Frankly most of the advice I read on this forum could be applied to life. Learn as much as you can before you risk a pile on money investing. I am an avid researcher on other things and the investing is no different for me.
After reading through many of the posts on this forum and looking at some videos of Warren Buffet giving advice one thing that I can tell you is that the key to becoming good at trading stocks is to have "patience". A lot of people just want to be able to make money and to make it now and they never really take the time to really understand what it is that they are really doing.
I would say record data - record all of the things you do and everything that happens. Whenever, something goes wrong whenever you lose any money go back to your notes and try to figure out what happened - use your recorded data and figure out your mistakes and learn from them.
Always have patience and research EVERYTHING. Having knowledge on a topic allows you to more easily invest.
Research what you are going to invest in. Get the annual report for the company, watch the stock, etc. Ultimately these things will help although nothing is 100% in the market.
First financial education, then try methods and select your favorite. Be patient, do not despair, use your proven strategy. Finally always have a positive mind.
I would say, don't give up. Make the most out of your time and do some research before you start, it always helps. And always aim for big things in the future.
I'm so glad I found this thread. I've been toying with the idea of trading some stock on the side of my day job for years now, on and off, and lately it's been on my mind again. I stumbled on this forum and soon this thread and boom, suddenly I have a lot of practical albeit basic advice to build on. Thank you guys and gals!