I don't lie; I never thought about writing something like this at the beginning. I'm just a 23-year-old mechanical engineer, trading in my spare time, nothing special. But this year and a half of trading journey has changed my perspective a lot.

Honestly, I'm not a genius trader, and my results are unstable. Sometimes I make money, sometimes I lose. But the key is I haven't lost so badly that I can't keep going. In the beginning, I was a typical newbie—chasing after rises, holding on through drops. At that time, I was working in the family business, not lacking money, but lacking knowledge and a plan. The result was my account kept going downward.

The turning point came. Once, I was forced to attend a technical analysis course that explained financial tools for beginners. That class made me realize for the first time what I was doing wrong. The teacher talked about market history, various financial instruments including cryptocurrencies, market participants, and so on. Most importantly, I learned the importance of stop-loss. Placing an order without a stop-loss? Then just wait for the market to teach you a lesson. Also, emotional control—this is always the biggest enemy.

The teacher suggested we use automated trading or find a financial advisor, but I wanted to rely on myself. I’ve always used mathematical methods and indicators to trade. It worked, but it wasn’t enough to make money. At that time, I was interested in everything, thinking I knew it all, eager to make big money. I even told my girlfriend that once I started making money, I would help her. But what happened? Nothing went according to plan.

I didn’t really listen to what the mentor said—about discipline, rules, trading plans, trading logs, and so on. I bought books like "Trading in the Zone" and "Master Trader," but I was too inexperienced then to understand their deeper meanings. Later, I started losing less—not only because I used stop-loss, but also because I began to understand myself. This process was like a self-discovery trading journey.

Next, I tried using the strategies taught in the course, but lack of discipline and fear caused me to fail again. So I went online frantically searching for new strategies, but I didn’t realize the problem wasn’t the strategy itself, but my inability to handle drawdowns. Every failure made me dig deeper, spending all my free time researching one strategy after another, with little results.

Once I saw EURNZD oscillating in a range, with a clear bearish pin bar forming pressure at the bottom. I planned to short after a retest and pullback. But then a beautiful bullish engulfing pattern appeared on H4, and I went long without even looking at my trading plan. Hours later, I realized how undisciplined I was. But this example was crucial—I finally started to see my mistakes.

Honestly, I no longer consider myself a beginner. The market quickly reversed, and I was scared on H4. When the price approached my stop-loss, it rebounded again, almost hitting a 1:1 risk-reward ratio.

That’s where this story ends, but my trading journey is still ongoing. To sum up: losing money is tuition, but try to lose as little as possible; passion, stubbornness, persistence, commitment, resilience, and patience are essential; just understanding technical analysis isn’t enough—you need practical experience, making mistakes, and changing your mindset; find a truly excellent mentor and listen to him, not the gossip of others.

I don’t know where this trading journey will ultimately take me. Maybe one day I’ll achieve financial freedom through trading, or maybe I’ll take a completely different path. But for now, I’m taking it step by step, relying on patience, discipline, and not frequently changing strategies. Maybe trading is just a phase in my life, or maybe not. The only certainty is that trading has changed me and will continue to change me because I’m willing to put in the effort. This also proves the old saying—our journey isn’t about the destination, but about the journey itself.