Have you heard of Léon Marchand?
He’s the swimmer who’s about your little brother’s age, yet already a four-time Olympic champion.
Well, he was considered an average swimmer until he was 13...
"OK Bobby, nice story. But what does that have to do with me and trading?"
If Léon had quit swimming at 13, he’d never have discovered his potential or become a champion.
The same goes for you.
Let’s be honest: you aren’t making money
If you’re wondering whether to quit trading, it’s because you aren’t profitable.
But have you really given yourself the time and resources to get there?
If you tell me you’ve been trading for three months and it’s going badly, I’ll tell you that’s normal.
You can’t expect incredible results that quickly.
Léon Marchand spent almost a decade developing his skills, and he still had setbacks along the way.
I’ve been trading for years...
Now, if you tell me you’ve been trading for three years and still aren’t profitable, I’ll ask:
- Have you tried to identify the problem?
- Is the sticking point psychological or technical?
- Have you tried other strategies?
- Have you focused on one strategy until you’ve mastered it?
- Have you tried matching your trading strategy to your personality?
- Have you tried changing your trading timeframe, such as moving from day trading to swing trading?
Let’s say you’ve identified the problems
Have you questioned your approach and found areas to improve?
I’d suggest switching to demo trading to work on them.
That way, you won’t lose money while you work. Once you’ve been profitable on demo for several months, you can go back to live trading.
The catch is that virtual trading doesn’t let you work deeply on the psychological and emotional side.
But that’s not today’s topic.
When should you quit trading?
Here’s the difficult answer:
If you’ve taken it seriously, worked at it for years and questioned your approach, yet you’re still not profitable, that’s a sign it’s time to stop.
Trading isn’t for everyone. We can’t be good at everything.
Knowing chart pattern strategies isn’t enough to make money. That’s what makes trading difficult.
Some people have psychological and emotional biases that prevent them from trading well, and they can’t seem to get past them.
I had a friend in that position. His risk aversion was too strong for him to make rational decisions.
He panicked whenever his open positions were losing.
I advised him to stop trading and consider long-term ETF investing.
That’s what he did.
He sleeps much better at night.
If that sounds like you too, consider stepping away from trading.
Photo credit: @leon.marchand31
Source: Léon Marchand’s story.