I lost 7k dollars and I am in a massive pain

Hello everybody, I am new to posting, but not to forexfactory, I read a lot everyday in the forums, but never the opportunity to post. I am a 21 year old student right now and for me making money is pretty much null. However I have been experiencing Forex trading for about 1 year since I started learning a lot.

I would like to tell you my long story, and yes, I know 1 year isn't a lot, but I really trained hard this 1 year and all the end I am pretty much disappointed. I like to post this to hear what you think about and because as I have also read in other posts, it is very helpful for newbies. If you are a newbie and you think Forex will get you rich quick, well it MIGHT start giving you the path, but by the end, the probability of FAILURE is very high if you keep having the mindset of the quick-scheme of getting rich. It is very easy to be making dollars, you are like in a comfortable zone, but once you hit the losing zone... oh man!!.. how painful it is...

So, How did I get to lose even after reading all the psycological stuff, all the "Don't get greedy", all the "It is all based on managing money" and even after experiencing several losses and thinking "I am ready and experienced to do this"??

The answer is pretty simple but yet different from the typical. You feel you are special, you think you are different than the others. After experiencing everything, you find new methods and try to be that "special market guru" that after reading the forums, you will finally develop that "holy grail" that you are waiting for, and be the new hidden Warren Buffet.

And yes, after multiple 1k losses of accounts (luckily made), I was making outstanding results, thinking I was the market guru. No joke, I turned from 200 dollars to almost 7,000 dollars in 1 month. And lost it all in 1 day.

I thought about killing myself. I don't know what happened yesterday. I tried to follow a management system, but sometimes in my head was, if I made 200 dollars to 7k, why can't I just double my account in a very good opportunity.

My trading life which started actually exactly 1 year ago, trading was in chinese for me. I didn't understand absolutely anything, however I am the type of person that whenever I want something I get addicted to it, so the past year has been hours of dedication into the markets. As a newbie, I started like everyone else; losing. However I learned about the patterns, indicators, pschological stuff, support and resistance, rebounces, corrections. Pretty much all the basics.

And here goes my first attempt after learning the basics:

I started with 200 dollars. Traded some pairs based on basic knowledge. I wasn't doing bad, some wins, some loses. For me it was pretty much gaining experience. However, I started having a major lose streak, and I didnt learn anything about emotions. So guess what? Account blown up.

Second attempt:

I was in tilt. Deposited 400 dollars. Double'd it. Tried the same thing and lost it all.

Same thing happened later on with 1k accounts.

However in this last time, I felt I was really experienced, so even after trying to get the "Lucky" money, I really did, and made from 200 dollars to almost 7,000 dollars, However, I don't know what happened to my brain. Suddenly, I thought I had that "chance" of making it and double it, and just couldn't. I knew all about the management, about the maximum of 1% risking. About diversifying and trying to not get too emotional. Even after having that knowledge, I don't know why I still tried to double my account. It was just a moment of pure "rush feeling" and "Just do it" to try and hit the lucky double. However subconciously my mind was telling me: "manage your money". Pretty much a battle of logic vs emotion. And at the end I lost

For me making money is hard, that's pretty much the problem for me. Making again 7k, means 2 years of hard saving for me. It's not like I lost 7k, oh I learned, let me try again in 1 month. I thought about suiciding, seriously, what's the point of suffering? For me Forex was the alternative way of succeeding, since I love it, I love this business, I like looking at charts, and all this ambient of markets. But trying to recover all will take me years and it is very painful.

But, what should I do now after this big pain I am suffering?

Suiciding rly ?
Listen mate if you feel bad so you start to make decisions ... people break up their marriage they are deppressed and so they go : who am i gonna be with now ? and when they are propelled from a bad feeling they are gonna make bad decisions. So this makes it so important to feel good before you start deciding what to decide. Otherwise your decisions will not be good decisions. The more you make good decisions the better decisions you will make. The more you make bad decisions -and this is why people have cycles of ups and downs coz it takes very little to change that course around. This is why you have to be so careful that when things are really going bad that you really stop and put yourself into a good state before you are going to make decisions about what you are going to do about it and people go '' well that is not very realistic '' and i go : '' yeah but it works '
They told me it is realistic to drege around in peoples childhoot to try to figure out how to make happy adults . to me it sounds absolutely absurd the idea that because your parents didint love you enough as a child... you know i had a crappy childhood, but you know what i just dont think about it much because i have had a wonderful life as an adult and i made sure it stayed that way. And people say : '' well if you repress this stuff it will come out somewhere else'' well it will. it will come out in their childhood. Sometimes bad things happen you just dont dwell on them if you throw a pebble into a pond it makes ripples for a while but eventually it smoothes out. When people dwell on things too much they blow them out of proportion. this is one of those phrases.

