Don’t’ even think about trading until you’ve done a self-analysis. It doesn’t matter which markets you trade. You must believe in yourself. Visualize yourself as a winner. You will have losses. Do you still visualize yourself making money?

Start with your brokerage account. Most firms have a forex trading platform. Unlike stocks or futures that are exchange traded, forex is traded over the counter on various trading platforms throughout the world.

The best way to learn forex is to do it. Your brokerage firm will give you some play money when you open an account. Follow and listen to all the tutorials that your firm offers. Do some of your own research by reading and studying the forex markets. Unlike stocks where you have over 6,000 picks, forex is traded in seven major pairs. The US dollar is the world’s reserve currency and is used in each major pair. Zero in on the two or three pairs you want to trade. Start your paper trading using these pairs.

The next step is to develop a trading strategy. You can use a fundamental approach. You might read a piece of economic news that you believe will move a currency. For example, if you read that Greece is near settlement of their debt crisis, you might choose to buy the euro and sell the US dollar.

Another approach is technical trading. You would base your trading on a series of charts and technical indicators. The problem with technical trading is that it is based on the past and is not always a good indicator of future price movements.

However you decide to trade, keep it simple. Too much data is often confusing. You can lose sight of the big picture.

Finally, always use stop loss orders. Forex trading is worldwide, 24 hours a day. You must take protection during the hours when you cannot track the market.