Are you a price action trader? What is the first thing you see when you open a chart?
If you are looking for pin bars, inside bars, engulfing bars, etc. then you are looking at letters of the price action alphabet. How far will this get you in your efforts to read price action? About as far as looking at the letters "A" "B" "C" etc in a book. It won't tell you much.
Not to say people cannot trade this way, but you will be much more "fluent, if you open a chart and you see the big picture first, rather than individual candle formations, then you are on your way to understanding how to read price action.
For example, the more candles that you base your trade decisions on, the higher the probability your trades will be.
For example, if you see a few hundred H4 candles forming a triangle, and a pin bar break out followed by a bullish candle, that is going to give you much more confidence to enter a trade, rather than 1 pin bar off of resistance.
If you can base every trade off of looking at a few hundred candles, then you are "reading" the price action, not just looking at the individual letters of the price action alphabet...
How long does it take to learn how to become a profitable trader?
So many people claim it takes years. The duration of the learning curve depends on how much time is spent, and how focused one is in their efforts to learn.
It's quite simple really. If you spend only a few hours a week, and are constantly distracted with your job/family etc then it will take much longer, than if you devote yourself to it full time. Same as if you go to school part-time or full-time, the duration is quite longer or shorter depending on the route you choose.
Of course, there are many factors that determine whether one would be able to learn to become a trader, whether in a long time or short time. But I truly believe the biggest factor is how determined and focused one is.
If you are not setting any goals, as to where you'd like to be with your trading, and don't know what it is that is holding you back from success, then you have to figure some things out, set some goals, and know what your weaknesses are, meet those goals, overcome your weaknesses - then you'll be on your way to success...
Goals will either limit you or push you beyond your limitation
