It’s not unusual to feel resistance toward backtesting because it can be repetitive and time consuming. The problem is that without it, confidence in a strategy will always be shaky. One way to stay motivated is to remind yourself that backtesting is like rehearsal; the more you practice, the smoother live trading feels. Another trick is to break the work into smaller sessions instead of trying to do it all at once. Thinking about the freedom and confidence that come from knowing your system is tested can also help turn it from a chore into an investment in your future results.
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Yes, proper backtesting can take ages. Serious traders do backtesting even over years. But it is needed, certainly for any EA. A strategy that is fully automated needs to be robust over at least 10 years. Then, all the different market phases are covered.
You can watch the interviews of some sportspeople, like famous fighters and such. Most of them say they hate the training process, the sparring and endless work. Still, they keep pushing, that makes all the difference
I know this is an old post but one of the best feelings is seeing a back test document with all the analytics in a clean format. My motivation was having the most rock solid document I could look back at during rough times to see things are working.
My best piece of motivation advice was to commit yourself to 30 mins a day no matter what. On bad days id quit after 30 mins and get barely any data, on good days id be going for 2+ hours enjoying it. Either way it added up over time.
I also think, if you go in with the mindset of proving your strat dosen’t work, so you dont lose real money can make both wins and losses feel like wins.
Forward testing helps a lot with that. Backtesting can feel boring and disconnected, but when you see setups play out live, it makes the process more engaging. Also, try breaking the work into smaller chunks instead of thinking in days. Consistency over time matters more than forcing long sessions.
Yeah, that makes sense. Forward testing feels more real because at least you stay connected to the market instead of just scrolling through old charts for hours.
Nothing replaces screen time in a live market. Backtesting shows you what could work. Forward testing shows you what you can actually trade.