It's a feeling that all traders experience, but which has recently been confirmed by some statistical surveys: success with Forex trading is extremely difficult. It is estimated that around 80-90% of traders end the calendar year at a loss. For those who fall into this percentage, there are two alternatives: throw in the towel and bid a definitive farewell to the money they have lost, or try to understand where they went wrong and make amends.

It's not at all easy to understand one's mistakes, not least because in most cases defeats seem to be independent of the trader's behavior. This feeling stems from a fundamental truth: each trader looks at themselves from their own point of view. Therefore, it is useful to list the recurring reasons why traders fail to achieve success. Here are 10 of them, along with their respective solutions.

Problem 1: Neglecting Demos

A good day is seen from the morning. This saying applies in all cases of life, including trading. Those who lose a lot at the beginning of their adventure, either due to a loss of self-esteem or simply a lack of capital, struggle to get back on track. In many cases, this is due to an initial mistake: not having tried a demo account before investing in the real market. Even when you feel that your training path has yielded satisfactory results and you feel ready to handle charts, indicators, and financial bulletins, there is always a missing piece: the feeling. Well, the demo is an excellent solution to create a feeling with the market before risking your money. Demos are useful for getting acquainted but also for understanding how to cope with psychological pressures and deal with unforeseen events. The solution, in this case, is didactic. Try a demo account before you start. It's not difficult at all, as most brokers offer a demo version, whether it's paid or free, with or without an expiration date.

Problem 2: Making It Complicated

Simplicity is very often a value, in life as in Forex. However, many traders, in fact the majority, are hindered by a fundamental prejudice: since Forex Trading is complex, it is necessary to use complex resources. There is often the belief that activities in the currency market are simply... Not simplifiable. A complexity-oriented approach is harmful because it puts too much on the table, introduces too many elements to manage, and employs resources that are not only economic but also cognitive. A trader who "complicates things" tends to use many indicators, frequently change trading systems, and modify their approach to money management multiple times. There is a sense of perennial dissatisfaction in them: when a tool seems not to work, they change it before it can bear fruit. How to solve this problem? By simplifying, that is, reducing the working tools. Be guided by the most important element, which is the price, without chasing statistics or modeling. Create a trading system based on the hypothesis-verification sequence, as the good scientific method teaches.

Problem 3: Not Accepting Defeat

One must know how to lose, as a famous song from the sixties recited. Again, popular culture comes to the aid of the trader. Too bad that many traders are not able to accept defeat. This is understandable and entirely human, since defeats in trading affect not only self-esteem but also the wallet. Yet, if there is one truth in Forex Trading, it is that defeat is part of the game. The risk of ignoring this truth is twofold: on the one hand, you get discouraged and lose initiative; on the other hand, the classic "betting" effect is triggered, which pushes the trader to make increasingly risky and impulsive moves to recover what has been lost. The solution is, obviously, to accept defeat and be convinced of its inevitability. It is necessary to develop a certain "Zen" or Stoic philosophy, so to speak. The practical solution is, of course, to plan even losses with a good approach to money management and make good use of stop losses. To do this, however, it is necessary to contemplate the concept of defeat in one's activity.

Problem 4: Giving Too Much Importance to Money

It seems a contradiction, but it is so. To do good trading, it is necessary to think less about money. Or rather, not to be obsessed with it. The mental process to adopt is similar to that of football coaches, who say: "the important thing is to play well, the rest will come." The obsession with the result, which in this case coincides with profit, diverts mental energy from the trading activity itself, ultimately proving harmful. This imprinting overlaps with the one addressed in the previous paragraph, which prevents the trader from seeing defeats as a "fact of life." The solution is... Not to think about money. Put this way, it is very difficult, since money is objectively important, as well as the real reason why, unless you have a visceral and anomalous passion for this activity, people approach trading. One secret could be to convince yourself, or self-delude, that the numbers you see superimposed are not euros or dollars, but points. Just as if it were a game to win. Difficult, but it can be done.

Problem 5: Not Starting from the Daily Chart

Let's get technical. Many beginners start directly with daytrading or fast trading. This attitude is the result of impatience but also of advertising campaigns that, in recent times, have focused mainly on fast trading, as it is adrenaline-pumping and potentially able to attract ordinary people. Problems emerge immediately. One-hour charts, for example, often prove misleading. The reason is simple and known to traders with a minimum of experience: in the very short term, the market fills up with "background noise," volatility is a predominant element, and all this leads to errors. Solution? Again, it's all very simple: don't start with fast trading, which requires studying charts with a reduced time frame; instead, start with multiday trading, which requires studying daily charts.

Problem 6: Not Focusing on Money Management

An even elementary form of money management is innate in all traders. This is because everyone, even beginners, commits themselves in their own interest to predict, albeit abstractly or roughly, how much they can lose following a failed trade, making a balance between risks and opportunities, between what they hold and what they could hold following an order. Yet it is not enough. So much so that many traders invest without having a detailed money management plan. By detailed money management, we mean one supported by mathematical and statistical evidence. The solution is quite composite. Firstly, it is good to keep a diary in order to memorialize victories and defeats and use one's own activity to derive statistics. Secondly, using precisely one's own statistics, it is wise to derive for each trade the exact amount to invest. Currently, many methods are in use, all very valid. Of course, everything must start from a conviction: it is absolutely forbidden to risk money that one cannot afford to lose. So, the challenge is to understand what risks one faces and how much money one can afford to lose. Then, there are two rules, which sound a bit like aphorisms, but which aim to create the right mindset: deposit into your account only money you don't need and establish the maximum amount you can lose per single trade. Is money management only used to avoid losing too much money? No, it also solves the problem of acceptance. If the trader knows how much they will lose, and that loss does not compromise anything, they willingly accept it if it actually occurs. It's a sort of less painful mourning process. A panacea for the wallet but also for one's mental health.

