Introduction
This article is about mistakes. I’ve called it The Top 10 Common Forex Trading Mistakes but honestly, I could’ve equally called it “Beginners Mistakes”, “Common Mistakes” or “Stupid Stuff All Traders Do.” The title “Top 10 Common Forex Trading Mistakes ” just SEO’s better, but seriously the best traders make mistake lots of them.
I’ve been a professional investor for almost twenty years, trading everything from mortality risk and catastrophe bonds to interest rates, FX, and exotic options. I aim to offer you a perspective different from the usual stuff online—making it interesting is the goal; fun might be pushing it.
Over my career, I’ve committed every mistake on this list and plenty more. The difference is, I still make them, but now I understand my weaknesses and biases better. I’ve built in some firewalls and airbags into my process that mitigate the impact. The first thing you need to understand is successful trading isn’t about avoiding mistakes—it’s about living with them without blowing up your account or your track record.
I think this quote from Bob Mercer, former co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies nails it.
“We’re right 50.75 percent of the time . . . but we’re 100 percent right 50.75 percent of the time,” Mercer told a friend. “You can make billions that way.”
― Gregory Zuckerman, The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution
Oh and in case you’re wondering they did…
This list starts at zero…the zeroth mistake if you like it’s somewhat universal.
Trading Mistakes #1: Trading without a strategy—Plan or Perish, Seriously
The Issue:
Look, I never got into the whole Boy Scouts thing of “Fail to plan, plan to fail,” I’m a spontaneous kind of guy most of the time… but they do have a point: if your trading without a plan, you’re essentially gambling. So, unless you’re feeling lucky you need a solid strategy before entering any market, especially something as volatile as Forex. Remember you will be wrong a lot, you will make a lot of trading mistakes, better to be prepared right?
The Risks:
Impulsive Reactions: Without a trading plan, you’re a deer in the headlights when the market goes south. You might panic-sell, double down out of spite, or just “ostrich” it and pretend nothing’s wrong. Spoiler: All bad moves. Likewise, if things are going well, you might become overconfident and that has its own issues but more on that later.
The Solution: A Robust Trading Plan
A plan is more than just an entry and exit strategy; it’s a comprehensive playbook you draft when you’re not in the heat of trading. It keeps you grounded, rational, and saves you from your worst enemy: your emotions, Mistake #4 again.
– Market Analysis: Technical or fundamental—pick your poison. Just know what’s driving your trade, this needs to be consistent, if you don’t have a strong view on the best approach you need to work on your process first.
– Entry & Exit Points: Define your battleground. Know where you’ll enter and exit, and set clear triggers for both. Oh and stick to them ok…No excuses!
– Risk Management: Be smart with your money. Start conservatively, say with 1% of your capital. If the market favors you, feel free to ramp it up. Smart traders vary position size…repeat after me.
– Review and Adapt: Keep a trading journal. After each trade, review what worked and what didn’t. Adapt and refine your strategy over time. Don’t dwell on every pip (**link to fx article**) but understand your performance.
Customizing YOUR Plan:
Your trading plan should be as unique as your Netflix playlist. It can be as simple as buy when the trend is positive sell when its negative, it could be based on economic data or If you’re superstitious and think black cats are bad luck, that’s fine (unfair but fine), but be consistent. Keep your plan flexible, but not so much that you’re rewriting it every day. I suggest you set a framework and flex around that, remember plans are not puppies its fine to drive them into the hills and leave them there, just try not to pick them up in bars at 1am.
– Tactical Details: Write down the factors that will influence your decision-making. Whether it’s support and resistance levels or specific market indicators, be precise.
– Emotional Checkpoint: Decide in advance what you’ll do if the market tests your nerves. If the price moves against you by x%, will you review or exit?
Example Plans:
– Basic Strategy: “I believe EUR/USD will drop due to diverging inflation rates between the EU and US. I’ll enter at x, first review at y, hard stop at Z+x. Risking 1% of my capital.”
– Weird: “I trade based on animal signs. Black cat? Cutting 50%. Badger sighting? Doubling up. Snake? I’m exiting, no questions.”
Bottom Line:
A plan sets the stage for rational trading. It’s your guide for when the market isn’t going your way, and trust me, that will happen, a lot. It’s not set in stone; you can and should update it as you gain experience. But remember, a plan crafted in a calm state of mind is a trader’s best friend. Stick to it and steer clear of emotional, impulsive decisions. Be a strategist, not a gambler.
