Today I would like to discuss the harsh realities of the trading business and what it takes to get over the line to become a skilled trader. Trading is hard. A lot of people begin trading with dreams of Lambos and getting rich quick. While the opportunities for skilled traders can be significant, it takes time and a lot of work, those that do get rich quick usually give it back just as fast.

The numbers are well known throughout the industry, 90-95% of people who trade lose and eventually give up on trading as a career. For most people, they give up before they really understand how the market works. In order to become a skilled trader and stay in this game, you must first survive the learning curve.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Most traders begin by taking a course and reading a few books, and jump straight into the market. They might find some great setups, but in reality, they don’t know what they’re doing yet. It takes years to understand how the market works and where to find an advantage.

Beginner traders might think they have problems with psychology, emotions, or a slew of other issues. But in reality, it boils down to the fact that they don’t have an advantage. They just don’t know. This is why 90% of people who try trading fail.

Importance of Mentors

That is one of the reasons I started RagingBull, which was to give traders access to everything I never had when I started my own journey. You see, when you surround yourself with experienced traders, and we have many here, you accelerate your learning curve.

When you are given all the tools necessary to become a skilled trader, it still can take a year or two to understand how to apply these skills. It takes time to understand yourself, the market, what makes sense to you, and how you can find good trading setups.

Without these tools, most beginner traders spin their wheels for years. Going nowhere fast because they have no advantages and no access to experienced traders to learn from.

This is why it is so important to find a trading mentor with years of experience. New traders who don’t have access to such a mentor put in so much time and effort, and hard work doing all the wrong things. They might trade a moving average crossover strategy or study a bunch of indicators that do not really provide any advantage. They might spend 2-3 years of time and energy simply learning what not to do before finding their way.

For this reason, it should be evident why beginning traders find it so hard to find great setups; most never give themselves a chance in the first place. They spend time doing all the wrong things with no guidance and then give up when their time runs out, and they are forced to find a different career path.

Comptetition

Trading is a competitive business. New traders are up against some of the most highly educated people in the world, as well trading algorithms programmed by literal rocket scientists who understand where all the psychological pain points are of feeble humans. Newbies are up against people with decades of experience, with huge amounts of capital and somehow, most come into this game with ideas of getting rich quick.  

For all of the reasons above, new traders need to come to the markets prepared to learn, focusing on improving and developing an elite process. They should focus on losing less and less month by month before they develop a viable trading strategy. Guidance from mentors is necessary so that they are aware of what they need to be looking for in the markets to develop this strategy.

 Experienced traders have seen multiple market cycles and understand the mechanics. If new traders stick around long enough, they will see similar patterns play out over and over again. Developing the skills to be able to trade these patterns is what being a great trader is all about. The point is that new traders need to survive long enough to see enough cycles to internalize these patterns and be able to trade them skillfully.

Bottom Line

Trading is hard. New traders are up against some of the brightest people in the world. They are up against funds with the best technology and programmers and with a lot more money. To level the playing field somewhat and avoid wasting years doing the wrong things, beginner traders should find experienced mentors to help guide them through the learning curve. This increases the chances that a beginner trader can become a skillful trader and most importantly, saves a lot of time in the process.