Most people that are or were in a similar situation say that it is worse to have had money and lost it that to never have had it at all. Since I'm a contrarian I always like to tell them that I prefer to be a "has been" that a "never was" like them... I enjoy a lot observing the stoic squirm. Perhaps I'm sadistic, or perhaps too much of a realist. Most of the rich people I have met truly believe they deserve it, when it is extremely clear to me that most have been lucky, taking huge risks that paid off, or just money landed on their lap. Most are moron dickheads too. I'm trying to become like them as much as possible, and so I choose to start by being a persistent dickhead.
don't know how long you're at it,but there's a saying in trading,it takes 3 times going broke before you figure it out
I can relate to that. Just after high school I took a few thousand dollars to few hundred thousand dollars in a short time position trading stocks. I thought I was just lucky and decided to invest all my gains in a startup. The idea was good, but the execution was lousy and I subsequently lost it all. I also found out that I was not lucky when it came to trading. And I must say the worst feeling in the world must be to have a refined system, but no money to trade with. You "lose" money everyday, and it was driving me insane. Thankfully I managed to scrape together some funds after a couple of years. Due to limited capital, I switched to futures. That turned out to be a blessing.
trading is an ordinary job. actually millions of people are doing this. just like any field. trading is learnable. so there is no such thing as "gifted /talented". gifted/talented means "born with". even my9yrs old schooler knows how to draw trendlines,where a stop loss should be placed. the basic skills in trading are reading the chart, recognize what market is (consolidation, trending, random), then use suitable strategy for that market behavior catergory to trade. of course some market supply/demand or bulls/bearsbalance anaylysis is involved, but most are common sense. for example, if runs away too high,awayfrom EMA too much, youdonot need jump in, sell is inavoidable, or vise visa, since the odd is almost 99%. if it drops too much, hit sell button almost like jump into a trap. or Trend is your friend. trading becomes hard is because people relate trade with money. when money is involved, things become complicated.your emotion will distort your trading. I treat trading as an ordinary field. there is no magic thing there. In order to be profitable, I need work hard, before market is open, I need prepare what Ishould do "the market is fast, chaotic". for example, this morning, I was thinking"buy NQ at2302.75,then out at 2312.75,stop at 2297.5" since I believe bears are trapped overnight, that price is their exit door. yes, I bought it there, and rode it to my target. basically done. just be prepared well before the bell rings. prepare several " if this happens, then what I do". just donot go to the battlefiled without knowing how to open your fire or freeze, then you blame your gun,blame God " I am not gifted/telanted", blame yourself "notwell prepared".
I have some clients who have made more money by their late twenties than I have made in a lifetime. And of course they did it before they hired me. I've also shared a couple desks with some 'wunderkind'. Personally, I don't have what I would consider to be 'FU' money but I have made a very comfortable living at it. The thing that I believe would be a bit shocking to most folks is how 'streamlined' their approach to the marketplace is (I hesitate to use the term 'simplistic' at the risk of insult). Occam's Razor.
Rational approach says that 500k is 500k, regardless of what you were worth yesterday. Thus, for a given risk tolerance, your feelings and behaviour should be identical based on present net worth, not what happened in the past. Due to sunk costs and not being able to alter the past, any deviation from that is clearly irrational and harmful - if you have such feelings, quash them immediately. There are various psychological tricks for doing so - contemplate people far less fortunate than yourself; think how you would advise a stranger who had experienced the same issues as you are now; ask perceptive trustworthy 3rd parties to advise you, and so on. Robust psychology and thinking is to simply accept today's reality as rapidly as you can, identify what the optimal course of action is, then get on with it. Whinging, moaning, and regrets are counterproductive to survival and prosperity.
Your behavior is consistent with what a masochist does not a sadist. Get back on the horse and if the finances will not allow that now begin to put a stake together so you can get on some horse -- in or out of trading -- someday.
Are u sure not high school instead of elementary school. I believe u meant high school meaning u attended Garfield High School in Los Angeles and the teacher that labeled u gifted and talented is Jaime Escalante. "If you don't have the *ganas,* I will give it to you because I'm an expert. " Jaime Escalante