yes i agree wallstreetque

but i think that a more suitable header for this post would be "The 5 Signs that You are becoming a Trader". Simply because there is no way that when you take each step at a time as described in the post, you will definitely be in the next step level. There may be some of us who are caught in-between or toggles back and forth from one step to another. And the word steps somehow denotes a sense of chronological order when the path of trading doesnt necessary has to be methodical.

So i thought if we look at these as "signs", it would make more sense. Anyway we should look at the post as a map on where are we and where is the general direction for our next path. After all, it doesnt end at the last sign. After u have become a trader, there are a lot of challenges ahead.

And all the best in your trading

Wow, nice post, and so true. This is actually the post that made me discover this forum while I was "googling" about the trader's psychology.

Basically, like many people I presume, I am still on step 2, this is indeed a long step. I'm done with the endless search for systems and strategies (tried a few ones) like I was the Holy Grail, I've learnt about most popular indicators, about trends and so on.
I ended up to a point (for the 2nd time) where I decided to stop trading and keep my savings. Then I realized that this would be a pure loss of time and money not to continue...

So I read, read a lot, worked on historical charts, and I started trading again, but on paper only, with bad or average results and then suddenly it started to get much better from one day to the other. I'm not sure why it was a sudden change but I think I wanted to look at charts a bit more simply, avoiding too much complexity and looking at the whole picture instead of specifics.

But I still feel that I "don't get it", I'm sure one day I will, one day...

Quote from cherrycoke on January 28, 2012, 02:21
the "Holy Grail" does exist.
but many of us with an untrained, uninformed and non-receptive mind would not be able to "spot" the grail. Most times, we would pass off the grail as crap and also literally regard crap as the grail.

"Holy Grail" only lies in the mind of the learned trader.
Who have invested the optimal amount of time and effort not in pursuit but to be able to recognise it if it is within their peripheral vision.
The best part is, my grail could be crap to you.

Cherry you are 100% correct. The problem is that it takes some work to find the "Holy Grail" and as I have seen, most are just looking for "Easy pickings". Most searchers are not only looking for the silver bullet but they want you to load it in the gun and shoot it for them while they enjoy ice cream on a silver spoon.

The other thought I will share with all of our searchers is that no two "Holy Grails" look the same.

Thanks for sharing.^^

Quote from Dave on January 28, 2012, 07:39

Quote from cherrycoke on January 28, 2012, 02:21
the "Holy Grail" does exist.
but many of us with an untrained, uninformed and non-receptive mind would not be able to "spot" the grail. Most times, we would pass off the grail as crap and also literally regard crap as the grail.

"Holy Grail" only lies in the mind of the learned trader.
Who have invested the optimal amount of time and effort not in pursuit but to be able to recognise it if it is within their peripheral vision.
The best part is, my grail could be crap to you.

Cherry you are 100% correct. The problem is that it takes some work to find the "Holy Grail" and as I have seen, most are just looking for "Easy pickings". Most searchers are not only looking for the silver bullet but they want you to load it in the gun and shoot it for them while they enjoy ice cream on a silver spoon.

The other thought I will share with all of our searchers is that no two "Holy Grails" look the same.

There it is right there...take it to heart. Great initial post Cherry on the 5 steps.