Trading Mistakes #2: Using Too Much Leverage—Don’t turn it up to 11
The Issue:
Leverage, is tempting, it’s the devil on your shoulder, “go on use me you know you want to”, but its a double-edged sword. It can drastically multiply your profits, but it can also equally multiply your losses, sometimes wiping out your entire account. According to the CFTC, Two out of three forex customers lose money, and using high amounts of leverage is often the culprit, this really is one of the key trading mistakes beginners make. Leverage has its place in trading, but you need to know your weapon and treat it with respect. The key is to remember not to risk more than you can afford to lose.
The Risks:
– High Risk of Loss: We already noted that a 50%-60% hit rate is elite, so even if you’re wrong only half the time, a small losing streak can devastate your account when using high leverage. Remember you want to take small losses often and wait for the big winners.
– Emotional Instability: The heightened risk often leads to emotional trading, making it harder to stick to your trading plan. Maybe we should have started with **Mistake #4**
– Case Study: LTCM: Even experts get it wrong. Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), led by Nobel laureates, was leveraged up to 35:1. They bet on small price gaps narrowing, and did spectacularly well for a few years but the 1998 Russian crisis led to a near-collapse and necessitated a Wall Street bailout.
The Solution
– Strategic position Sizing: Always factor leverage into your risk management strategy. Consider the worst-case scenario and size your bets accordingly. Understand why you are using it and what the right amount is.
– Rigorous Planning: Leverage should only be used in the context of a well-defined trading plan that includes robust risk management protocols. Avoid risk of ruin always.
– Contingency Measures: Always have a Plan B in case the market moves against you, be like John Wick check out the exits before you go in. The downfall of LTCM serves as a cautionary tale of what happens when leveraged positions go awry without a backup plan.
The Bottom Line:
Leverage is a serious tool in your trading arsenal it’s also fun but remember it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye…indulge in overleveraging and you will have more than just a sore head the next day. As such, it demands cautious and meticulous planning. It’s not merely an accelerator; it can also be a wrecking ball if used irresponsibly. Always be prepared for the worst case scenario.
Trading Mistakes #3: No money management—Look No Hands!
The Issue:
Risk management isn’t just about setting stop-losses; it’s a complete mindset. If you’re entering trades without a solid plan (refer back to trading mistake #1), chances are you’re not giving enough thought to risk management. While some traders may find the topic tedious or filled with jargon, the reality is that risk management is the cornerstone for long-term trading success.
At investment banks people will often refer to traders as **Risk Takers** doesn’t mean they do stupid stuff (although many do) it means their job is to take on board risk and hopefully turn a profit. Remember all traders manage risk, despite what you may have read there are no certainties in this game it’s all about risk.
The Risks:
– Superficial Understanding: Many beginners underestimate risk management, thinking it’s dull, just a set of formulaic rules or something they can skip after watching a few YouTube tutorials, after all if you have a system to make 20% a month who needs seatbelts. Big mistake.
– Losses Over Gains: If you lack effective risk management, you’re more likely to encounter devastating losses that can wipe out your account. The essence of trading is not about always being right but managing risks effectively so that your gains outweigh your losses over time. That’s probably something you get. But it cuts both ways, if you don’t have a firm understanding of risk you may end up running losers and cutting winners.
There is a lot of research on the loss aversion bias but in short its easy for humans to fall into the trap of preferring to book small gains over small losses. Understanding risk won’t remove the bias but it should help with avoiding those typical trading mistakes.
The Solution: A Robust Trading Plan
– Beyond Basic Tools: Good risk management is multi-dimensional. It’s not just about setting a stop-loss; it’s about position sizing based on risk tolerance, understanding the risk-reward ratio, and diversifying your trades. Take time to understand what sort of trader you are, do you take too much or too little risk, do you under or overtrade. Once you understand yourself then use this to shape your risk management approach.
– The Professional’s Approach: Pros in the trading world have a comprehensive, ongoing approach to risk management. They use a blend of strategies, including but not limited to:
– Position sizing
– Risk-reward analysis
– Stop-loss and take-profit orders
– Diversification across markets
– Hedging strategies
– Scenario analysis and stress testing
They also maintain a disciplined mindset, if they know they over trade they may set a trade limit during the day or vary bet size with time. They set realistic goals, if you are aiming to turn $1,000 into $1,000,000 maybe consider the lottery. They own their wins and their losses, continually learning from both their successes and failures.
