We will talk about five hard truths of trading. But it is not meant to discourage anyone. We will give you some insights so that you can view the markets in a realistic way.
Moreover, there is a lot of fluff out there in the trading world and people or influencers showing off a grand lifestyle and it makes you think that it’s extremely easy to get there.
While you can get there and we fully believe and encourage setting high goals like with anything else there are no shortcuts.
1. You Are Going to Lose Money Before You Make Money
If you start any new business, including trading, requires an upfront investment before seeing profits. Just like paying tuition for college classes, traders must accept losses as the cost of learning.
Experiencing losses represents spending money to eventually make money. Traders cannot simply start trading and immediately achieve consistent profits month after month. In the beginning, traders will face a period of figuring things out and taking losses, which is okay.
However, losses actually represent an investment in oneself. Losses provide valuable lessons about what trading strategies work and what doesn’t work. Analyzing and learning from mistakes. It is important for developing a profitable trading system over time. Finding losses, creating structured trading strategies, and learning from mistakes helps you to be at a safe side.
2. Your emotions matter more than you think
Most traders initially focus on technical analysis, news, and fundamentals to understand the markets. However, managing emotions plays a huge role in trading success. Emotions impact everyone differently when in trades.
Feeling happy after profits or sad after losses can activate various attitudes. The markets constantly change, so traders must adapt and learn to manage shifting emotions like waves.
On some days, traders may feel calm and trade effectively. On others, they may wake up with high anxiety or restlessness for no apparent reason. New traders often let these energized states lead to impulsive, costly mistakes.
Over time, experienced traders learn to understand and neutralize these emotional states before trading. Simply feeling anxious doesn’t mean avoiding the markets entirely that day, but regaining an even-keeled mindset first becomes crucial.
No trade has a perfect entry where the price instantly moves to the profit target. Most trades will have an initial period of being in the red. How traders behave during these drawdowns demonstrates their emotional discipline and management abilities.
Avoiding the urge to quickly exit losing trades becomes critical. Embracing this process and learning to trust the trading plan during rough periods represents investing time into emotional development, which proves just as important as studying technicals for long-term success.
3. There is no Fast Track to Success
Achieving success through a “fast track” or shortcut is extremely rare. Stories of people making millions quickly in crypto or other ventures represent outlier cases.
Everyone’s situation differs, so comparisons prove unproductive. Traders cannot rush the learning process or expect overnight profits.
Building profitable trading skills takes years of consistent effort and emotional development at each individual’s own pace.
Rather than seeking a non-existent fast track, traders should focus on steadily improving their trading abilities and mindset day-by-day.
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Read moreBecoming consistently profitable requires putting in the reps and hard work over an extended period, just like building physical muscle through weightlifting. It’s about the quality of time and effort invested into learning, not the speed.
Successful traders prioritize their educational journey’s substance over how rapidly they can start making money. Allowing the skills to develop through diligent practice proves more fruitful than impatiently chasing hacks or shortcuts.
4. You Won’t Progress Unless You Track Your Progress
Tracking progress proves essential for growth as a trader. Trading represents a business, so traders cannot gauge their performance or identify what strategies work without recording data.
Haphazardly placing trades day-to-day without any structure or analysis will prevent meaningful development. Traders with ambitious goals must diligently track metrics to understand their path.
Detailed record-keeping illuminates patterns that would otherwise remain obscured. For example, tracking may reveal consistently losing on Fridays but profiting Monday through Thursday.
Or perhaps a trader tends to give back gains in the afternoons after solid morning performance. Cataloging trade setups, entries, exits, and outcomes enables traders to calculate which strategies prove most effective for them.
Analyzing the data allows refining of techniques and trading plans. Serious traders committed to improvement must adopt the crucial habit of meticulously tracking all statistics and reviewing their progress over time.
5. You need to have alternate income sources while you are learning to trade
Here are three paragraphs summarizing the main points in simple words using the active voice:
Having alternative income sources proves crucial when learning to trade. Some traders maintain lucrative careers while trading part-time, while others dream of quitting jobs to trade full-time.
However, relying solely on trading profits to cover living expenses creates psychological pressures most novices cannot handle.
When bills depend on trading wins, losses weigh heavier, potentially disrupting prior good habits and mindsets. Consistent profits require operating without that burden initially.
Traders wishing to eventually trade for their sole income must first build a financial runway. Accumulating savings and a nest egg takes time but provides the cushion to trade without desperation from the markets.
Skillful traders who reach this position often still rely on additional income streams for several more years while honing craft.
Attempting to prematurely survive off trading profits alone typically ends in ruin from the intense psychological pressures.
Final Words
Unlike other careers providing steady paychecks simply for showing up, trading uniquely risks losing money daily despite putting in the work. It involves developing consistency while also covering living costs with trading capital.
Utilizing other income sources removes that distraction during the crucial learning stages. Trading demands dedication and quality practice over years before reaching the point where it can financially sustain someone full-time.