don’t dream. Easy doesn’t exist. There’s no shortcut to success. It’s the same when it comes to getting started in trading. A climb has to be prepared for; it takes a lot of work “downstream” or upstream. In fact, no matter how much preparation you’ve pictured for learning to trade, you’re way off the mark anyway!
- Your goal must be clear in trading. This really is a competition in which winners are rare. The aim, concretely, is to take the money of portfolio managers and traders who haven’t done the same work as you, who haven’t been as disciplined as you. It’s also about making sure you always keep one step ahead so you can anticipate the massive moves.
- Making gains today doesn’t mean you’ll make them tomorrow. You’re never safe: never! So never let your guard down (I’m thinking of stop-losses or risk management, for example). It’s always when you drop your guard that you take the biggest slaps, both literally and figuratively! Getting started in trading also implies that beginner’s luck exists: don’t let it go to your head if it does show up!
- Watch your sources! Too often, we struggle to trust our own reasoning because of all the noise floating around the web. Twitter swings from bull run to bear market every 24 hours because of the heavy volatility in the market, but the technical levels are there to remind us what a trend actually is. Call on your determination and your technique!
In the Field: Entries, Discipline and Routine
- When you want to get started in trading, it’s all in the entry point: the less it draws the crowd, the more profitable it is. That’s not necessarily a reason to always go against the grain, though — know the difference!
- Discipline is paramount — find a way to build a productive, beneficial routine! (No need for physical and mental torture — quite the opposite.)
- Keep things in perspective, though, because working yourself to burnout serves no purpose in the long run: you could lose everything in an instant. It’s perseverance that will pay off; you have to be able to start all over again… regularly!
- Whatever scenario you’re hoping for, always think about the opposite scenario… and the alternative scenario!
Managing Risk from the Very Start
- Don’t hand your money to the “market makers” by placing your stop-loss beneath liquidity pools; I’ve talked about “stop hunts” enough in my live streams and other content to help you avoid this kind of classic mistake! We’ll come back to it in my tutorial on how to place a stop-loss. I’ve also made a video tutorial where I give you my 5 best tips for placing your stop-loss.
- Stay wary right up to the outcome! If you have no clue who the “victim” is as the outcome approaches, then it’s probably you…
- Taking good trades can be easy. What’s harder is behaving logically around those trades in order to optimize your return and be truly profitable over the long term.
- Please don’t repeat your mistakes! Making the same mistake twice can be a bad habit. Making it 3 times is unforgivable, because it’s a decision!
- If you have a problem, the process for solving it is as follows:
- Diagnosis: What is the problem? (example: impatience)
- Cause: Why did I do that? (fear of missing out)
- Solution: How am I going to fix it? (a rigid plan)
Most people skip the second part. If you don’t ask yourself why you have a problem, you almost certainly won’t be able to solve it effectively.
Going the Distance: Execution and Progress
- Once you’ve made a decision based on solid confluence of leading signals, GO FOR IT and don’t abandon the plan! You have an exit plan and rigorous risk management, so don’t hesitate when it comes to seeing a trade through. It often happens that you have to wait longer than expected for your trade entry to pay off. Be patient and determined!
- Don’t put your faith in the fortune-tellers who spring up all over social media during a bull run and vanish after 2 market corrections. Be as disciplined in your trading as in your choice of sources.
- If you follow a signal, always be ready to see it blow up! How much do I lose at most (STOP-LOSS)? Be the master of your decisions! Even when I share a trade in the Discord or on my social media, add your own filter, your own rules; check that it matches your trading plan!
- Discipline is one of the keys to success as an entrepreneur just as much as a trader! Keep expenses to an absolute minimum when you’re starting out, cut any unnecessary spending, and focus on your break-even point: the tipping point where you become profitable! The less you need to earn to pass your break-even point, the calmer you’ll be when it’s time to make your decisions! This goes hand in hand with your risk management.
- Keep your trading journal! It’s by properly logging and documenting your mistakes AND your successes that you optimize your results and learn to read charts intuitively!
- Question everything you read, even these 20 tips! Work on your free will so you’re ready to operate in the markets — don’t be a sheep!
- NEVER go ALL-IN, because we’re not gearing up for a game of poker here — there’s no one to bluff, and your only opponent… is yourself! More capital = more trading! One word: survive.
And as a bonus: at the end of every trading session, please ask yourself the following question:
“Was I really smarter than average, and above all, why?” (see tip #12)
FAQ: Getting Started in Trading the Right Way as a Beginner
How much capital do you need to start trading as a beginner?
A small amount of capital, 500 to 1,000 euros, is plenty to get started: the equipment boils down to a computer (possibly a second screen). At the start, the challenge isn’t to win big but to survive and learn. Never go all-in, take care of your risk management, and focus on consistency rather than the amount.
What is the first skill to work on as a beginner?
Trader psychology and risk management, even before technique. A beginner who knows how to place a stop-loss properly and stays disciplined will survive far longer than a “gifted” but impulsive beginner.
How do you improve and avoid repeating your mistakes?
By documenting everything. Keeping a rigorous trading journal (your losses AND your gains, with the reason behind every decision) is what turns a string of random trades into genuine learning. Diagnosis, cause, solution: that’s the improvement loop from tip #13.
