Welcome to NexusFi: the best trading community on the planet, with over 150,000 members Sign Up Now for Free
Genuine reviews from real traders, not fake reviews from stealth vendors
Quality education from leading professional traders
We are a friendly, helpful, and positive community
We do not tolerate rude behavior, trolling, or vendors advertising in posts
We are here to help, just let us know what you need
You'll need to register in order to view the content of the threads and start contributing to our community. It's free for basic access, or support us by becoming an Elite Member -- see if you qualify for a discount below.
-- Big Mike, Site Administrator
(If you already have an account, login at the top of the page)
I would suggest proving out your method with a goal in sim that is challenging but achievable. It should be a goal that takes time, forces you to trade through a variety of market conditions, and puts pressure on you to perform.
For example, vow not to trade real money until you have earned $5000 in sim trading one lots only. This will take time, and as you near the goal you will start feeling pressure because of your desire to trade live. Sim will soon feel like real money and you will take it very seriously.
The key is to stick with your goal. One lots only and $5000. No cheating. This will require discipline. You may find out that your method needs more work, or perhaps you will prove to yourself that your method is better than you thought.
From my experience my advice would be to trade small positions. If you have the right methodology, confidence will come back quickly. It is like riding a bike, you never really forget.
It is important to be honest with yourself regarding your methodology. Does it have and edge and is it applicable? By applicable I mean, can you psychologically withstand the situations it puts you through? For example: a methodology with an edge, but with 50% drawdowns is not applicable. It will break you psychologically.
Most traders fail. True. Most applicants to top universities fail too. Should the statistics prevent you from getting an education?
My trading technique is working pretty good so far. It allows me to read the PA much better and understand where price is trying to go.
What I really feel at this point is that I need a good mentor a seasoned trader that I can share my trading method with to get some approval and guidance.
I use Hybrid renko charts multiple time frame, 3 different charts per instrument, and MACDbblines .
If someone uses a similar method I would love to share my charts and listen to their feedback.
Thanks
So ive been doing this for over 10 years, on and off....but i have put legit hours in.One of the things i struggle with is confidence.I think about how many times i thought i had a method that works...but turns out it didnt.A pro told me once that i need to be confident, and i thought that i hadnt earned the right to be confident, with results.Theres a huge difference between confidence and cockiness......I remember Big Mike mentioning that he thought he was there many times, and it took much longer than he thought it would to become profitable a s a trader.I read Michael Douglas book years ago, maybe its time for a refresh.I think the constant grind of trying to find the best entry vs risk and reward///and being disciplined, taking my stops etc....has programmed me to be over cautious.....Well, im back for 4 weeks now, and as expected, being back in the trenches, its not like i envisioned it...not at all...my plan when i came back went out the window quickly.It seems like each week , i was seeing different things, some useful, some not.I decided to drastically simplify my rules for the trade plan i have, especially when it comes time to execute.my awareness has gone up, and my focus is much better.This week, i started to really focus on value on the 30 min.I feel that this is helping me to understand the context each day, like a roadmap so to speak.I can only hope that this is it as far as my methodology.There are many methods that work in trading, iknow i need to just pick one that works for me...and stick with it.No method is 100%.So today i took 6 trades so far, and for the most part they made sense.However, i either passed or missed on just as many, and that is a problem.That is the difference.Passing on good trades is crippling to my attitude.Typically being over picky at execution time, and then watching it go without me.Its time to start believing in this method, and trade it aggressively, or dont bother.Its time to start getting out of training mode, and get into doing mode..meaning..get it done.
The biggest problem with trading is that we are human and most people absolutely hate to be wrong. We hate it so much that we tend to remember the times we were wrong more than the times we were right. Why is that? The human mind is designed for a singular purpose, your protection. To keep you from situations like a losing trade it will constantly remind you of those events and what they felt like. You will constantly be reminded of the pain you felt and psychological pain can be as devastating as physical pain.
While I do not believe you can ever become numb to the pain of a financial loss you can manage it much like you manage risk. It takes time and practice.
To rebuild confidence after a significant loss requires self discipline. You have to figure out why you allowed such a big loss to happen and what you can do to minimize the likelihood of it happening again. The self discipline part comes into play when you make yourself follow the new guidelines. One good practice is to have a checklist of things that MUST happen before entering a trade. Most scenario's will develop slow enough to allow this to happen. If you follow your rules and a trade still goes against you, the pain of that event (I believe) is lessened. The confidence will come with consistent trading.
I echo what Tap in said but I will set account at $2500 instead.
this is all good but there is a flip side to consider, can you take a loss as easily as you take a win? taking loss frequently hopefully will inoculate you from panicking/procrastination when you are back in live.
There are two types of confidence. Confidence that one has an edge or skill in predicting the market. This type of confidence is prerequisite but insufficient for sustained success. The second type of confidence is the knowledge that one can preserve through adversity. It is much more rare and difficult to obtain. Let me back up, I believe that most traders are rational and do have an edge. The real question is why do traders who have an edge blow up? The answer is normally over leverage and uncertainty regarding their precision. It is not enough to have an edge-- even a significant edge. One needs to know their precision if one wants to leverage to the maximum extent which is what most retail traders attempt to do.
You can do a few things:
1. Go with a broker who will enforce a daily loss limit on you.
2. Define your strategy.
3. Backtest the elements that you can.
4. Create a contract and defined game plan.
When one has good entry/exits....suppose there are 2 traders....both using 2 different methods....whatever the method maybe....they can share their good.bad trades and end of day come to consensus why one's entry was par or subpar even when doing after the fact analysis.
if you open a journal....u will receive answers from people who trade...and why a location was good/bad or ugly. So a journal maybe a good idea if you think you are on the correct path but need some insight.
Below lines do not pertain to you...i myself have seen this:-
after having gone thru numerous threads on public forums....most feel what they know is the ultimate but the performance may not be. hence what i say is immaterial. Most people will fall of this path.....as they think themselves to be too good....and may not listen to the correct advice. many times correct advice comes in form of a journal if input is solicited properly. but if one already knows it and merely putting a journal to show a trade taken...no advice is being solicited. do u see what i mean...anyways dont mind my BS
cheers and hope you find what you r looking for...in your trading journey