Problem 7: Trading Too Often

Quantity, or rather frequency, can also be a problem. Trading often does not mean trading better. In fact, in most cases, it is exactly the opposite. Trading very frequently, thus getting embroiled in so-called "over-trading," is an attitude capable of compromising hopes for success. All traders experience this drift sooner or later. The reasons are manifold and all relate to the complex theme of psychology: not accepting a defeat, the euphoria of victory, excessive self-confidence, etc. The fact is that in Forex trading, impatience is a cardinal vice. Of course, this disvalue is often stimulated by a specific approach, such as fast trading. It's obvious: if the time frame is reduced, and the opening and closing of positions follow each other at a frenetic pace, it is really easy to fall into the over-trading trap. The solution depends on the strategy used. If you don't do fast trading, it is sufficient to quantitatively decrease the number of positions. If you do fast trading, the advice is to enter the market only when there are signals. This advice, obviously, should also be followed if you venture into multiday trading, but in the latter case, it is easier to put into practice. To make a metaphor, the trader must shed the clothes of the rambo of the situation, who in reality dies first, and put on that of the sniper. The latter, in fact, in addition to saving bullets, goes straight to the target and exposes themselves much less.

Problem 8: Not Understanding Market Dynamics

Obviously, if a trader does not know the market and the basic dynamics of price, the path they will travel will be very short. Yet, especially among beginners, this type of knowledge is not at all obvious. Some examples of typical attitudes of those who have not well understood the market are the following: Continually seeking trend breaks, a symptom that the trader has not well understood that a good part of the breaks are only "apparent" (hence false) breaks; Ignoring retracements, and perhaps interpreting them as a sign of volatility or as a new trend break; Not knowing how to read the chart, and by "reading," we mean the actual graphical analysis, not just the postiche identification of the trend. The solution is to study. There is no escape from this. The approach must initially be manualistic, since there are many texts, mostly written by famous traders, that illustrate market dynamics. Of course, then you have to get down to business... How? The alternatives are numerous, even if they can be adopted simultaneously. It is good to frequent a community of traders, since many conversations revolve around this concept. What better than the testimony of those who have made it to understand how a complex system works? A resource is also the demo account. Through demos, especially if you are a beginner, the trader "gets acquainted" with all the disruptive elements they will have to face once they enter the real market. Another solution is to take a proactive approach. This means not reacting to everything that happens, but entering only when the market launches signals, and especially signals that match one's goals and strategy.

Problem 9: Not Having a Routine

Why is routine important in Forex trading? Simple, because it facilitates activities. Routine is reassuring because those who follow it know exactly what to do and how to do it, and generally take less and less time. Those who don't have a routine in Forex live in chaos, in disorder. They lose mental energy first and foremost, and secondarily time: two resources that the trader cannot afford to waste. Routine is also important because it gives traders a sense of control, as they must by definition deal with an unpredictable, complex, and heterogeneous "object": the market. Creating a routine is not easy at all, since one risks creating it only as a result of mistakes, trying and retrying the sequence of activities until one stumbles upon the most correct one. So, what to do? One solution could be to rely on a mentor, an experienced trader. In short, having someone from whom to learn the "trade" allows not only the acquisition of theoretical notions but also a certain procedure. Obviously, routines change from trader to trader. The important thing is to realize their importance and know at least one. If you know at least one routine, it is easier to create your own... You have a base from which to start. Even those who do not have a mentor have a chance: on the web, you can find guides that are based precisely on the concept of routine, which narrate the experience, and perhaps the "typical day" of famous traders.

Problem 10: Not Getting Trained

Finally, something that many take for granted but is not at all: the importance of training. It is necessary to undertake a training path that is as professional as possible. This is a problem, in theory: there are no "official" universities or schools for trading, at most there are courses. This means that a trader is essentially self-taught. Certainly, the training path is, by its nature, heterogeneous, fragmented, not at all linear. The aspiring trader can, however, bring order to this chaos by referring to some expert who can recommend the best readings. Some must-reads, it must be specified, are to be read in any case, but it is obvious that the training cannot be reduced to simple manualism. The difficult part is not studying, but knowing what to study, how to study it, and for how long. In short, the problem lies in the study plan. The solution is not simple. As already anticipated, asking an expert for help and getting reading recommendations is a good approach. Another solution is to rely entirely on brokers, but only those who give a lot of space to the issue of training. An excellent ally is the broker who offers users a real training center, perhaps multimedia, even better if modular. However, you have to go in with lead feet: in some cases, the training offer is a lure, a marketing tool. To understand if the training content is useful, even for the uninitiated, you need to know who takes care of it: if it is a professional trader, good both at investing and teaching, you are in good hands. In any case, it is possible to train on numerous platforms: books, ebooks, videos, online seminars, and in-person seminars. From this point of view, the initiative of XM, active for many years now, has proved to be very interesting, through which the broker carries out an international tour to spread knowledge about Forex trading a little everywhere. A happy case in which the marketing tool coincides with the real interest of the user.