If I’m on a trading forum and people are more excited by the prospect that I’m generating steady additional income from a side gig than they are to regale me with stories of their trading success, I might consider that a hint of the company I’m surrounded with 
Not being negative, just pragmatic.
“nothing can dissuade a real trader, which is as it should be.” I’ll leave you with this, but you’re always welcome to post in my trading journal or send me a DM. I won’t tell you a success story per se, but I’m going to outline some things that I wish I knew when I started trading. That said, just because I failed at something doesn’t mean you will as well. I really don’t want to box you in on your journey that has only begun, but since you’re persistent in asking for trading stories and I’m in a spot to provide. I also won’t be providing proof for anything, because it ruins the fun. As I’ve already mentioned, everything for me boils down to having an edge. With the disclaimers out of the way:
- I used to think that if I could put together the right kind of indicators with the right kind of risk-reward ratio and trading psychology that I could nail trading. I could keep a log of my winners and losers, analyze them, improve upon them, and over time adjust the system to work. I was never under the illusion that indicators were magic or that I had to have “the one”. I thought I could find ones that were relatively simple, widely used, and over time I would understand the ins and outs and develop a kind of “feel” for the market. I tried this approach alone for over a year. I no longer trade this way. It didn’t work. I also don’t trade with the so called naked chart, order flow, big bank theories, or any “secret” stuff.
- Don’t trade systems. Trade ideas. It was a turning point (one of many) when I realized the finite number of ways to trade the market. I can reduce any trading methodology (mine included) into a bucket of 6 “master styles” or less.
- There are some great ideas out there. Just like great books maybe years (decades) old, some of the best forum threads which I still read from time to time are years old.
- A big turning point for me was realizing that I had knowledge that I had never seen before on forums/books/videos. That knowledge, by the way, is not revolutionary. In most cases, it’s not even profitable. But the more you know, the better equipped you are. Hoard information. But just because you have a piece of information doesn’t mean it has to be used. Stronger or more robust ideas replace old ones. Info that can’t be used profitably gets trashed. You can know almost anything you want about the market. You are only limited by your creativity and the toolset.
- Trading is simple. But that does not make it easy.