Many years ago, I was fortunate to learn from a trader who had made so many mistakes that it really helped my personal journey. Today I will share some of that experience with this trader and the impact it had…

This trader, despite being taught the principles of trading, thought he knew more than the market and would risk more than 10% on a single trade.

This trader ignored advice that he was given and simply assumed that was for ‘other traders’ and not applicable to him.

He said that asking for help was a sign of weakness, even when he was in deeply negative open positions.

If he did have winning trades, it would simply solidify the bad habits he had created, thus continuing with them.

One of the worst things he did was get into a position that he originally said he would only hold for a few days. He didn’t bank it when it got to his target because of greed. Then the position rolled back against him. Instead of getting out, he added to the position. What started out as a two-day trade became something he held onto for several months!

Interestingly, when that day came where he blew up his sizeable account (it didn’t take long), he actually switched from being greed based to fear based. The fight or flight senses had truly kicked in and he simply couldn’t pull the trigger.

For a while, I thought he was never going to get back into trading but he surprised me and did.

24 years on, this trader is still doing it and has astounded me on all parts of his trading. He finally realised many years ago that it was not his strategy that was letting him down, but his mindset. His discipline improved and with it, his ability to trade the markets profitably.

He’s proof that no matter how bad you think you are at trading, you can indeed come through even the darkest of moments.

This trader was me….

Until next time

Charlie