Stop expecting instant results because trading is a skill, and skills aren't built in a day. Its results come over the long run, and they rest on the next day. Won a trade today? That doesn't mean you've mastered anything. Lost one? That doesn't mean you've failed. Measure yourself by the strength of your analysis, your discipline and your patience — not by one trade.
Why do you lose confidence after the first losing trade?
Mohamad opens the episode Stop Expecting Instant Results with a question: how many of us lost faith in our analysis, and in what we'd learned, after the first or second trade failed? Most of us, he thinks. Because we came in expecting an instant result from something that doesn't give instant results.
Won a trade today? You haven't mastered anything yet. There's a next day, and you have to get that one right too.
What does it mean that results rest on the next day?
It means today's trade says nothing about tomorrow. You might make a big gain today and give it back tomorrow if you don't work properly. So you don't judge yourself on one day's result; you judge yourself on a skill you keep up day after day.
He describes a friend who trades: after a big win in one session, he switched off his phone, put it in his pocket and carried on as if nothing had happened. Why? Because he understands that what matters isn't the result but the skill that produced it, and keeping that skill intact tomorrow and the day after.
Trading won't fix your crisis right now
Plenty of people tell him: I came into this field because I have problems to solve — do you have something ready-made? The answer: there's nothing ready-made. There's knowledge, and that knowledge can help you solve your problems — but not starting tomorrow.
Need puts pressure on you, pressure knocks you off balance, and off balance you go looking for an instant result. Instant results only come by chance — which is to say, by gambling. And nothing can be built on gambling in this field.
The rose, the son and the company: nothing is instant
- A rose doesn't bloom in a day. You water it and look after it for months, because you know when it will flower.
- Your son doesn't become your support while he's small. You raise and teach him for years before you rely on him.
- A new company sets its goal years out, and goes through big problems on the way.
He mentions a father who brought his two teenage sons to him and said: I want them for an hour a day, as if they were at a training school. I don't want them to make money now; I want the result in a few years. That's the right understanding: a skill gets built, and the result follows.
The strategy that went live the next day
One trainee was given a simple strategy and, in the first live session, watched it work with his own eyes. He was delighted, went in with real money the next day, lost the account, and wrote to say he'd failed. Mohamad asked: show me your practice over the last few weeks. Show me your entries, show me how you analyse. There was nothing to show.
The right path: practise the strategy for long enough to see how it performs for you, understand your mistakes and fix them, then go live with something stable to build on. More in How to Use a Demo Account the Right Way.
Skill is like chess
He tells of two friends playing chess, so absorbed they don't notice who walks in and greets them. Chess isn't memorisation: there's an opponent in front of you and every move has a reply. If he does this, you do that. Trading is the same. Skill is built on knowledge, and it prepares you for more than one scenario.
Even when the scenario you set doesn't play out, if you understood the move, you've added to your experience. That is the real gain while you're learning.
See also Why Compounding Is a Beginner's Worst Trading Decision and Patience and Discipline in Trading. Start with the free awareness series, then learn at the Academy.
Common questions
How long does it take to see results in trading?
There's no fixed period. Results arrive on their own as the skill builds, and what shortens or lengthens the time is your focus, your practice and the quality of what you learn.
Why do I lose confidence in my analysis after one or two losing trades?
Because you're expecting an instant result. A single trade measures nothing. Measure yourself by the strength of your analysis, discipline and patience over a long period.
Can trading solve an urgent money problem?
No. Coming to the market to fix a crisis right now puts you under pressure and makes you rush, and rushing loses money. Trading is a skill that takes time before it gives anything back.
What should I do after a losing day?
Don't try to win it back the same day. Recovering without a plan takes the account lower. Review what happened, and stick to your plan the next day.
