Introduction to My Trading Journey
I started my trading journey over 10 years ago with zero knowledge, and everything I now know has been self-taught. From studying the psychology and disciplines of legends like Dr. Alexander Elder, Richard Dennis, and Bill Eckhardt, I’ve come a long way. In the early stages I was enthusiastic and wanted to learn everything about trading but soon lost heart when things went wrong and I ended up bleeding money. Now I’ve reached a place where I’m more consistent and level-headed in my trading approach resulting in much better results.
Overcoming Hurdles and Challenges
There were many obstacles in my trading journey and as many can probably relate – life got in the way. I tried my hand at property flipping, e-commerce, white-label products and other ventures. On top of that, I had a full-time job leaving me with little time to dedicate to trading, and to learning about trading. I didn’t focus enough on consistency or mindset, leading me to chase losses and snatch at wins. I was too emotionally connected and too focused on making the money instead of the process. These challenges set me back a long way and I was unable to stand back and evaluate my progress objectively.
Learning and Growing
As I’m sure you’re aware, there are ‘teachers’, ‘gurus’, ‘experts’ and ‘trading gods’ everywhere trying to sell you their latest strategy or course. In early years I fell into this trap over and over again, seeking for the golden nugget that would make me a millionaire. Spoiler alert – it didn’t happen. Shocking I know. After getting wise to the repetitive notion of trying to buy my success I realised that there must be something I’m missing. The thing that was missing was that I was never looking at myself. As soon as I started working on myself, my results started improving.
The Path to Profitable Trading
Things finally changed for the better when I started seriously investing into my trading psychology a lot more than I ever did before. In the past I’d feel like just following what works for others is the key, it is not. That works for them because of their personal composition. I started over and made proper use of demo accounts to get familiar with new platforms (each broker has their own) and test new strategies without risking my money. After I worked out that 90% of trading success is about psychology and only 10% is about technical ability, things started improving. I started putting in real hours for research and treating trading as a sophisticated business, rather than as a get-rich-quick scheme. This shift in mindset has been crucial in turning my trading journey into a profitable one.
I will go into more detail with practical tips and share what has worked in a separate article soon.
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