I have no reason to post here. I’m 22, a college dropout. I suppose I’m subconsciously looking for a mentor. I have a friend of a friend a few years older than me who works at HRT, maybe I’ll ask him. I know I have potential but I need to learn how to pick a lock. By this time in my life I’ve become aware that some doors won’t open with a swift kick. I’ve tried knocking with little success, but maybe my tones aren’t sweet enough to welcome in. It doesn’t help that I look like a monster in the night time. If anyone’s out there I would appreciate some advice. Tough love. Tell me to quit, to give up, to choose another path. Maybe I’ll follow your advice.
Go back to college and learn how to program, have a fall back as takes often several years plus to get consistent. Most and more are doing automation, faster and make less mistakes than manual trading.
start by reading up , learning the basics,watching the market for a long time,so you will know what animal you are getting close to,you would not trust a friend with your money without getting to know him / her really well. it is waste of a mentor's time to teach you basics you have to learn all the rubbish first.....
forget college! u already hated it. figure out a trade you like and go to technicsl school or get a job in that industry and then after a few years go work for yourself. you said picking locks. so become a locksmith and soon we will need digital locksmiths. lots of niche things out there. find one of those you enjoy and start working towards what you want now. college is not what it used to be unless u want to be a teacher lawyer doctor engineer or arvhitect u have to get a masters in a specific specialty otherwise college isnt wotth it. trading...well u can learn it on the side
I am only 1 year older than you and I totally understand the feeling of not knowing what to do with your life. We are fortunate enough to grow up during a time where we can learn everything online! The benefit of going to school is the classes are structured so you don't end up skipping over the boring parts. You also get to build relationships with smart people. Becoming an entrepreneur has never been easier. There really is no excuses. Take a look at what you spend most of your time on. See if you can build a business around that. The easiest way to come up with an idea, is try and solve a problem you have. In regards to mentors. They are usually very sophisticated people in the industry. You have to have some ground work in before you can get the most out of them. They will pop up in your life as you work hard towards something. Lastly, if you are still out of ideas the #1 thing to do IMO is READ! Read everything and anything from reputable authors. It will help you generate ideas and find what you enjoy.
Trust me that this is not a fun thing to do. You are still young and energetic so I think you should find a solid career path to make stable incomes and dating chic at the same time.
Sorry I hate to say but do anything except trading. Based on your writeup, I can't sense any PASSION for trading. You don't need high educational level. But you need strong high passion for trading. Do remember success rate for traders is less than 10%.
I'd say, first, be patient, although you don't need any college degree in order to be a good trader, actually you need to learn basic and critical knowledge before entering into that harsh battle. Learn about markets, what are they, how do they work.. what are the main asset classes..etc. Then you will learn the basics methods and tools to analyze markets. You'll find that markets have multiple instruments to trade them, multiples timeframes, multiple strategies.....Important: learn about money management or when to cut your losses when a trade went wrong, learn to control your emotions about it ( you'll experiment fear and euphoria ) , being objective all time. After all that, I'd advise you: learn computer programming. Not only you'll find out that nowadays more than 60% of all trading is done by computers, but also is a promising career in wall street. Don't rush with big money, begin with baby steps until control fundamentals. Good luck