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Your goal is to be a trader who is profitable without regard to trading style, instrument type or time frame. ( I'm determined to be successful as a (fill in the blank) trader of the NQ ) You find what works for you and you stay away from what does not work for you.
You should use only those tools that help you achieve the above. You should put the time in to make sure you understand what any tool can provide... you may find a way to use something that is unorthodox but tells you what you need to know. Look at the opportunities you wished you could have traded and then find out what you need to do to get whatever indicators you might use to zero in on those opportunities. For example, apply Market Profile to each bar on a 1 min chart. Adjust the settings so that it only plots the Max Volume Level ( POC). Look at where the POC falls when price is in the opportunity you want to grab. ( see attached) Experiment. Specialize and become expert at capturing those trade opportunities and don't worry about anything else.
How you define a genuine trade depends on what works for you. Do not have your perception of what is possible for you be defined by the experience of others. You cannot see things thru other people eyes and you can see things that others do not see if you avoid preconceptions.
Trade initially in SIM with the goal of not making money but of understanding what you need to do in order to take advantage of what you see as the opportunities. How to make the most with the fewest trades possible. Today the ES is moving up and down @ $1,000 +/- per swing. Grabbing most of just one of those each day and not giving any of it back is a realistic goal. It is a problem to be solved that only you can do.
Nobody can answer those questions for you except you. Further, I wouldn't trust anyone than tried to answer them for you, they likely have an agenda or a course to sell you.
I can relate to being stuck in a "thought loop." I am prone to doing that with any difficult problem to solve. It is an ability that is useful for helping me solve many many problems. But, it's a liability for me, for trading. Trading isn't a problem to solve. There is no correct answer and yet they are ALL correct answers. Maybe your idea of a thought loop is different from mine, but from my perspective it seems like you're trying to solve what is essentially unsolvable. If so, I suggest you try to learn to "let go" a bit. You will always have decisions to make (like do you need footprint charts). But those aren't problems to solve. Experiment. Have fun. Try TPO, Footprints, DOM, whatever. The more you expose yourself to, the more your "gut" has to go on.
I find those loops to be exhausting, but almost always a necessary stop on the journey I'm on. Do you really need to know "what kind of trader" you are? Like @glennts said.... hopefully it is enough to just be a successful trader.
Your "Thought loop" is not uncommon, there isn't a trader on this forum that hasn't gone through it, and doesn't occasionally go through it again.
I am only referring to the information you wrote, and without of course knowing you or your trading style the respose would be generic.
1. Your "loop" is in fact a heirarchy of thoughts:
If you knew "what type of trader you are", then you would know "how you should trade".
If you knew "what is a trade", clearly you would know if it's "just fluctuation or genuine". You would also know whether you need certain tools or not.
There are in fact 2 basic issued that arise from your text:
The first is YOUR TRADING STYLE (HTF scalper etc.). Much has been said in this forum about this subject, and it really doesn't get more personal a choice than that. Some guidelines can of course be given, but nothing new will probably be said here.
The second obvious issue is your lack of a clear system. Most of what you describe as "thoughts" are actually "don't know"s. If you "knew" you wouldn't have to think so much...
You should have a clear enough system to KNOW what is a trade for you. to KNOW which tools are needed and exactly how they are to be used. If you KNEW these, you wouldn't be constantly second guessing them.
On the strictly technical side of trading (psych etc. aside), that is probably the most important developmental step in a trader's growth: Devising a system clear enough that you can trust it. that there's an answer within the system for "how you should act" on every step so you can remove the thinking.
Two things to point out in this regard:
1. System does not equal "mechanical algo". It's just a clear set of rules that govern your behavior. You should be able to write these down, I should be able to understand them. Then you should be able to walk me through the trade, and explain every action by those rules - and that action should be evident to me from the rules. Don't overthink the nuances. Just the "big rules" should be a good start: setups (name them clearly), Market conditions where your setups are valid (i.e. setup A is used only in an uptrend and only above the moving average), stop placement, position sizing, and just as important if not more (and often overlooked) - trade management rules: stop adjustment, profit taking and adding.
2. Don't confuse havig a system with being able to confidently and skillfully execute it. There's a lot more work to be done.
Rest assured, you will have multiple cycles of "philosophical pondering" about how you like to trade. I've gone through several styles myself, and still grow and expand them. You'll also continuously work on improving your system. But for now, set step #1 in your staircase - and then climb to the next one.
