The Trader’s Path

How to move forward in your trading journey

Remember when you first started trading?
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You were buzzing with excitement, eager to dive in. Playing with the trading platform, learning about charts and indicators, figuring out risk-to-reward ratios…
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Maybe even watching Wall Street and practising how to hold a cigar in the mirror (just me? Oh ok then…).
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It felt like you’d discovered a cheat code.
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What’s not to love? Sitting at your screens, predicting price movements in the financial markets.
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But then reality hit:
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​“This damn game is tougher than I thought!”
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​Still, you stuck with it. You knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but you didn’t quit. You took on the challenge.
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And then came the next step…

VALLEY OF DESPAIR

This is where things get really tricky.

Everywhere you turn feels like a dead end. Your strategy doesn’t work. Nothing sticks.

Welcome to the Valley of Despair. (Sounds like a lovely holiday destination, doesn’t it…)

It’s here that many traders start strategy-hopping:

“Maybe I’ll have better luck with DAX instead of FX.”
“Maybe this new indicator will change everything.”

And so the cycle repeats… giddy excitement, harsh reality, back into the valley.

(Doom and gloom so far, I know. But stay with me.)

If you can hold on, if you can resist the urge to quit or keep chasing shiny objects, eventually, you’ll claw your way out.

And that’s when you’ll reach the next stage: Informed Optimism.

At this stage you know what needs to be done, you can see light at the end of the tunnel and are pretty bullish on the future… it just takes time.

The next step? Achievement.

This is where the rubber finally meets the road.

You start seeing the payoff from all those hours of work. The strategy tweaks, the mindset shifts, the discipline… it all begins to click.

SO, WHERE ARE YOU?

Every trader goes through these stages.

In my latest podcast episode, The 5 Stages Every Trader Faces (And How to Overcome Them), I break down each stage in detail:

  • How to recognise where you are in the journey.
  • The common traps traders face at each stage.
  • Tactical steps to keep moving forward and avoid getting stuck.

If you’ve ever felt like trading is a rollercoaster… this episode is for you.

Listen to it here.

Have a great trading week.