I believe this accurately summarizes the path and mental state of most neophyte retail traders trying to learn trading on their own. It's only too easy to think you're learning something of value, but actual trading is where the rubber meets the road and that's where most fail. This is not exclusive for paid courses. For example, here on ET, there's a lot of people who want to mentor and 'teach' for free, but I suspect most ain't making any money in the markets.