The Bottom Line:
Risk management is not an optional part of trading; it’s essential. Ignoring it is a bit like driving without a seatbelt, while blindfolded, with a bag of hungry rats on your lap—you’re unnecessarily exposing yourself to severe risk, and some fairly unpleasant outcomes. But by adopting a holistic approach to risk management, you’re not only minimizing potential losses (financial and otherwise) but just as importantly you’re building a platform for more consistent and substantial gains, and consistency is key in this game.
Trading Mistakes #4: Emotion-Based Trading—The Emotional Pitfalls of Thinking You’re the Wolf of Wall Street
The Issue:
We want to believe we’re better than the average driver, better looking than the average person, make less trading mistakes than the average Joe and are better traders than the average investor and that’s just one example of how emotions can bias your outlook, any bias has the potential to blindside you into making poor trading decisions.
Trading is an emotional endeavour, I can’t say I ever smashed a telephone, or punched my trader, but at times I wanted to, I just settled for smashing tequila afterword instead. Remember no matter what your personality we’re all susceptible. Whether it’s the euphoria from a winning trade or the despair from a losing one, emotions can greatly influence your decision-making, often not for the better, every heard of revenge trading, perhaps not but If you have every traded you will know the feeling.
The Risks:
– The Human Psyche in Markets: Behavioural economists like Daniel Kahneman have shown that our brains are wired more for survival than for the analytical rigor needed in trading. Cognitive biases such as confirmation bias, overconfidence, and loss aversion can dramatically skew our perception and decision-making abilities.
– Emotional Pitfalls: Emotions can make us deviate from our trading plans, holding onto losing trades too long or exiting winning ones too early, increasing position size when you should be taking profit and closing trades when you should be adding. Emotional trading can lead to significant financial loss and missed opportunities, revenge trading is a good example, just like uploading those photos of your ex, it might feel good at the time but it’s leading you into a world of trouble.
Take the time to understand what you are good at and where you struggle, what can help and what can hinder your trading, but remember above all be honest with yourself.
The Solution:
– Self-Awareness and Decision Making: The first step in addressing emotional trading is recognizing your emotional triggers. Are you trading out of fear or greed? Poker champion and author Annie Duke suggests thinking in “bets” or probabilities to evaluate decisions with both the quality and outcome in mind, separating your ego from the trade.
– Wisdom from the Trenches: Emotion-driven trading isn’t just a beginners mistake we all do it now and again the trick is to recognise it and step back if only for a moment Stephen Duneier’s work on making incremental improvements in decision-making can be incredibly beneficial. Learning from these experts can offer invaluable insights into managing your emotional state while trading.
The Bottom Line:
Managing your emotions is as critical to trading as any strategy or technical indicator, I actually think it close to #1 on any list of the Top 10 Habits of Successful Traders. Following the work of thinkers like Kahneman, Duke, and Duneier can help you understand the psychological pitfalls that lead to big trading mistakes and how to avoid them. But you don’t need to go that deep just be honest with yourself, read that trading journal try and identify patterns good and bad, and think about how to tilt the balance, oh and forget about revenge its just not worth it move on.
Trading Mistakes #5: Trading From Scratch—The Price of Ignorance in Trading
The Issue:
I can’t emphasis enough the importance of a proper trading education, starting from scratch here typically isn’t a great idea. Almost all brokers will offer a demo account, use it, even if just to better understand the platform, trading mistakes come in all flavours, don’t be the guy that sells instead of buying because you didn’t understand the platform.
The trading world is a complex ecosystem of interconnected markets, each influenced by a multitude of factors ranging from economic indicators to geopolitical events. Not taking the time to understand the basics is like chasing a honey badger while riding a cow with your ex-wife on speaker phone… it’s not a very good idea, it probably won’t end well, Have you seen an angry Honey Badger?
The Risks:
– The World as Your Trading Floor: To illustrate the point, let’s consider trading the USD/JPY currency pair. It’s not just about the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen. You’re essentially trading the economic policies, interest rates, and geopolitical situations of both the United States and Japan. Ignoring or misunderstanding the importance of these factors can severely distort your trading strategy.
– The Cow of Ignorance: Without grasping fundamental concepts like economic indicators, interest rates, or even what a pip is, If you’re not informed, you’re like a cow following the herd—directionless and prone to collective mistakes. Success in trading is often about understanding something better than the next guy. Finding the nuance in a central bank statement, working out when sentiment turns, telling a friendly honey badger from a normal one.
