I have been learning forex for 4 months at this point and for the whole 4 months I have had a burning passion towards forex. Learning it was my hobby and I found it fun and it wasn’t like doing work at all it was just doing something I liked.
The past week my motivation has been whittled down to nothing and learning it is a chore. I think it’s due to the amount of quotes I read that say “The only way to make it is if you actually enjoy and have a passion for trading”. I think my subconscious took note of this and over time I have created a war in my head where my subconscious is constantly telling me “do you really have the motivation and passion it takes to be a forex trader? Is forex trading really for you?”
My question is should I push myself through this and should I just drag myself through this time of no motivation? And has anyone been through this and come out the other side, I feel this is character building and if I push myself through it I will be a better more resilient person and trader. In other words: is it just one of the many big obstacles in the way of success?
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You will get your answer once you start learning more. Without knowing anything properly, it’s not possible to get convinced whether it’s for me or not. Keep pushing yourself and see what happens.
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I had periods where I wanted to give up. No motivation, but most days I was excited to turn on my computer. Don’t let one little period of Demotivation stop you. But that is a good question to ask yourself. “Is forex trading for me?”. And be honest with yourself. Just like if I asked myself “is trying to be a doctor worth it?” I’d probably say no, as I have zero interest in being a doctor.
If forex was easy, everyone would do it.
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There is no harm in taking a break, everyone needs time off once and awhile to recharge themselves. If you’re not feeling it, walk away and do something else for a day or 2. There will always be another trade waiting for you.
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Maybe motivation can sometimes me governed by how much progress you are making with learning. Once youv’e progressed to a stage succesfully, then your motivation can reignite for the next stage due to gaining confidence.
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Yes I have. In 1989, in 2005, in 2011 and in 2015. Forex has never been all consuming to me, but it has always attracted me since I do believe it is something that can be done successfully to a plan. This time around, I am more motivated than ever, but as usual, I am extremely busy with other matters, which reduces my rate of progress. As long as those other matters are also important to me, it will always be a matter of balance. So take a break. Just tidy up your notes or papers or however you learn, and put in your diary an entry for 1Dec20 just to say "what do you think about Forex after a month’s rest. Want to get going again? If the answer is NO, diary it for another 2 months ahead. If the answer is “yes” but it’s coming up to Christmas, set a date in the new year that you feel comfortable getting back into Forex. Good luck with it. Anything worth having does not fall into your lap. You have to go and get it - with tenacity.
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@Buried.Man
Forget passion.
It’s the curse of the western world. Were taught to follow it and if we don’t there is something wrong with us.
The idea of following your passion gained traction in the sixties, these days it particularly woke to be passionate before you choose a career
But read about the ultra successful and often they became passionate AFTER they got good at their skillset not before.
Passion is rarely sustainable - your going to get kicked in teeth lots in the market and it’s going to test your ‘passion’ many times.
Develop grit, develop good work habits, set achievable goals and forget passion
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I couldn’t agree more with the passion thing. That is important to keep you going during the tough times like we’ve seen recently in the market. As weird as it may sound you should get excited about looking at charts and finding patterns that lead to good trades …I think about equities and forex so much that sometimes I have dreams about it lol
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True passion for something usually leads to success …particularly when you are passionate about as something as profitable as day trading…passion comes with obsessing over something until it is apart of who you are
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@OrangeOgre
It won’t take you all the way - grit will.
Passion is what Meghan and Harry have with their charity work, or Greta Thurnberg for the climate or yoga enthusiasts have for setting up a yoga class.
Or indeed what I have for watching My netflix movies and doing Sweet FA
Passion comes and goes, and when it goes your left feeling despondent
Passion in a relationship dies as most of us have experienced.
Of course it HELPs to have it in what your trying to achieve - but it will never get you over the finishing line.
Developing solid habits will.
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Similar to what my sister said (who is my biggest inspiration as she is self employed) she said “look forget your passion or what these stupid quotes are telling you, you can either give up trading or continue it’s as simple as that”
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After all we are humans not machines, if you are feeling demotivated or exhausted, there is no harm in taking a break. Come back with extra energies!!
