Trading Everest: Take the quiz to embark on the journey

This is about hope.

Remember when you first entered the world of trading?

There was a belief or a concept that you just needed to find a system—put it to work and Boom! In comes the money. Sound familiar?

What happens next?

As a retail trader you enter without knowing the ropes. I know I didn't. There are no *real* courses on it. Right?

Consequently a range of painful experiences follow. Agree?

For instance blowing out accounts.

But do you know it's a cry for help?

You want out because you want the pain to end.

But the pain is misguided.

It stems from not understanding what trading is. People truly don't.

Yet even though the success rate is incredibly low—when you think of how many millions are doing it—the numbers of those who succeed are big. That's encouraging. Agree?

Therefore, do you want to give yourself the best chance possible in your opinion?

Then you have to understand what the job is. True?

Look

Imagine embarking on a journey scaling Mount Everest (just like trading):

Whether you call it self-love, self-respect, or self-worth, the bottom line is you prioritise doing what's best for yourself. Agree?

Ultimately trading begins with knowing what lies beneath the surface.

It might appear straightforward—but let me show you how it's more nuanced.

Last Wednesday I executed the following trade sequence.

loss-loss-loss-loss-scratch-loss-loss-win.

Did I profit overall?

Before you answer you should know the winner did not move such a massive amount in price that it made up for all the losers. It's deeper than that.

You'll see the answer in a minute. But first a trading quiz.

What's the missing line?

To succeed as a trader you must:

• First: Learn to Lose.
• Second: Learn __________?
• Third: Learn to Manage Yourself.

Before revealing the quiz answer:
Many people believe mastering risk management and self-control guarantees success. However it's not that simple.

In the sequence of trades from last Wednesday:
I massively increased the profit potential during the winning trade without increasing the risk beyond what I risked in the previous trades. Make sense?

Which leads to giving you the quiz answer.
To succeed as a trader you must "Learn to Win"

Now I don't need a crystal ball to know you still need to learn how to do this.

Why?

If you've tried it—you've discovered you require expertise to do it at precisely the right time so as not to experience a Big Fat Loss. Right?

How do I know?
Because it's a skill that only becomes accessible after you've acquired several levels of competency.

I've yet to encounter a single individual through either seeking mentorship, or among the thousands of retail traders I've interacted with during my brokerage days, who has attained this level.

To do what's right by you:

You need to know what a process is—what it consists of and what resources you need. You need to know how to survive losing trades and how to win.

Consider this:
I've had a personal trainer for years. It's a few sessions a week.

I remember my neighbour asking "Why do you spend so much each year on training?"
The answer is I'm not merely logging 10,000 daily steps to stave off premature death. It's about reaching peak vitality.  

A different desired outcome requires a different approach.
My trainer and I went to work on a complete overhaul. It's become a lifetime of change.

It's what trading is for that big number that succeeds—a significant transformation for a lifetime of change. It's what you sought when you initially embarked on this endeavour. Agree?

Your problem was never what you wanted from trading

The problem was the wrong path akin to turning left at a pivotal T-junction instead of right—yet persisting in that wrong direction for so long that you lose sight of your initial motivations for embarking on the journey. Sound familiar?

Did you know everyone who eventually succeeds in trading has also navigated the pitfalls of the wrong path at some point?

While delving into this topic warrants its own discussion...
You're never commencing from scratch—you're building upon past experiences.

And guess what? It's a vital part of the journey.
In the mentoring work I do I refrain from accepting new traders beause they lack this crucial initial phase.

The essence is this:

Your original vision for trading still holds true. But the path differs from what you initially imagined.

Considering why you first ventured into trading can offer valuable insights into your journey.

Explore further:

Discover what awaits you navigating the correct path. See a live trading excerpt of skills and knowledge you can develop.