Does that effort have meaning?
Introduction | Is your "effort" really pointing in the right direction?
I look at charts every day.
I never skip backtesting.
I read books. I’ve watched hundreds of YouTube videos.
Even then, the account balance keeps decreasing.
If you’re in that situation now, please let me ask you one thing first.
“For what purpose are you doing this?”
If you can’t answer this question immediately, your “direction of effort” is likely off.
No matter how hard you run, if you’re running away from the goal, you’ll only move farther away.
In the trading world, there are surprisingly many people doing that “opposite-direction effort.”
And no one teaches them that.
Why “studying a lot” does not necessarily lead to results
There is a common pattern for beginners.
They study indicators, learn how to use RSI and MACD, and keep tweaking moving averages to chase the “strongest combination.”
At first glance this looks like “effort.” But in reality, it is“a journey of continually seeking the answer outside oneself.”.
The real reason you can’t win in trading isn’t the indicator settings.
It isn’t the timing of entries or the choice of currency pairs.
The issue is either “no rules” or “impossible to follow the rules.”
No matter how precise your signal tools are, if you always make exceptions with “this time it’s special,” you will lose. Conversely, those who stick to simple rules diligently will survive.
Not the amount of study, butthe presence of disciplinethat decides victory or defeat.
Knowing your “losing patterns” is essential; otherwise effort is meaningless
I myself lost for the first two years.
I analyzed charts daily, studied entry timing, calculated lot sizes. Yet the results didn’t come.
Why?
Because I didn’t understand my own “losing patterns.”
When are you more likely to lose during certain timeframes?
Under what market conditions do losses blow up when you enter?
I kept making the same mistakes many times, but never realized it.
It wasn’t that you didn’t realize;you simply hadn’t faced them head-on.
Even keeping a trading log isn’t meaningful if you only “glance at it.”
Which entries produced profit and which produced loss?
Only when you quantify that can you see the direction in which you should be exerting effort.
What is the correct effort — create a “pattern” and adhere to it
So, what is the correct effort?
The answer is simple.
- Put your winning patterns into words
- Create a rule not to enter outside of those patterns
- Strictly follow that rule without exceptions
That’s all there is to it.
Reading charts, when boiled down, is simple. The market has waves, and those waves have structure. Understand that structure progressively from higher time frames, and only enter at points where you can ride the flow.
What’s difficult isn’t the “reading method,” but“not entering at unneeded points”.
Humans have a tendency to want to move. When you look at the chart, you might think, “This could be a chance.” But most of those are entries outside your rules.
The ability to suppress impulses. That is the greatest “effort” in trading.
Summary | Change direction, and your results will change
Effort matters. But if the direction is wrong, no matter how much effort you put in, you’ll move farther away.
What you should start doing today isn’t looking for a new indicator or a higher-win-rate signal.
Face honestly: “Where am I losing?”
When you face that without逃げる (escaping) and confront it, the direction of your effort will naturally change.
And beyond that, you’ll first see a “winning trade.”
I hope your efforts head in the right direction.