Well mate you are in a big trouble ! because im not gonna fix you. COZ i dont think you are broken . i think you are just stupid and one thing thats nice about accepting that you are stupid is that you can alwways get smarter

I accept that i am stupid

Take care

Roman vigovski

and this is what happend to your brain



thats it

you must read something about amygdala and learn.
So sometime you need to get just rest taking shower 1 cigarette and wait untill you and your brain calm down take a shower and try to think about something else then startover

Sorry hear your trade mate , 1 trading is noluck , 2 any trading system will and have black hole some where some times , mm will give you an adge of trade longer till the market turn back and favor your strategy , the rest is clasic .

Hello Zaiko,

a lot of what you are talking about reminds me of myself. I've never been at the point to think about suicide but I can easily imagine how you get there. Making a living, becoming financially independent - these things are very existential and the bigger your expectations the more painful every hit in the stomach feels. So my first and foremost advice to you would be to work on these expectations. They can make you very, very miserable. Especially when they are about such an existential thing like money. Because in the end it's not only about buying stuff. It's about nurturing, feeding yourself and your family and feeling secure in life. You better don't mess with these things by setting the bar so high. If trading and not succeeding at it makes you so miserable it has probably something to do with a more general fear that you need to tackle. My advice to you: find a good psychotherapist to explore this. It will not only make you more happy but also more stable. And hence increase the likelihood of succeeding in this business (and any other endeavour).

One of the most important questions I was ever asked in my life was posed by a psychologist in a seminar. She asked us: If your life would be the same forever like it is now. If you would never succeed in changing what you want to change. Would you still be willing to make this life work and strive for loving who you are and what you do?
I know at first sight this can seem very depressing, especially when your circumstances are really bad and you're so keen to change them. How could you possibly try to love yourself and life when everything falls apart or your biggest or even smallest dreams don't come true? But I found that finding a Yes as an answer to that question is about the most important thing you can do in life. And it is possible no matter what (believe me, I've been through very tough times and nearly gave up more than once). Are you willing to try to love yourself even in the face of the biggest adversities one can imagine? Are you willing to set out on a quest to find a Yes to that answer and make it the most important thing of your life? Are you willing to make this life a success even if you don't make big money, even if you get sick, old and die without having been a succesful trader? You may say No at the moment, but believe me, you better pick yourself up and find a yes. If there's only one reason to live then it's this.

As for your trading: stop making it such a personal thing (I know that's hard) and treat it as a business. Don't spend money on trading unless you've proven yourself to be profitable while demoing for a certain amount of time (some say at least three months). And work on your expectations and psychology. Stop wanting to make big money as long as you couldn't, at least theoretically, live without it. Because actually you are not only trading for the money, you're trading to soothe yourself and your fears of not making it in life. You want trading to make you feel good and solve your problems, that's why you put so much money into it without having the slightest idea what you're doing. Be honest, would there be any other business in life where you would act so heedlessly? No, there wouldn't. So stop placing such a big burden on trading and on yourself. As long as trading is just about making you feel good and worth living, you're bound to fail in this business.
Don't make this a 'succeed or nothing' thing. Give yourself 5 years and if in those 5 years you don't become a profitable trader and see no light at the end of the tunnel, stop trading all together and find something else. And don't forget to also find something in life that balances you while you are trading and make this work. Find something that loosens the grip of this whole money and trading thing (my personal advise would be to start meditating). Become aware that your misery and your frustration are in the end the very things that will keep you from becoming profitable, because they make you act stupidly. Make your first and foremost endeavour not to trade profitable but to stay sane while on your way to it.