The Solution:
– Learn Before You Leap: Take the time to educate yourself about your market, read our Beginners Guide to Forex, familiarise yourself with economic calendars, upcoming market events, central bank meetings etc, understand the basics of chart reading, and get a grasp on the jargon. Be curious, be humble, the smartest guys I know are the ones that say I don’t know a lot. Keep asking questions and keep looking for answers.
– Combine Technical analysis and Fundamentals: The approach often taken by seasoned traders is to combine both technical and fundamental analysis. You could form a fundamental view based on economic conditions and then use technical signals for your entry and exit points. This holistic view can provide you a competitive edge over traders who focus solely on one type of analysis. Personally, I and many others think technical analysis on its own is worse than useless, but it can be a great way to plan entry and exit trades once you have decided on them.
The Bottom Line:
The basics aren’t just a starting point; they’re the foundation upon which successful trading strategies are built. Don’t just jump on the cow without knowing why you’re chasing the badger and make sure you put that phone on silent. Take the time to understand the fundamentals that drive the market, how they interact, and how you can use this knowledge to your advantage.
Anything less, and you’re just another cow in the herd, waiting to be tripped up by the next unexpected event, maybe not evening realising your repeating the same trading mistakes over and over again. Be Curious like a cow but clever like a honey badger and continuously learn. That’s how you set yourself up for long-term success in trading.
Trading Mistakes #6: Trading without a strategy—Plan or Perish, Seriously
The Issue:
We’ve all been down the TikTok and YouTube rabbit hole where trading gurus make it look like a cakewalk. “Follow my simple rules to build your side hustle, earn 10k a month!”. But there is only one person hustling here—those Lamborghinis aren’t going to be in both your driveways. People are often swayed by the supposed precision a system or set of indicators offer. But if you think a couple of fancy lines on a chart are your ticket to financial freedom, you’re in for a rude awakening, trading is hard it takes dedication, a lot of learning (Mistake #5) and it probably won’t get you that Bentley but if you don’t spin you don’t win right?
The Risks:
– The Illusion of Precision: Trading systems and indicators are mathematical tools used for market analysis. They leverage historical price data and other variables to create signals, patterns, or trends.
These come in various flavors— perhaps focusing on trend, momentum, volatility, and volume, or a combination of these, maybe they pull in some sentiment data also etc. But remember, they’re not a crystal ball. They can mislead you into making awful trades, render you complacent, or worse—stop your growth as a trader by making you lazy and dependent on them.
If your wired that way study systems and try and build you own but please don’t buy someone else’s. It’s fine to buy a vintage dress or a jacket but you wouldn’t buy second hand underwear, would you? Don’t buy someone else’s caste off system, that’s one of the easiest trading mistakes to make, if it worked that well they wouldn’t be selling it.
– False Signals: Indicators can sometimes give you misleading signals, leading you to enter or exit trades at less-than-optimal prices. If it’s not something, you built yourself you won’t have a feel for its strengths or weaknesses.
– Overconfidence: The allure of indicators can make you overconfident, causing you to overlook other critical aspects of trading. Back to emotion…
– Dependency: Relying solely on indicators can stifle your growth and learning, making you dependent on something that’s not foolproof.
– Information Overload: With a plethora of indicators at your fingertips, you might find yourself overwhelmed, clouding your trading strategy and plan.
– Too Good to Be True: Ever come across someone promising 10-40% monthly returns from some magic trading strategy based on indicators? If they could genuinely do that, they wouldn’t be selling you a course; they’d be on a private island sipping margaritas.
The Solution:
– The Art of Interpretation: Indicators should be one ingredient in a well-rounded trading strategy. Use them to confirm your views based on fundamental and technical analysis and fine-tune your entry and exit points.
– MACD for Momentum: If you’re bearish on USD/JPY, for instance, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) can confirm your views by showing downward momentum.
– Bollinger Bands for Volatility: Bollinger Bands can help you identify the best entry or exit points by showing you the price’s volatility.
– Context is King: Don’t just ditch sentiment analysis or double tops. Know how to put these indicators in context. After all, they are tools, not trading gospel.
The Bottom Line:
The social media landscape is rife with people selling the dream of easy trading success through indicators. While they’re useful tools, they’re not the end-all-be-all. No one can predict the market with any real accuracy at least no better than a random walk, ok well maybe Jim Simons can but he won’t return my calls.
