YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE: It will take you anywhere from 4 to 6 years - for some much longer - to become comfortable trading. After a bruising half-decade you should’ve learnt enough not to be impulsive and to be objective.
YOU NEED A MENTOR: Quickest path to establishing great habits on your way to having a long trading career. You need a mentor to guide you through the first year at least. It would be best if you could sit beside him when he trades to observe and ask questions. Learning to trade on your own will be hell on earth - no exaggeration.
YOU NEED TO BE WELL CAPITALIZED: You cannot start trading with a small account, you will not survive the learning process. A bigger account is no better, you could lose it all because you don’t know what you are doing. That’s why a mentor.
YOU NEED A SYSTEM: Trading is not gambling. It is a process driven system. You need to build a system to trade long term. A system consists of an edge, rules and most importantly your trading psychology where you understand and accept the nature of trading. The first few years should be devoted to building a system that suits your personality, this should take all your time. I expand on this here. If you don’t have a system and are taking random trades, you are dead man walking from the start.
YOU NEED TO WORK VERY, VERY, HARD: If you are not used to, or willing to work very hard intellectually you will not make it. Trading, first few years is all about reading, collecting statistics on your results and knowledge accumulation. Regular days of total exhaustion, deep frustration, sleepless nights and confusion will be part of the learning process as nothing works because you have not understood the nature of trading.