No your mistaking passion for enfatuation which is a feeling that ultimately leaves you disappointed and dissatisfied. I’m sorry if you don’t have passion for something you do constantly but it isn’t sustainable to not be passionate about what you do. As for grit, that is something deep in your belly that makes you go get it and that my friend comes with passion
@OrangeOgre
Well it seems like it’s another semantics debate like the is trading gambling debate.
I understand what you mean I would not be trading right now if I didn’t have the passion for it
Maybe the question should be - is passion enough?
Clearly in the UK (where I’m from) there are literally thousands of boys who have ‘passion’ to become premier league football players.
Or in LA there is no shortage of young female who wanna be actresses who have bags of passion. How many make it?
For me the word passion conjures up an entitled society who is now led to belief they should always follow their passion
But Steve Jobs passion was Yoga and meditation
And many others fell into their successful career and didn’t choose them
And there is research to suggest that real passion is the product of developing expertise in something - the passion came after the skill acquisition not before it
Of course passion is needed, but the original poster was from someone who had lost their passion for trading - my point is simply on its own it’s not enough
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I have regained my enthusiasm for trading again and I just think it was a really weird week (the week my enthusiasm died) for me in general. I was waiting for results of a medical test and I think my mind was consumed by this and didn’t have time to feel passion for trading. But yeah it really scared me because for the past 4 months it had been my life and now I suddenly didn’t want to do it and I didn’t rlly have anything else to do in my spare time and it was a very depressing feeling. I have no problem slugging through it if I knew my enthusiasm would return but at the time it really felt like it was gone forever.
I have learnt some very valuable lessons though in terms of passion and motivation comes and goes, and I just have to grit my teeth and get through the ‘dark’ times and only then success unlocks itself.
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I agree with this. If you rely on passion, you’re going to give up on it right when that passion wanes. You need to learn how to push through failures and deal with the mental and emotional toll of not performing the way you envisioned. That’s when anything becomes rewarding IMHO, when you know you’ve survived so much hardship and still persisted.
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#FirstPost
This struck a cord with me on a couple levels.
First of all, I’m on a similar timeline. I started studying Forex and the markets 5-6 months ago after learning that a good friend of mine has been trading for a couple years after college while starting a few businesses. I thought it sounded interesting and started the Babypips training. For the past several months I’ve been getting up early to watch some streams and read forums, then I go to my stressful sales job for 8 or 9 hours, then I go home or to the coffee shop and grind through babypips modules and read Al Brooks in the evenings.
To hit your main point, it’s exhausting early on. I have my main responsibility to succeed at my full time job and put food on the table and spend time with my wife and family, and it’s hard to make myself fill in free time learning new material rather than turning off my brain and watching Netflix or playing video games or something more fun.
When I start second guessing myself, I have to take a step back and remind myself why I started doing this in the first place. Like any other trader or investor, my goal is make more money. I know that if I’m patient, continue learning and staying on the course, I can provide better for my myself and my family, possibly leave my stressful job or find a less-demanding one and overall have more financial flexibility. Everybody touts financial freedom, but that’s too far off for me to use as a shorter term goal.
As cliché as it is, I have to remind myself to “trust the process”. When you get exhausted and feel stuck, take a break. It doesn’t sound like Forex is your lively hood. But if you think Forex and trading can help you reach your goals, that should be all the motivation you need.
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Fair enough I agree with that
I can empathise with this. We cannot underestimate the psychological damage being done by i) Covid, ii) rapidly changing restrictions on previous freedoms - like low, medium, high and very high zones then a total national lockdown. To say we live in strange times is a huge understatement. I am happy you got that enthusiasm back. If it goes away again, just let it go and you know you will bounce back.
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Whenever I feel this way, I just think “short term sacrifice for long term gain” Also, everyone else does what’s easy, how far can you push yourself to get ahead? 