The reason I write here is that there are things I am doing wrong that I am not aware of. Now, this is a good place to start a change, and since there are no other traders in my personal life, I've decided to share it here.

Quick back story: I have been trading for 4 months, with 3 months of experience before a serious accident. After recovering, I resumed trading for almost another month. Fortunately, despite my limited technical analysis skills and being far less knowledgeable than other traders, I was able to make good money in the simulation. However, not being able to replicate the results in the real market has led me to the conclusion that, despite my efforts to become more savvy in technical analysis, in order to become a profitable trader, the change has to happen within.

How did you tackle this problem? What did it take for you to become a profitable trader? How did you change yourself, and are there any pitfalls to avoid?

Now, the way I go about all this is by being present, being in the here and now while trading, watching myself and the chart. I've made mistakes and traded after being upset, but usually, I just close it and go away to clear my head. When the day is over, I also look back at my mental state and emotions and how this has driven my decisions. Whatever I feel, I try to just look at it without judgment or anger, so I become conscious of what is influencing my decisions. So the next time in a trade, I'll be able to recognize these impulses.

The reason I write here is that there are things I am doing wrong that I am not aware of. Now, this is a good place to start a change, and since there are no other traders in my personal life, I've decided to share it here.

Quick back story: I have been trading for 4 months, with 3 months of experience before a serious accident. After recovering, I resumed trading for almost another month. Fortunately, despite my limited technical analysis skills and being far less knowledgeable than other traders, I was able to make good money in the simulation. However, not being able to replicate the results in the real market has led me to the conclusion that, despite my efforts to become more savvy in technical analysis, in order to become a profitable trader, the change has to happen within.

How did you tackle this problem? What did it take for you to become a profitable trader? How did you change yourself, and are there any pitfalls to avoid?

Now, the way I go about all this is by being present, being in the here and now while trading, watching myself and the chart. I've made mistakes and traded after being upset, but usually, I just close it and go away to clear my head. When the day is over, I also look back at my mental state and emotions and how this has driven my decisions. Whatever I feel, I try to just look at it without judgment or anger, so I become conscious of what is influencing my decisions. So the next time in a trade, I'll be able to recognize these impulses.

The reason I write here is that there are things I am doing wrong that I am not aware of. Now, this is a good place to start a change, and since there are no other traders in my personal life, I've decided to share it here.

Quick back story: I have been trading for 4 months, with 3 months of experience before a serious accident. After recovering, I resumed trading for almost another month. Fortunately, despite my limited technical analysis skills and being far less knowledgeable than other traders, I was able to make good money in the simulation. However, not being able to replicate the results in the real market has led me to the conclusion that, despite my efforts to become more savvy in technical analysis, in order to become a profitable trader, the change has to happen within.

How did you tackle this problem? What did it take for you to become a profitable trader? How did you change yourself, and are there any pitfalls to avoid?

Now, the way I go about all this is by being present, being in the here and now while trading, watching myself and the chart. I've made mistakes and traded after being upset, but usually, I just close it and go away to clear my head. When the day is over, I also look back at my mental state and emotions and how this has driven my decisions. Whatever I feel, I try to just look at it without judgment or anger, so I become conscious of what is influencing my decisions. So the next time in a trade, I'll be able to recognize these impulses.

How about some more information.
What are you trading and why?
What time frame?
Why do you think you are failing?

I am trading BTC, and it was through a friend's introduction that I first got involved in the markets. With a small amount of capital, I place great importance on making it work, as I believe that if I can succeed with this small investment, I could potentially make a living from it, which would be absolutely amazing!

I analyze the market using hourly, daily, and 5-minute timeframes. I enter trades based on the 5-minute chart but use the 15-minute chart to filter out noise.

A significant challenge I currently face is allowing losses to affect me emotionally. It's painful! As a result, I sometimes move my stop-loss to break even, take early profits to avoid further losses, or hesitate to enter a trade that I'm confident in due to fear of another loss.

The picture below illustrates this issue. I was influenced by slippage, then moved my stop-loss to break even. I became upset and stepped away from my computer, only to miss an even bigger move that I was very confident would happen.
BTCUSDT.P_2024-01-14_20-14-16

Where are you trading BTC?
I traded in Canada with Newton but found the spreads too much.
I now swing trade the ETF's (BTCC on the TSE) and BITO on the US market.

The new US ETF's might make trading a little easier but BTC trades 24/7 and teh ETF's only trade when the market is open.
Holding overnight or over a weekend tends to be risky.

Sticking to your trading plan is essential to figuring out if the problem is the plan or the trader.

Fortunately, despite my limited technical analysis skills and being far less knowledgeable than other traders, I was able to make good money in the simulation. However, not being able to replicate the results in the real market has led me to the conclusion that, despite my efforts to become more savvy in technical analysis, in order to become a profitable trader, the change has to happen within.

How big of a difference are we talking here? And how big is your sample size from SIM vs real money account?

Do you have a strict strategy that you follow?

What I have done for years is at the end of each day I look a historical price movement for today. I first look at all the trades I should have taken based on my setup/entry rules.then I look at all the trades I actually took. my goal is to trade more than fifty percent... For those that I should have taken but didn't I examine why I didn't trade them. For those trades that I took I look at if I followed my tracking rules.. If I did then I examine if I could have done better setup/entry wise and trade management. If I didn't follow my rules I examine why. I also examine why I didn't take trades. Some times I miss setups other times price moved too fast in real time