As a Stock Trader for over 15 years, I have learned a lot about the ins and outs of the business. I started out on my own, rather than with a big brokerage firm with fancy employee training courses. I took seminars and self study classes and learned as I went, many times through sheer trial and error.

While this method may have taken me longer to succeed, I have accumulated a lot more real world knowledge about stock trading than a lot of those brokerage house taught investment advisors who only know what they learned from their boss. For instance, I have learned over the years that there are misunderstandings that constantly recur when talking about stock trading. Here are three of them:

First, is the misunderstanding that you have to be a certain type of person to be a successful stock trader. True, the guys who analyze the market and pick the big winners are almost 60% left brained thinkers, and this is probably how the myth started.

But I have found that there’s something for every type of thinker in stock trading. The trick is to find what works best for you. To be honest, I would be very unhappy sitting around analyzing stocks all day, but I have been very successful in this profession despite that. Anyone else can too.

The second misconception is that stock trading has a lot of risk to it, even more than running a small business. Now, I will be the first to admit that plenty of people have lost everything in the stock market, and of course those are the stories we see splashed over the papers that terrify a lot of people.

But I have learned that if you have the right process in place for setting your stops and limiting your risks to a level that you are comfortable with, it can really be a very low risk profession. For example, I have created a system for myself that allows me to trade with a 75% or more success rate, which is fantastic! I know of no other business that can give me that kind of low risk situation.

Finally, I hear again and again that to really make money in the stock market you must commit to it full time and then some. And I agree, this is absolutely true for some types of trading and particularly if you don’t have a good stock picking service. Then you have to do all the leg work in a fast paced environment. That does take a lot of time.

But, I am living proof that it is absolutely possible to make a great living trading stock for 2-4 hours a day, which will leave you the rest of your day for whatever you wish. The way to achieve this is to have a process in place that is efficient with your time, and low risk enough that you can be profitable on a consistent basis. There are a lot of different courses available and it can be difficult to find the one that will work for you. I suggest you investigate several different choices and, ask lots of questions Use your questions as an additional screening ” if you can’t find anyone to take them all seriously, move on quick! Life is too short. If you start your research knowing the right system is there for you, you will be on your way to becoming a successful stock trader in no time.