Thread by @madan_kumar

My trading journey so far -

This is a thread elucidating my formative years (say 10 years) of trading experience/journey :)

I tried my best to put it succinctly (there was a similar thread i remember reading somewhere few years ago. Inspired by that article)

(1/n)

1. We get intrigued by how easy our neighbour, colleague, friend makes money in trading the markets - easy-peasy.
Q in mind - why are we working as an employee'? 😀

2. We gather info on trading via books, seminars and social media(not a wise choice actually 😀)

(2/n)

3. We stumble upon something we like and learn more about that technique

4. We start trading immediately on the idea..lose a lot, win sometimes.

5. We pat our back for winners and blame others/circumstances for losers - Taking responsibility - in reverse 😀

(3/n)

6. Figure out that if 'we learn more', we will start making money rather than losing. Keep reading books, get new ideas and keep changing stuff daily

7. After 3-6 months and shaving off few lacs of money in the acct, we realize there is more to what meets the eye.

(4/n)

8. We change strategy again (one that will not fail anymore and has 90% winrate) and trade actively. Make some money to keep the interest up :)

9. We are still like that headless chicken running around without knowing what we are really trying to do.

(5/n)

10. Our technique scores a major success on a particular day and we promptly attribute that success to our research skills/abilities 😀

11. Until this point, we keep thinking that right information and right entry analysis lead to market success - why not? 😊

(6/n)

12. We are not aware of something called 'right' trading practices. It is all about analysis so far.

13. We make a killing 1 day and start getting over-confident. Mkt humbles us by giving that 'why me' trade 😀

(7/n)

14. Mkt catches us offguard (bad luck trade 😊) &we lose much more than what we intended in a single trade. That dreadful "crippling' loss happens. Fear creeps in 🙄

15. Psychological issues start to develop - slowly but steadily. Makes us wonder what went wrong really

(8/n)

16. To come out of the crippling loss, we do overtrading (and/or) revenge trading. In that process, we dig a hole on the very spot we are standing in.

Account gets wiped out soon and we understand that it is not as easy as it looks like.

(9/n)

17. We take a break from trading. We stop watching CNBC and stop loitering around social media. Keeps wondering how every tom, dick and harry is making money in the mkts.

We are not greedy anymore & hence, no more searching for 90% WR system. 70% is fine now 😊

(10/n)

18. We figure out a new technique now and bring in more moolah. Actively start trading but reduced size

19. We still did not figure out trading is more about setting up the internals right (psychology) than the externals (system/software/broker/indicator/magic potion) 😊

(11/n)

20. We understand that there is a word called 'Risk' in trading. It was all about 'reward' so far. W

We start appreciating the idea of protecting our capital 1st 👍

21. We keep trading and still lose money. We understand 'internals' are more imp than externals slowly.

(12/n)

22. We realize the need for rules to follow in the markets . Take a break and form some rules to enter/exit

23. We start making money on a smaller size and keep trading well. Make some money and profitable months are more than losing months 😊

(13/n)

24. We get over-confident & mkt humbles us.We take another big hit (through series of trades) & the fear gets back to the front burner

25. We devise a MM plan to stay afloat 1st.We slowly realize that if we take care of the losses well,profits will take care of themselves (14/n)

26. We start to let the market dictate what it wants to give.We just focus on the only thing we control-the risk

27. We realize that we moved from a 'greed oriented' trader to a 'fear oriented' trader initially. Now, we are marching towards being a 'risk oriented' trader (15/n)

29. We understand the imp. of following rules as we could clearly see the $ we could have made had we followed the rules to the DOT

30. We continue to trade & mkt keeps teaching us more about ourselves. We start making serious $, increase size slowly & fear is almost out (16/n)

31. Proverbial over-confidence kicks in but this time (due to awareness),damage is limited. We learn to be humble. If not, we know mkt will humble us 😊

32. We completely stop thinking during mkt hours. We act 'dumb' in front of the mkt & let our rules take the course 😀 (17/n)

33. We understand clearly that in the dancing floor, let the mkt lead the dance. We will just tag along. It is a futile effort to predict the next dance move of the market😊

34. Making money ceases to be a problem now & we truly start living a world of abundance.

(18/n)

35. Last but not the least, we realize that consistently-profitable trading is the most boring profession of all. Initially, we were a fugitive to our emotions and now ,we learned to handle our emotions well.

We distinctly feel that the journey was worth every moment 👍(19/n)

Once we figure out internals are more important than externals, profound clarity of thought process will engulf us.

Traversing the path (journey) is much sweeter than the end-result. Trading is a journey !!

Enjoy 'YOUR' journey - happy trading all 😊

(20/20)