I find that the attitude for any new trader is usually very optimistic. One has a passion for the new endeavor because there's a lot of excitement in doing something extraordinary and maybe even making a lot of money and possibly one day living in a fairly comfortable life. There's so much freedom and space. We all make a full commitments to constantly learn and improve, and we wake up every morning thinking we can make a difference, but if things never really get to pan out the way we had hoped, there probably comes a stage when that passion undergoes a severe test of patience and self-evaulation in life is in order. Some have a lot of patience and can endure many years to extend that passion. I guess mine was just cut short and finally expired. I was able to grind it out, be patient in life, and just work it through everyday in my mid-20s. But at age 30 with not a whole lot under your name, it's obviously a bit harder to continue this unpredictable journey. As you get older, it's really hard to not start questioning because reality becomes less dreamy. I ask myself if I can still do this when I'm 35 or even 40? What if I am still not successful by then? I don't think I can afford any more time if I'm just on the wishful-thinking boat. Worries that I never wanted to focus on become more of a primary thought. I'm sure I would have had a much different and gung-ho outlook if I were 19 with fewer responsibilities and obligations. But time is a big influential factor and I am not that comfortable with the risks to confront, so it's probably time to reconsider other alternatives to try to make a stable living.
You definately need to go get a job. A lot of people here are telling him to grind it out, Are all of you people with no expenses/ rent/ food / ETC ? People need to pay mortgages, rent, People need to drive something other then a 89 used toyota , vacations , food , restaurants, girls, kids, This costs money. This is not paid by "Grinding" it out. You either make money or you don't. If you don't , get the hell out. Don't waste over 5+ years in something that hasn't added $10 to your bank account. Simple as that. You already answered your question, Get the hell out. Find a job, Start a food cart vendor stand, Go wholesaling tshirts, Sell shit at ebay , STart an internet business , whatever you do, do something productive where moneys rolling in. Don't be "grinding" shit, Thats for dreamers. Either you know you are progressing or you aren't. Always be measuring progress day by day, month by month, year by year. No Progress = GET OUT. I have personally taken myself out of trading perodically over 4 times ( around 1 month each) in 2 years. Grinders are losers who have no expenses and have FCKED their future ahead of them.
Broken, You sound a lot like Gordon Gekko (who, coincidentally, recently posted again after about a year). I'm a long time ETer, various nicks, who remembers your struggle. Are you GG? If you are, it won't hurt to say. After all, you won't be trading any more. I'm just curious because it seemed, at long last, you had found your way. Sorry it didn't work out, but hell, you are only 30. There is so much cool stuff you can do! Good luck!
This has got to be tough but you can definetely help a lot of people on here perhaps by telling us what some of your trading mistakes were, what securities you traded, strategy, etc. I think in life and trading, you learn so much more from your mistakes then from your successes. I'm going through the ridiculous exercise of job-hunting myself, PM and I can point in you to some places if your interested-maybe you won't have to give up the dream, just sidestep it a little.
Yeah, I asked a lot of questions, he hasn't bothered answering any.... If you don't mind.. Can you look above at some of my previous questions and answer a few, I'd like to find out why you have failed, and you can help out a lot of people. 2nd page
Well i have to agree U never told us how and what have u been trading Future forex equities Do u average down- ? Do u hold on to your lossers- ? What kind of trading have u been doing so that we can also get and idea
We probably will get offtopic with this, but I would like to address this, because at least 2 people thought so, and I respectfully disagree: I think trading should be done if it is profitable and effective. If there is love, even better, but it is not requisite characteristic of a good trader. Trading is a job like other jobs, right? Who here thinks that all tennis player love to play tennis, that all dentists love to do dentistry,etc? Maybe they went into that profession because simply they were good at it, or they were after certain positive things coming with that particular job. I don't love trading. It is boring, stressful, and once you figure it out, tedious and repetitive without challenges. What I love is to come up with new strategies, optimizing old ones, and outsmarting others, specially people with economy degrees....
Many people do not realize that trading profitably and trading for a living are two different things. Trading profitably is hard enough, but try trading for a living....very very difficult unless you have a sizeable capital as buffer, and psychologically it's totally different. Get a job, and trade from the side. Build your account and confidence without the constant drain. That's the only way for you now.
got to agree with john. for most who wanna trade, i'd say don't quit your day job till you're sure you can do it. don't care how smart or how good or how attentive you are, it's hard to make a go of it consistently and everybody loses sometimes. it's just too hard on the ego unless you have a BIG leg up, as john says. but if you're building capital with a day job and trading on the side, once your capital is built and/or you're making a great go of daytrading in all kinds of markets, then it MAY be time to do it full time. in your case, however, i would agree that it's time to move onto something else. if i could've caught you 5 years ago, i would've said to get a day job and hedge your bets, but we are where we are, so to speak, and i think it's just time to move on. best wishes to you, bd, don't let it getcha. life is just one big lesson. move on. you're still young and have a lot to look forward to. it's not a race. take what life gives you, learn lessons as you go, and understand that some things that look like catastrophes are actually blessings in disquise.