This blogpost is inspired by a Youtube video I recorded in October of last year. The month leading up to it wasn’t great, and I felt like I needed to talk about it.

The last drop was getting stuck in a setup that I wasn’t supposed to trade to begin with. Because of it, I missed out on two great opportunities that could have allowed me to make 4-6R profit. Instead, I lost 1.5R by the end of that day.

And while that loss was not significant in the grand scheme of things, it gave me a good reason to talk about how and why we make mistakes. Check out the video below to see what I had to say on that day.

 I see how often day traders are really hard on themselves, beating themselves up over losses and missed opportunities, which resonates with me. We’ve all been there, and it happens to experienced traders too. That’s why so many of us experience FOMO – fear of missing out – and that’s why so many traders risk blowing up their accounts by trading subpar setups.

We’re so used to the mentality that we need to do more in order to achieve success. But trading more has nothing to do with being a more successful trader.

At the same time, trying a new pattern and consciously adapting your plan to the new market reality is so different from overtrading. For example, I always have a number of tickers on my watchlist that I never end up trading. I’m watching them and studying what’s happening on the market, but I don’t risk my money on them if they’re not setting up the way I like it.

By having a strict selection process, I make sure that I can trade the setups that are worth my time. But if something slips through my vetting process, I just try to keep in mind that everybody makes mistakes. The challenge here is to recover from them mentally, learn the lesson, and keep going.

There won’t be a point at which you’ll feel like you know everything. There may be happy glimpses of clarity and moments when you feel like you’ve figured it out. However, the market always changes. What worked yesterday might not work today or tomorrow. If anything, the whole GME situation proved that. Even bigger players have to adapt to stay relevant.

So the focus shouldn’t be on perfection, sky-high winning rate, or record-breaking winnings. By all means, have goals (I certainly do!) and strive to achieve them. But when an inevitable mistake happens, don’t fall into despair or blame yourself for it. Accept that you are on the path of continuous improvement. That’s what keeps me going, and I hope that it helps you as well.