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Build a Simple Strategy From Scratch in Seven Steps

You don't need a complicated system to start. A simple, clear strategy you understand is better than a complex one you can't follow. Here's a step-by-step process. Step 1: Choose your market and session. One pair, one window.

Step 2: Define your bias method. For example, higher-timeframe structure on the 4H.

Step 3: Define your location rule. For instance, only buy in discount and sell in premium.

Step 4: Define your trigger. A liquidity sweep followed by a structure shift on a lower timeframe.

Step 5: Define risk rules. Stop placement, risk per trade, maximum trades per day, daily loss limit.

Step 6: Define exits. Target at a specific liquidity level, partial profit rules, break-even rule.

Step 7: Write it as a checklist. Yes or no questions, so there's no ambiguity.

Then test it:

1. Backtest at least 100 setups on replay.
2. Calculate win rate, average R, and drawdown.
3. Forward test on demo for several weeks.
4. Start small live if results and discipline hold.

Common mistakes:

- Adding too many conditions
- Changing rules after a few losses
- Using vague language like "strong move"

Remember that simple rules are easier to execute under pressure.

A strategy isn't a secret formula. It's a set of clear decisions you make in advance, so that you don't need to improvise when emotions run high.

One more thing: when you get to the testing step, write the rules down before you open any charts. Otherwise you'll end up tweaking them to fit whatever you're looking at, and the strategy you test isn't the one you'll actually trade. A good check is to give your written rules to someone else and ask them to find the trades on a chart. If they get the same trades you would, the rules are clear enough. If they keep asking whether something counts, the rules need tightening. Vague rules are the biggest reason simple strategies fail, because every decision becomes a judgment call, and judgment changes with your mood.

At step one, people tend to choose too many markets. A simple strategy on one or two pairs is easier to test and learn. Once it works there, you can test whether it carries over to others. Each pair has its own habits, typical range and news schedule, and learning them takes time. EURUSD in the London session is a sensible first choice for most people in Lagos, with tight spreads and active hours from 8am. After 100 trades with clear results, try the same rules on GBPUSD in backtesting before trading it live, since the wider moves may need different stops.