Are you making the same mistakes those 99% of traders are making?

This brutal reality and truth are now a known fact.

“Just 1% of active traders make more money than bank fixed deposits over a 3 year period” – Nithin Kamath

This statement comes from a highly respected source “Mr. Nithin Kamath, CEO of Zerodha.

Most active traders are apparently on the wrong end of profitability and this remains true even after several years of struggle.

In the end, most traders end up defeated; morally, financially, and psychologically. The random and volatile nature of the markets makes it a game that only the toughest can survive and thrive. There’s much more to trading than just being able to study, decipher, analyze the charts and read the tons of indicators.

Most traders typically have two choices in the journey of becoming good and successful at trading the markets.

1. Self-directed learning
2. Learning under a good trader, coach
3. Learning and developing with a mentor

Self-learning has its own advantages and challenges.

This is often the preferred path adopted due to the fact that learning online, with books, youtube videos, webinars, podcasts, and online courses has become very easily accessible.

The major advantages of moving in this direction are

• Self-paced learning
• Not being bound to a location
• Cost effective options

This is the very path that I treaded. But after a long period of consistent struggle, realization dawned that the opportunity cost of this self-learning was indeed dramatic and massive for me.

Several years were invested in experimenting and figuring out;

• Which setup is good and reliable?
• What time frame is suitable?
• Which indicator is good and works consistently?
• Which instrument is ideal for me?

As a trader, the objective is to become profitable as soon as possible and stay consistently profitable in order to scale up and grow in the long run.

And all I was doing was going down the rabbit hole that was only leading deep into the black hole. Thankfully simple realization dawned.

Why take the journey from point A to point B without Google Maps being your navigator?

That’s when the scenario changed.

The shortest path to me now took a different direction in search and hunt for good traders who were also good trainers and coaches.

This changed the journey completely. I started to learn with some amazing traders and trainers who were specialists, experts and had excellent track records.

Trading is an arena that is vastly complex, full of pitfalls, and littered with internal mental challenges. Mindset, psychology, emotions, position-sizing, risk management, long-term thinking, and the right development stages in learning. There’s so much to it that most aspiring traders fail to see or appreciate these much-needed aspects.

I presume the lure and greed of fast and big money cause this blindness.

A good teacher/trainer/mentor is like having a Google Maps navigation guiding you in your journey to becoming a better trader.

You keep receiving updates, alerts of roadblocks ahead, directions to take appropriate routes, and course correction whenever needed.

A mentor’s role can be pivotal in this scenario.

If one can possibly consider going ahead with the right mentor. Their vast, rich and deep experience, can lead to valuable insights and guidance at every step.

A good mentor will help one to discover the path ahead. A path that’s ideal and good for one may not be so for another. The path ahead may not necessarily mean becoming successful in the markets.

Many people have personalities and traits that are just not cut out for active and professional trading. Having a valuable guide gives one an opportunity to explore and move down the path that’s helpful in becoming independent while nurturing their abilities and talents.

How can a good mentor contribute to an aspiring trader?

• Provide insights, ideas, and direction to move ahead.
• Support and nurture one’s latent talents
• Help to discover and arrive at the best decisions.
• Encourage and provide emotional support
• Provide honest and clear guidance.
• Help in the proper development and learning processes

It took me over 6 years to realize the value of the right learning with the right teacher, and another 4 years to become confident and independent in the markets.

I started by learning all about investing and trading by venturing on the self-learning path. By reading several books, taking many random courses, reading online, and experimenting with different trading setups and strategies. Little did I realize the opportunity cost of the valuable time that passed me by.

The severest challenges that I consistently faced were;

• Scaling up
• Being consistent at being profitable
• Managing Drawdowns
• Staying positive and motivated through the ups and downs.

Although I eventually became good and fairly profitable in intraday trading, I came to a realization that, that this intensive path was not for me. It did not give the enjoyment and satisfaction and rather felt hugely draining.

As an aspiring trader, you have the choice of choosing to learn the better way.

You can make better choices so that your journey can be much better, smoother, and different. If I could go back in time, I’d hunt out the best mentor and go ahead with him with adequate trading capital.

By choosing the right trainer or mentor you will;

• Move ahead with conviction

• Be clear of your trading and life goals

• Experience faster transformation in your journey

• Evolve as a better and balanced person

I experienced severe drawdowns, made huge mistakes constantly, and even ended up with liabilities that took several years to be cleared.

The markets took their fees big-time for providing big lessons. Not to speak of huge damages in terms of the lost valuable time.

I am not ashamed to admit my mistakes. I started trading full-time doing Intraday trading, and that too in futures and options. Talk about doing all the wrong things at the same time.

It was my choice of self-learning that took me down that long and hard path, and that’s exactly why one needs to deliberate and consider what possibilities exist that may take you ahead in your journey in a much better way.

Prepare well, and make wise choices my friend, cause life is short and time is limited.