Use indicators as part of a balanced approach to trading that also includes a strong understanding of fundamentals and market sentiment. Keep them in their place—useful, but not infallible, and whatever you do don’t buy used underwear, unless that’s your thing of course but either way It won’t help you avoid trading mistakes.
Trading Mistakes #7: Overtrading If You Keep Losing, Don’t Keep Trading
The Issue:
We’ve all been there—letting the euphoria of a win or the anxiety of a loss drive us into making trade after trade. Overtrading is one of the big trading mistakes many don’t see coming. It’s like experiencing a sugar rush; the initial high is exhilarating, but it’s often followed by a crash—depleted capital, sky-high stress, and regret.
The Risks:
– The Market Isn’t Going Anywhere: It’s a 24/5 world, and the temptation to keep trading is strong. But remember, while the market might be ever-present, your optimal trading conditions aren’t. Each trade comes with costs, and overtrading only amplifies them.
– The Financial Toll: Those transaction fees add up, and before you know it, they’re eating into your profits or exacerbating your losses.
– Emotional Burnout: Continuously engaging with the market can lead to stress and decision fatigue, making you prone to even more mistakes.
– Risk Exposure: Overtrading, especially when combined with leverage (Trading Mistakes #2) or emotional impulsivity (Trading Mistakes #4), ramps up your exposure to market volatility. It’s the trading equivalent of a wildebeest grazing in the open sun all day, vulnerable to predators and exhaustion.
The Solution:
– Quality Over Quantity: Successful traders operate more like lionesses, picking their trades carefully and striking at the right moment. They’re not out there taking every opportunity; they’re waiting for the right one.
– Patience and Discipline: Good things come to those who wait. Have a well-defined trading plan based on robust analysis and stick to it.
– Risk Management: Know your entry and exit points, and don’t deviate from your strategy. Just as a lioness wouldn’t waste energy chasing every animal it sees, don’t waste your capital on ill-advised trades.
The Bottom Line:
While the market may always be there to engage with, it’s crucial to approach trading with a disciplined mindset, that’s a power move to avoid trading mistakes. Overtrading is a temptation that can lead to significant financial loss and emotional stress. It’s not about how many trades you make; it’s about the quality of those trades. In the realm of trading, let’s strive to be more like the lioness—calculated, patient, and striking with purpose.
Trading Mistakes #8: Failing to adapt to changing market conditions: Keep on running…
The Issue:
In trading, standing still is the fastest way to move backward. Think of it as being on a treadmill that keeps speeding up, while angry wombats drop from the sky; you must keep running just to stay in place and dodge those darn vicious critters. Markets evolve, new trends emerge, and what worked yesterday might be a losing strategy today, last years winning trade could be the source of tomorrows trading mistakes.
You’ve got to do your homework, keep testing iterating and evolving your approach. Aim for continuous small improvements and watch out for wombats.
The Risks:
– The Evolving Market Landscape: Markets are like living organisms—always evolving. Economic conditions, technological advancements, or even a tweet from a high-profile personality can change the game. If you’re still using the same old strategies without adapting, you’re a sitting duck. Back in the day you could arbitrage FX rates across electronic and other markets it still happens, but machines run that gig now. One of the biggest trading mistakes you can make is not being aware of news and data events.
– Technological Changes: Algorithmic trading and AI are becoming increasingly prevalent. If you’re not keeping up, you’re basically bringing a knife to a gunfight. The Forex market is big enough and mean enough to provide opportunities for everyone, but you need to understand how your opponents are evolving. Algo’s often do silly things after data releases or quotes they act first think later. If you understand that you can take advantage. But first you need to understand what the market is expecting to then assess how it reacts.
– Economic and Global Events: The market doesn’t stand still, plus it learns in a weird way, like some huge AI, it has a memory what went before influences what comes next…. From the COVID-19 pandemic to geopolitical tensions, doing minimal research, trading from scratch or failing to adapt your strategies to the current environment can lead to sub optimal outcomes, i.e. going broke.
– Stagnation: The belief that you’ve ‘arrived’ and have nothing more to learn can be your downfall. In the trading world, you earn the right to keep playing every single day. There’s no tenure here. It can be daunting and exhausting but ultimately rewarding if you put the work in.
The Solution:
– Staying Ahead: Think of it as a lifelong learning course where the syllabus keeps changing. It’s not just about keeping up and knowing your market; it’s about staying ahead, and its not really about avoiding these trading mistakes, sometimes its about making them and learning. But take it easy just try to learn a little more explore something different, remember small incremental gains are the way forward.