I wish you all the best. Whenever you have questions or feel bad or miserable, let us know. I think there are many people here who can identify with you and empathize with how you feel.

Hans

I know it will sound like cliche but in some cases those failures are the best way to really learn about the savage Market. One can avoid large losses in the future. Just forget about Forex for two or three weeks and after that think about your personal qualities and try to figure out if you should continue or not. You've learned a lot of things in the last year and you can use your knowledge in another areas just like the Stock Market. Maybe you can do better over there. You're too young. It's absurd even thinking about giving up. Regards.

I came up with a simple plan. Every time I take a loss, I go for a run.

I had found that previously i'd been taking losses, and then within 2-3 minutes I would of "found" another entry. And would be back in the market. Those 2nd entries never really existed, I could make up reason as to why they did, but the didn't really.

So now, every time my SL gets hit, I walk away from the screen and go for a run

No need to die for 7k

if you can do once, you can do it again, go for it....

btw you must be having some amazing strategy, care to share?

you have lost $200 and payed the borrowed amount of $6,800 back

Hey Brother. There is more to life than money. Be reslient, persevere You are going to kill yourself for a few pieces of paper? Do you know how much you are worth and how precious you are to God? God loves you so much. If you dont believe that is fine, but trust me brother you have a great gift of making money and this is just a small set back on your road to success and a good lesson learned. When you fall down, pick yourself up and fight again. Never give up. Never ever ever ever give up. Be happy because you are so blessed with this ability our Creator has given you. Think of all the people you will help and good things you can do in the future with your abiblity of others. Trust me brother keep on working hard, and when struggles come, look toward the future and toward the Light.

First of all, Why no one asks for advice before it's too late!? Why not ask for advice when in the process of a profitable period?
Because in that period everyone's mind and legs are not on the ground, it's all flying thinking "am the world guru"(you said it).
What all books you read Zaiko didn't tell you, SAVE YOUR GOOD DAYS MONEY FOR YOUR BAD DAYS. It's as simple as that and can save you in the worst period of your life because you have something to lay your back on.
This must be learned from childhood, it's a kind of money management but in another way, like parents must teach their kids not to spent all the money they daily give, keep it in some saving box.
Ladies learn not to spend all their salary on a one day shopping. If am a millionaire man, don't have to buy every new phone, laptop, LCD, projector, Car and others that are newly released. Buy what you would use, not keep for decoration!!
How many times we heard our friends and relatives say it's still the first days of the month and we barely have money for transportation or even food!!
You might have a monthly salary of 10K, but you spend it in 5-15 days while another person has a 1K salary but it fulfills the one month needs.
There are primary and secondary needs in life, you must cover the first before even thinking of the second. Unfortunately many people do the opposite.
Market trading is GAMBLING even if we become "gurus" in it.
No matter what people may tell you about taking care of money management, do not over trade, manage your emotions, no holy grail system, and all psychological stuff too, all would not work at some day.
We as humans are weak to greed and seduction. Our minds are weak at some period when there's nobody to hit it or set an alarm to ring at such status.
You may even reach to a moment of doubting God's existence, asking for little more help, why not getting it..etc We must always remember that any bad moment is periodic and the best is yet to come.
Most of us fully absorb that we are doing the wrong in such period but WE DO IT, because risk is very seductive, just like when we go to the casino, every man and woman know the risk, or when a married man(or in a relationship) cheats on his wife or the opposite, says it's the last time, but the cycle continues. The only solution is not to enter the game, do and think of something else. It is not easy to apply when the moment comes like very hot women around you in a case or seeing market prices run in front of you telling yourself "in one click I can try my luck with heavy lots, it's not that hard to achieve, had done it before with smaller lots, no difference", in another case.
What will save you would firstly be, "not investing money you can not afford to loose", second when having some profits, withdraw it, keep it for your other interests far from trading, like saving it in a bank account for your studying or maybe for your house or car installments. Your goals are reached step by step, not a one time climb, despite it's true too that you could had took a one position heavy lot and earned some good KKK's, but you forgot that there's no limitation for money, just like sky limit, you'll always have the will of making more more and more, your smartness appears when you understand to save part of the money for life responsibilities.
In your case Zaiko, after making 7K from $200, that is a huge profit%, hadn't you thought at anytime of withdrawing some money?
Must had withdrew at least half the money, must had thought that reversely as " I made 7K from $200, why not try it again, withdraw most money keeping only $200. The best was withdrawing 6K and keeping 1K that is 5 times your first deposit of $200.
Whoever says that such big losses will teach you for next time, is a big myth!!
You don't have to loose to learn! You knew about the risk behind your decisions and might repeat the same action many times afterwards, you must just learn to take full responsibility of the consequences as a man does.
Would like to know from you, how did you loose all the 7K in one day, tell us in details what happened, it is much important?
We can not change the fact of Zaiko account blown, but it must be a lesson for others.

