Learning to trade, and particularly learning to trade by yourself can be a daunting task. You might feel lost and unsure of where to start. In this article, we will go into how you could learn to trade by yourself, and give you some valuable tips on what you need to be aware of. So can you learn to trade by yourself, without a course?
Yes, you can learn to trade by yourself, without a course, if you are patient and understand that it will take a lot of time! Trading is a competitive industry, and to succeed you will have to pave the path for your own success. Still, those who would like to fast track their success will find that investing in a good trading course will pay itself many times over!
How to Learn to Trade By Yourself
Learning to trade by yourself is hard, but not impossible. It requires patience, perseverance, and the willingness to learn by failing and starting over again. In fact, at the beginning of your trading career, you will probably do most things the wrong way. However, with the time you will learn from your mistakes and gradually gain more and more knowledge.
It is very important to understand that you will face huge challenges, of which many will feel insurmountable. You might even consider giving up since there never seems to be an end to your issues!
You can be sure that every self-taught successful trader has felt the same! Trading is VERY frustrating. The markets are merciless, and those who do not obey its rules, or try to impose their own views of how it should work, will not succeed.
If you were limited to only remembering one thing from reading this article, it should be to keep your mind open. As a beginner, most of the views you hold of the market are not true, and as such, following them blindly and trying to impose your views on the markets will never make you any money!
Tips for Learning to Trade by Yourself
So, let’s get to some valuable tips that we know will be helpful if you are striving to learn to trade by yourself!
Be Humble
Being humble is key to becoming a good trader. As we have touched on earlier, trying to impose your views on the market is NEVER going to work. In fact, this is one of the few certainties there are in trading. The market behaves as it does regardless of what you believe, and why you believe it.
Do Not Follow the Crowd
The fact is that most traders are losing traders. As such, following the advice that a majority of traders follow, will not take you long. Most of the specific advice on how indicators should be used, or what chart patterns that work the best will be of no value to you, since it does not work!
It certainly is tempting to believe in the things that people say, especially when it is so much easier than coming up with ideas and concepts yourself. However, from testing most of the things that are out there on historical data, we are comfortable making the claim that most of the information is wrong, and does not work!
Rise Again
Being a successful trader means doing the things that most others do not. As such, you are making your way in uncharted territory, and are bound to make mistakes, some larger than others. In fact, making mistakes and acknowledging them is one more step in the right direction.
Do Not Use Real Money in the Beginning
The harsh truth is that everybody makes mistakes in the beginning as they learn to trade. It is not uncommon for new traders to trade for a long time before they manage to achieve consistent returns!
Do not trade with real money in the beginning. Instead, paper trade or open a simulated account until you feel like you are ready!
Do Not Underestimate the Psychological Pressure!
One of the main reasons why trading is so hard, is because it is so psychologically demanding. The loss aversion is deeply rooted within us, and becomes a hindrance to profitable trading, since you cannot make profits without losing now and then.
In fact, with some trading systems, often trend following ones, you could have a win percentage of as low as 25%, which is all compensated by the massive size difference between losing and winning trades!
