Maybe you have heard about how you can make millions of dollars while sitting at home in your underwear trading this thing called foreign exchange or forex. All you have to do is follow the fancy $5,000 software and you are a millionaire!

Does that sound too good to be true? Well the second part almost always is. Alright who are we kidding, it is always too good to be true unless you programmed the software yourself and know exactly how it works.

How can you trust a piece of software if you don't understand how it is giving you trading signals? If a trade starts going 100 pips against you an half your account is gone and there is no signal to get out, wouldn't you stop using the software? I sure would.

However, the good news is that you really can make a lot of money from the comfort of your own home. The way you choose to dress (or not dress) in your home is your choice. I don't really want to know.

There are many people all over the world making a comfortable living trading forex full-time and the good news is that you can too! You don't believe me?

Here are just a few examples:

• In the Book Millionaire Traders by Kathy Lien and Boris Schlossberg Marcelino Livian recounts how he started trading commodities with $8,000 and transitioned to forex a few years later. He now trades full time and has achieved steady returns. As an added bonus, forex trading has brought his family closer. He has taught his children the value earning their own living and discussions around the dinner table often center around what the currency markets.
• Also in Millionaire Traders, Hoosain Harneker recounts the story of how he took seven months to save $1,000 and started trading it very carefully. He had promised his wife that if he lost that money he would never trade again. He was so careful that his goal was to only make 10 pips per day. With those 10 pips per day, he went on to become a successful trader and train other successful traders.
• In her book ForeX Trading for Maximum Profit, Raghee Horner outlines her strategy for how she trades from her home and has taught many to do the same.

These are but a few examples of the many people who are successful independent forex traders. But the question still remains, what is the secret to becoming a successful forex trader?

Here it is: Finding a system that works for YOU.  This is very important because people have different personallities and their trading stye must suit them. You can't expect a person with a short attention span to trade a long term strategy.  Vice versa, you can't expect a person who only likes to check the charts once a day to day trade.  

So how do you find a system that works for you? There are several different ways to do this.

• You can keep trading real money until your account balance is zero. Hopefully you will learn to trade successfuly before then.
• You can demo trade different strategies with practice money until you find one that works. That might take anywhere from months to years.
• You can practice trading with historical data in forex back testing software as much as you can until you figure out a successful strategy. This can let you know if a strategy works in as little as a few hours to a few days.

Now, which one would you choose? There are many forex back testing software options but I would suggest that you test as quickly and inexpensively as possible. You don't need a fancy monthly subscription or software costing thousands of dollars.

You can use Excel or another inexpensive forex back testing software. Be sure that you can get the historical data for free too.

It is hard work, but practice is the only way to get good at anything in life, right? How else did Michael Jordan get so good at basketball or Jimi Hendrix get so good at guitar? If you want to find the financial freedom that trading can provide, you have to practice.

However, keep in mind that practice trading is a little different than when you have real money on the line, but it does put the odds tremendously in your favor. Happy testing and make a lot of money!