STOP
You are young and have the future ahead.
Work on plan.Get rid of high leverage.Grind it out. Most almost all great traders have massive losses difference is learning from it.
Read Market Wizards books you'll hear real stories that will make you feel better.
Regards

I would not bet on that. I upped my account by 200-300 % in the first few weeks of trading and lost it all in about two days. That is not unusual for a beginning trader. Most of the time it is just luck and probably a bit of advantage by having a beginner's mind. A two-edged sword that is because on the one hand it motivates you big time on the other hand it can be dangerous to expect these kinds of returns later in your career, as everything that does not keep up with that will feel like a failure. It is like catching one of those big moves out of sheer luck and expect it to always work that way. I know that's not what you like to hear as an aspiring trader (I still struggle with that sometimes) but these unrealistic expectations can make you really miserable. IMHO the most suitable expectation for an aspiring trader to have is that being profitable = being just a little bit better at winning than at loosing. The rest is a bonus.

Damn right, amen!

I recommend strategy testing with demo dollars instead of real dollars. Once you have a good system the emotional side should be more realistic to deal with.

In the development phase, instead of trying to make demo money, try to disprove your ideas with large amounts of data. This way you can weed out all your false beliefs about how things are.

All the best! I'm not going to say 'hang in there'. There maybe something better for you in the future, and at 21 you have the time to try out other things. You might not think much of doing a certain activity but find that you like it when you try it.

Common mate. Don't be silly. Forex is not the only way to make money. There are other areas. First try to complete your education and get a job. You can do forex as a part time. You cannot success in forex overnight. It will take time & money to learn. So please be patient. Good luck

Suicide, come on..
Yes, the loss can be humilating, but so what..we have all been there and lost a lot more along with whatever little pride we had left..but losses are part of the parcel and you gain experience only by trading.
My advice: Finish your college, get a job, and later on, see if you are keen to get back to trading.

Read Market Wizards. There are guys in the book who blew hundreds of thousands of dollars in a matter of days when they were starting out back in the 70's and 80's but somehow managed to come out through the other end. Ultimately all that matters is what did you learn from your experience? The one lesson that is not obvious to those who are starting out is that the market can handsomely reward extremely risky behaviour for a long period of time, and then in one day it can wipe out the entire profit you made in all the previous trades. Nassim Taleb talks about this in The Black Swan by comparing it to a life of a turkey. Every day is great because the market is feeding youm but then Thanksgiving rolls around and your head is chopped off. As such, don't focus on how much the market is going to feed you but how you can avoid getting your head chopped off.

It's just money. Think of it more as losing the $200 you started with. Easy come, easy go

As for your pain... Thank you for your donation.

if you read around the forums and about other peoples losses 7k often seems to be the going rate for losses and or education in trading

stick at it
only trade the high probability trades and in theory you should be able to earn it back starting off with $/£500-1000
but in the mean time back to demo!

think yourself lucky, some loose much more

something i always bare in mind is,
a few yrs ago i spoke to someone on a different forum who blew his 25k inheritance in a matter of wks longing Gold just after its peak, he also reported feeling very ill
after a few days we never heard from him again though,
hopefully he's ok and did nt do anything daft , or his dad did n't kill him

it can always be much worse
just put it down to experience and in a few wks, it wont feel quite so bad
and if you made 7k you must be able to do it again
Good luck

I don't believe you turned $200 into $7k in a month risking 1%. Even if you were risking 10% I very much do not believe you