For Beginner and Aspiring Traders
What I would tell myself if I could go back 10 years ago
In almost 11 years of trading, I’ve seen quite a lot. Most people quit. Some stay around long enough to succeed, but it's not many. The journey isn’t easy. It’s very time-consuming and energy-consuming. That’s not to say it’s not worth it. Trading is worth learning. But there are a ton of obstacles, and some of them are the traders themselves. Sometimes we are our worst enemy. Before you dive into the journey, or continue your journey if you’ve already started, the following points are what I would tell myself if I could go back in time to my beginning.
1. It’s Going To Take Longer Than You Think
Trading isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. Yes, you can make a lot of money quickly, but you can lose it just as quickly, too. You need to slow down and stop trying to rush success. Be patient with yourself. Focus on studying, backtesting, forward testing, learning from your experiences, and watching quality content.
2. It’s Going to Take More Effort Than You Think
You’re not going to want to journal, but you need to. You don’t want to self-reflect, but you need to do that too. How are you going to correct your mistakes if you aren’t aware of what you’re doing wrong? You will get frustrated when you start seeing results but can’t keep them. You know you’ll see improvement, but maintaining the improvement will elude you unless you learn to correct your errors. You can learn to do more of what’s right, but it won’t help all that much if you don’t fix what you’re doing wrong. Put in the work. It takes a long time to learn anything – becoming a doctor, lawyer, etc. It's worth it. Don’t give up.
3. Social Media is a Distraction
There are plenty of course sellers out there. Many of which sell high-ticket courses and PDFs to fund their lifestyle – it doesn’t come from their trading. They rent cars and houses to market the illusion to ignorant people willing to pay for it. Not all successful people are scammers, though. There are legit ones out there. Don’t be so closed off from the shenanigans that you don’t permit yourself to learn. You’ll have to learn from people who can show expertise. If they are consistent and precise, then they are probably worth looking into. Don’t just have one mentor, though. Learn from a basket of them. One might have a better trading model than others, while someone else may have a better understanding of trading psychology. Take the best from the best. Leave everything else behind, especially if it doesn’t work. Don’t try to make it work.
4. Prioritize
There are plenty of distractions out there. Social media, technology, gossip, television shows, reality TV, etc. Cut all of that stuff out. Have no more of it. No more clubbing, wasting time wondering what others are doing, trying to do a bunch of useless stuff. It's over. Prioritize learning, reading, journaling, and your physical and mental health. You’re allowed to take a day or so off from the charts, sure, but don’t stray too far. We’ve got work to do. When you find yourself drifting, just remind yourself of what you’re supposed to be focused on. Then get back to it.
5. Small Steps, Not Large Leaps
Achieve small goals to build momentum. Make your bed in the morning. Do the small things so you’ll be able to better handle the big things. It sounds stupid, but it works. What’s slow will grow, what’s fast doesn’t last. The ones who are successful in anything they do have grown into it. They didn’t become experts overnight. They started just like you, not knowing much, but they worked their way up over time. Like a staircase, one step at a time. Don’t try to prove anything to anyone. Do it for yourself or your family. Do it for a real reason, but avoid trying to prove others wrong. They don’t care. They won’t believe you when you’re successful anyway. Let them stay stuck and struggling. It’s their fault, and you can’t convince them to learn anything. Focus on you. Focus on your steps. The large leaps will come in due time.
6. What You Need to Focus On as a Trader
You’ll get caught up in the idea that strategy is the most important aspect. You’ll think, “If I can just learn to predict the next move, I can make money.” While it sounds right, it’s not. There are three things a successful trader needs. One of them, yes, is strategy. You need a winning strategy. The other two things are risk management and psychology. They are all equally important. Everyone else will have their own opinion on what’s important, but the truth is you won’t see lasting success without having all three. A strategy without the psychological skills to follow it won’t work. A strategy also won’t work if you’re losing too much from bad risk management. You also can’t “out-psych” a bad strategy. Again, you will need to work on all three categories. Don’t get tangled up in the idea that it’s just charts. You have to work on yourself and your money management as well.
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