– Diverse Learning: Find your preferred learning style—be it books, videos, or podcasts. Bookmark this site and read everything I write (no seriously). Just make sure you’re continually absorbing quality information. There is a lot of noise out there, remember avoid Mistake #6
– Community and Mentorship: Sometimes, the best insights come from other traders who’ve been there and done that. Seek out reputable voices but always corroborate what you hear. This doesn’t have to be a chore I learned a lot over a lunch or a beer with colleagues or other senior traders.
– Regular Review: This isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it operation. Regularly review your strategies and performance. Learn from your wins and your losses, make learning part of your plan (mistake #1)
The Bottom Line:
In trading, the only constant is change. The traders who understand this are not just the ones who win but the ones who survive. Staying up-to-date and continually learning is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. So, don’t just keep running—make sure you’re sprinting in the right direction, and don’t take your eyes off the skies.
Trading Mistakes #9: No Discipline —The Sinatra Syndrome in Trading
The Issue:
Everyone loves the idea of the lone wolf or bat, the star trader, a solitary genius holed up in a deep cave who beats the market with nothing but a laptop and a gut instinct. But let’s be real, trading isn’t a movie, not a DC one anyway, and you’re not Bruce Wayne. Going it alone can be like trying to build a ship in a bottle while wearing oven mitts covered in superglue. You might manage to jam some pieces together, you might get a buzz, but good luck sailing in it.
The Risks:
– Trading as a Lonely Endeavor: Ever tried solving a Rubik’s Cube in the dark? That’s what trading can feel like when you’re going at it alone. Sure, you might stumble upon a winning strategy, but you’re more likely to get twisted up in your own biases and blind spots, making trading mistakes is easy when you can pretend you didn’t, sometimes its good to have someone to critique you.
– Cognitive Strain: It’s uncomfortable to have your views challenged, but that discomfort, also known as cognitive strain, is where growth happens. Avoiding it only stunts your development. Seek out challenging views and opinions.
– The Vacuum Effect: When you’re trading in isolation, you’re essentially in an echo chamber, hearing only your voice. The problem with that? No one’s there to tell you to shut up and go to bed.
– Missing Out on Perspective: You might have a great lens, but it’s not the only one out there. By failing to network, you’re essentially choosing to view the market in monochrome when you could be seeing it in full color. People make markets if you don’t engage with people you’re not really engaging with the market AND you always want to be engaged.
The Solution:
– Gaining Perspective: Think of the market as a giant jigsaw puzzle. You might have a couple of pieces, but without the box cover (a.k.a. other people’s perspectives), you’re just guessing where they fit.
– Networking: This isn’t just for the humble bragging LinkedIn types (we see you). Whether it’s mentors, colleagues, or even Twitter frenemies, every perspective adds another piece to your market puzzle. Don’t ignore them.
– Diversity in Dialogue: Don’t just seek people who echo your views; that’s like just listening to your favourite songs on repeat, whether its Taylor or Townes Van Zant even the best tunes get old. Mix things up and keep it fresh you don’ need to find new people to speak to each week but try and engineer in diversity.
The Bottom Line:
The trading world isn’t a stage and you’re not the headline act; it’s more like an itinerant traveling freakshow where every act adds value and has something unique about it. Going it alone might offer the illusion of control, but it’s a fast track to missing out on the full experience.
Be open to other ‘acts,’ learn from them, – is that a real beard? – and you’ll find that the freakshow isn’t all that scary after all. So, embrace your freak, engage, learn but above all enjoy, trading is a social endeavour after all, and no matter how experienced we have all made these trading mistakes and continue to do so, the secret is we have learned to survive despite them.
Trading Mistakes #10 Complacency—The only rule is there are no rules
What you assumed there would be 10 just because I put it in the title?
Conclusion
Trading is a journey filled with ups and downs, Wombats, Honey Badgers, ex-wives, laugh-out-loud moments, hard-earned lessons, and incredible people. The landscape is as diverse as it is unpredictable. While the road is rocky and contains the odd anti-tank mine, it’s also dotted with opportunities for those who have the discipline, wisdom, and maybe a little bit of flair. The beauty and the challenge lies in converting your trading mistakes into stepping stones toward your goals. It might all sound a bit intimidating at first but remember.
“Where your fear is, there is your task.” — Carl Jung
Happy Trading.
