main obstacle for traders

hindsight bias

Lack of patience, which translates into over trading their account.

their own laziness

i vote for patience ... but maybe its just me

There are a million different legitimate answers to this question.

A good one is that there are a million different ways to trade, and it can take years to find the right strategy that suits the way you think and feel. You could be a potentially stellar rocket scientist but if you keep trying out for the wrestling team, you'll be hitting a brick wall. Even if it's a great wrestling team, with bollinger bands and everything!

It's not just about the system - it's about you and the system. Understanding this, and accepting that there are no short cuts or magic crossovers that will allow you to clean up in forex ten days after reading babypips - that's a good start to overcoming this obstacle. Whatever your system, you have to eat and breathe it and develop a discretionary feel for when to trade. That takes commitment, and only those with belief and persistence will pass that test.

After a long, long time of looking at different strategies and then organising my setup in a way that my brain can process for tickscalping, I am hopeful that I have overcome this obstacle.

Looking forward to becoming a full member so that I can start a trading diary thread and record how my compounding adventure progresses.

Greed and not patience enough.

Ignorance

patience + fear of missing the move = entering too late

Another vote for patience, here.

Overall, the common trait that is lacked by new (and experienced) traders is patience.

Everything must happen now. We're all so much in a rush to make money and be profitable yet no one really wants to sit down to properly learn their craft. Instant gratification seems to be how the game is played theses days.

Not being able to think in probabilities.

(I assume this would fall under psychological)

Champagne wishes and caviar dreams.

Patience
Risk management
Properly capitalized

Fear of loss....you cannot seriously make money in forex until you overcome the need to feel comfortable while trading. You make the most amount of money trading when you feel the least comfortable (at least I do). Being prudent and conservative will not pull in the big profits unfortunately. It is against the norms of society I guess.....you have to think differently....!!!!

I would say confidence and emotional control are few of the most important thing in trading.

But there are maybe hundreds of obstacles a trader may face during his/her trading life, simply listing them are not good and helpful enough until we learn how to challenge and overcome these obstacles.

Therefore, I think successful traders must also need to have strong desired and the willingness to success.

Good luck every trader.

that is why i like scalping. immediate profits and self-confidence. if done properly.

start the trading day with one plan: hunt down one swing only. you plan and analyze for that day in order to capture that particular swing. the market is going to make many swings on that day, and you are going to capture the one which confirms to your planning and analysis. then get out. no over trading.

Or, you can position yourself for one gigantic swing trade over several weeks and add gradually to your position. Either way is effective in its own way.

Taking bites bigger than they can swallow i.e. risking too much

This starts with either greed, hope, anger, frustration, too much reliance on their analysis but later turns to fear - all stemming from not acknowledging probablistic nature of outcomes and lack of patience.

impatience
aggressiveness
lack of sufficient fund
lack of humility
lack of good psychology
lack of business mindset
desire to quit

among others

after a second thought ...

the main obstacle is the ego

it's the one who's impatient, overanalyze everything you did, want to do or are about to do, the ego wants it all, thinks it knows it all, is greedy when there's no reason to trade, is fearfull when a valid signal arrives, is trying to distract you when the market needs attention, is deceiving you when you need to think clearly, is freezing you when you need to act, is sabotaging if you are winning and tell you everything is fine when you are losing.
the ego, good for surviving in the wilderness, not the right tool for the markets, you need to be focused, disciplined and patient, and have the courage to do what is necessary if you want more than to survive.

Makes sense that the Ego is the source, which comes back to psychology since that is what it takes to defeat the ego.

Ironically, I would say Intelligence. On average, those attracted to trading tend to be more intelligent than the general population. This intelligence leads to the idea that they can conquer or out-wit the markets. This leads them to look for more and more complex ways to view the markets.

The "not so smart" trader who goes long simply because price is rising is closer to the true path, than the intelligent trader who goes short because his melinar frequencies and Azerhof numbers and Zigdar harmonic calculations are all pointing to the downside.