THE STORY THAT WILL MAKE YOU RETHINK YOUR PATH AS A TRADER
Mark Twain once said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." If you don't understand the weight of those words yet, it's probably because you haven't faced trading, or maybe life hasn't hit you hard enough yet.
But, believe me, when you do, you'll understand the brutal truth behind them.
I've been away, I know. But it wasn't in vain. What I have to tell you isn't just my story, it's a warning. It's raw, it's heartbreaking, and you might not
be of no use. Yet here I am, because maybe, just maybe, this
time… it rhymes with you.
WHEN BURNING THE SHIPS IS NOT ENOUGH
It was the last $50 I had left from my previous job. I had quit. I don't know who put that crazy idea in my head, but I did it. Like Hernán Cortés, I burned my bridges. There was no turning back.
I had no plan B.
If I failed, my fate would be the cold ground under a bridge, with my laptop as my only witness and my dog for company. I'd set my own trap, and now there was only one option: jump or get sucked in.
THE SEARCH FOR PERFECTION (AND THE PRICE OF PURSUING IT)
For almost five years, I was obsessed with one idea: finding the perfect strategy. I read books, followed the best traders, tried everything.
But if I learned anything from Donald Trump (yes, the same one who carries more controversy than praise) it was this: “It doesn’t matter how much you have. If you know how to invest a penny, you can turn it into millions. But if you only know how to spend, those millions will disappear like water through your fingers.”
The best thing I did was put perpetual futures aside for a while. I started buying Bitcoin using DCA (dollar cost averaging). But I didn't stop trading, oh no.
Trading is like a drug; once you try it, it completely captivates you.
FALL TO LEARN: THE GROUP (TRADER) THAT CHANGED MY PERSPECTIVE
With my last $50, I joined a group. But it wasn't just any group. There was no copy trading. Here, they didn't give you fish, they taught you how to fish.
Two things caught my attention:
Studying strategies was mandatory.
You could measure your progress by comparing it to the evolution of strategies over time.
At first, everything seemed to be going well. Months of consistent profits made me believe I was on the right track. But then came the drawdown. That abyss where everything you've earned disappears faster than you can blink.
Loss after loss led me back to the bitter street of frustration.
THE MISTAKE NO ONE WARNS YOU ABOUT (BUT THAT WILL COST YOU DEARLY)
My logbook was full of technical details. But there was one thing no strategy, no book, and no mentor had taught me: execution.
Do you know what it's like to enter a trade and forget the conditions? To get caught in false breakouts because your mind betrays you in those critical seconds? I do.
And, after months of losses, I understood what separates an academic trader from a professional trader (The trader in the group explained it to me in detail, I'm not that perceptive either): the experience of losing and learning from it, over and over again.
THE HARDEST (BUT NECESSARY) LESSON
After more than seven months on the American stock market, trading CFDs and watching my account bleed dry, something changed.
My drawdown hit a painful 10%. That's when I read something that really stood out to me: adjust your risk based on the asset's volatility. It made sense. If an asset is volatile, you should give it room to breathe.
But not everything that seems logical on paper works in the real market. And this is where I made another mistake.
Logic is not enough.
The only way to know what really works is to try, fail, and try again.
A NOVICE TRADER'S CONFESSION
This is my story. My confession. I've paid the most expensive price I could have ever imagined. But if there's one thing I want you to remember, it's this: in trading, as in life, what matters is not the what, but the how and where...
And if you're struggling today, if you're at that point where you don't know whether to keep going or give up, let me tell you something: progressive improvement is the only way.
I don't want to bore you any further (it's Friday, and you probably have better things to do), but I'll leave you with a quote from Charlie Munger that always stays with me:
"In times of crisis, what matters is not what the market does, but how you react to it."
See you in the next installment.
And remember: in trading, as in life, only those who dare to learn from their mistakes survive.
These are times of reading.
I love Bitcoin
$BTC #BNBBreaks1000 #StrategyBTCPurchase
