r/askforex

I used to spend so much time backtesting that it started to overwhelm me. There was always something else to check or another idea to try. It’s hard to stop because it feels productive, like another few hours might finally clear everything up. But sometimes I’d finish more confused than when I started.

Sometimes it helps to stick with what you’re already learning instead of adding another indicator or changing things every time you get stuck. Give yourself a chance to understand it. Backtesting is useful, but you don’t need to do it all day and night. If you’re tired and nothing’s making sense anymore, leave it for tomorrow.

I feel cheated and jealous of most of the world that has the freedom we should have to trade FX on an even playing field. Congress needs to repeal that repressive law from 2010 ASAP.Retail FX is all about taking big risks for big potential rewards. We are not children in need of parental supervision. We are not a nanny state nation. We are not Socialist or under martial law dictatorship so why take away our freedom to trade fairly with the world?

I know how frustrating it is to make progress in trading and then give some of it back, especially when you’re close to a goal. When I’m close to a payout, I start getting impatient and feel tempted to risk more just to get there. Then if I lose, I want to make it back. The annoying part is knowing I shouldn’t do it but still feeling that urge. That’s why I limit myself to one trade a day and set a daily loss limit. I know how easily I can talk myself into another trade when I’m frustrated.

I’m still working on this too. If you’re going through something similar, try to be honest about what keeps happening without beating yourself up over it. Pick one thing you can work on, and take a break when you need to. You don’t have to recover everything today or prove yourself with the next trade.

I’ve been trading for about 2 years, and I feel like I’ve reached a point where I’m struggling with something specific.

I know most of the concepts I need: liquidity, BOS/CHoCH, FVGs, order blocks, SMT, sessions, etc. My main edge is based around pullbacks and continuation.

The problem is that this setup doesn’t appear every time I sit down to trade.

Sometimes I enter the market even when my actual edge isn’t there. Instead of waiting for my setup, I start trading what the market is giving me at that moment and sometimes it actually work and it doesn’t but because I understand how the market is moving. But I feel like isn’t the right way to do it.

I understand that there’s a difference between:
\- Trading my edge
\- Trading whatever the market happens to give me

But sometimes I feel like I’m forcing trades because I don’t want to sit there and do nothing.

Is this something I’m doing wrong?

Should I simply accept that my setup might only appear a few times per week and stay completely out of the market when it doesn’t?

For traders who have been through this stage: how did you learn to stop forcing trades and stick to your actual edge?

I’d appreciate any advice or personal experiences.