That sounds like a mental/modern version of Pandora's Box/Pan's Labyrinth. I think that you still can make it, but you should lower those defenses & drop that over-confidance, while embracing new ideas & asking for help. 13 years without being consistently profitable - it's just too long. (and if you are - my bad, sorry)
that sounds sensible and thanks for that. but let me add some perspective to my personal situation there were gaps in between when i have taken a break......at least 4-5....some quite long. it is difficult to be good at something: i played to 4 handicap in golf for 25 years, which is damn good. but it is still very far from being enough for a pro. there is a huge gap between an amateur and a pro....and trading is no different. to make a living doing something, be it golf, cooking, painting or many other things, is a hell of an achievement. many take it for granted so i am not ashamed of my efforts and continue to make them. brooks book is not about one strategy: he describes more than 100 which is why it is so confusing to many. i have not managed to put it all together
it is what it is it is up to me to make use of it or walk away i am trying to make sense of it. rather than read another 50 books
i am enjoying my retirement. the other option is to look out of my window at the scenery or watch movies or spend time with my gorgeous dog,Hunter. all of which i do. i read my first book in 1994 and i have no problem with trading: it is day trading that gives me problem but it is day trading that keeps me occupied ..i have a lot of time. my monthly loss is probably equal to the weekly expenses of a person living the States so no reason for me to stop. i played golf 25 years without being able to make money out of it and stopped now because i cannot afford it anymore, due to inflation and old age. i spend my time doing something i love and i talk to many who approach me and help them out i am not sure you will understand this.....i do many things to spend my time and upon which i do spend some money......i cannot take it with me when i die
that book is not about brooks it is about technical analysis....which i do have an obsession with. he discusses 100 year old patterns like basic set ups....pull backs, wedges, triangles, trend lines, double bottom double top, trends, break outs ABC corrections..... basic risk management . all this has been there since 1900. it is the most complete record of technical analysis in one book so i read only this.
Reading books (not necessarily Brooks) is insufficient to learn how to trade. I’m not saying you can’t get ideas from books. You can get lots of ideas—some good, some not so good. Years ago when I was starting out I was given the advice that I should read as many books on trading as I could and the money spent on a trading book would pay for itself many times over if I got just one good idea from it. Well the problem isn’t the good idea; it’s all the bad ideas and inane advice that keep you thinking like a fish. The purpose of the Holy Bible is to keep the masses controlled in order to be exploited by the few. When you cease looking for a trading messiah to save your losing ass, you will then at last be pointed in the right direction to learn.
technical analysis has been there since 1900. the 'Messiah' Brooks has just copied and pasted. but it is all in one place. do with it, what you will
Brooks is one of the few who talks about trading being a probability game. if i had understood this 30 years back i would never have looked at trading. i always thought there was a right thing and a wrong thing: but if it was only left to probability i would have definitely found something else. so Brooks knows what he is talking about
It's easy to make money at golf. Just find 3 other guys with more money than you who play worse. If I have to do something I lose money at I'd rather play golf than trade. At least with golf you know going in how much it will cost you for the day. Unless you count the balls you lose. As it turns out I manage to make enough trading that I can afford to play golf regardless of inflation and old age. Oh yeah; I manage to take a few bucks of my playing partners every so often.