5000 hours in, totally lost

Average 35M began studying stocks full time in March 2024. On paper my situation seemed ideal. Single, no kids, no commitments or responsibilities, nothing better to do with my life, and 250K. If I fail, I hurt myself and no one else. I decided I’d revisit in March 2027 and decide whether to continue. 2.5 years later and 5000 hours in, I’m totally lost in the rhubarb. My biggest failure is strategy hopping and overthinking everything to death. I'll spend a length of time on something, get frustrated, and reluctantly move on. Whether day/swing, long/short, momentum/reversion, doing what I ‘think’ is backtesting, some combination of mechanics and discretion, it makes no difference. The analysis paralysis has me stuck in an infinite study loop. I tell myself I’m being diligent and thorough, but it’s just stalling in disguise. I think my inquisitive nature conflicts with the unlimited environment of trading. One question leads to all the questions. I can not reconcile wanting to know exactly what I’m doing with the knowledge that probabilities say I don’t have too. Trying to find edge and +expectancy with a coherent backtest is futile. I’m also not a gambler and hate losing money. Failure isn't ideal but I’d rather fail with my finances intact than fail because I lost everything. It’s possible my risk adversity holds me back, but I’d still take a calculated risk if I had one. The single most common advice I’ve read is that I need to find something that works/makes sense to me or my personality (which I still don't understand). If I can not find anything that makes sense to me, do I just accept that I’m not the exception? I wonder if the traders’ perception of the market is similar to perception of color. No amount of explaining can convey how you perceive red. So if it's entirely up to me, and I can’t figure it out, I suppose I should stop. Is there any way to start with the smallest amount of information and work up? No amount of ‘pick one setup and stick with it’ seems to work for my silly brain. Just looking for honest advice, whether good or bad. I’m reaching an impasse with trading, and with how little prosperity there is in the job market, I’d sooner walk into a forest. I can accept that figuring it out for ones self may be a prerequisite. But considering most likely fail due to mistakenly thinking they have edge, or losing their money, for me to quit having not even left the gate sounds like either a cop out or the logical thing to do, seeing as the statistics are against me. If you’ve found a way to strip everything back, to start small and work up, and care to drop me a line, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm completely indifferent to the instrument, market, method, holding period, etc. I pursue everything that seems worthwhile to the fullest extent and genuinely give a shit. I could carry on studying for another 10 years, but I’m getting tired and starting to lose confidence in my ability to come up with something in house.

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u/Proof-Necessary-5201 1 6 hours ago

Take $100 and try to turn it into $120. That's it. That's your objective. Forget everything else and just try to do this. Everything will come to you as you try.
u/max_intense 1 6 hours ago

This is probably the best advice here…
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

I've heard that too, 'just take 10 trades.' Based on what.. intuition? There's no hypothesis, entry, exit, etc. The lack of structure kills me. I'd take 10 trades and certainly infer the wrong things. Not shitting on the idea, I just don't get how full discretion helps.
u/37347 1 5 hours ago

Why don’t you just buy and hold? It’s simple. You don’t need to second guess anything. Check back in 10 years. Too much work for nothing. Not everyone is made for day trading
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

That would be nice, but my time horizon is shorter than buy and hold. I don't have anything else going for me besides trading and savings wont last forever.
u/Schadenfreude_1207 1 5 hours ago

Have you considered getting a job?
u/37347 1 5 hours ago

Just get a job. Day trading is not just rainbow and sunshine. Yes, a regular job can be grueling but it’s predictable. Day trading is not easy and not a guarantee. What’s the end goal? It’s to become wealthy. You can do that just with a regular job and buy and holding. There is nothing wrong with a regular job. Day trading is not a get rich scheme. You have 5000 hours in it. You could have spent that time working 5000 hours. That’s 100k right there if you make $20 an hour
u/LedudeMax 1 6 hours ago

This very much depends on how hands on you wanna be. Tips for day trading are very different from tips for long term holding
u/max_intense 1 6 hours ago

Stick to one strategy and refine it.
u/ErrorTechnical6268 1 5 hours ago

no matter which strategy he is choosing to stick to? everything with refinment can work and will have positive expectancy? i understand your take but there is more to it. some things just.. dont work so well
u/max_intense 1 5 hours ago

Double down on what works and use indicators to prevent losses.
u/Crazy-Strawberry2879 1 6 hours ago

Sometimes, it can be what makes sense to you and how you see the market and because that can be different for everyone that can be hard to orate. Key thing to remember, keep it simple if you can and regardless of the strategy most people get wiped out multiple times. Good book is called the turtle trader that helped me look at things differently. Something I tried was trading 0.01 for 6 months which was soooo painfully slow but it really helped me A. feel relaxed about trades and build a comfortable swing method where I checked the charts once a day and didn't care if I lost so my winners ran and my losses got cut by SL quickly. with that if I don't have that comfortable feeling I know my risk is off or something needs to be done to have that comfortable feeling and build from it. B. forces you to slow down and this was great for me personally. I think I have innately the same thinking and wanting to know everything as you and I would almost overstudy... when in reality it can look like have a clear path ahead and feel confident in what you do know and not worry about what you don't. Too much noise is a bad thing and can hinder you or contradict your train of thinking which may be right (two things can also be right at the same time). Start with a smaller amount and see if that changes how you feel when in a trade and build from there. Document your thought process on how you think/feel (always funny to read at the end of year review of trading. 2.5 years... Barely got your head in the rabbit hole my friend.... Be patient and keep chipping away!
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

I can use small size, it's just all the work that comes before and leading up too actually placing a trade that I struggle with. I don't have a workable strategy or understanding with which to even take a trade.
u/Crazy-Strawberry2879 1 5 hours ago

If somebody asks you what your most profitable strategy is what comes to mind first? Do you document all of your trades?
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

Nothing, because I don't trade. I don't have a strategy or backtest. I was once given a rough framework for a small cap shorting strategy where I found expectancy. I worked on it for months only to find out going live that hard to borrow is actually impossible to borrow. I've never got to the point where I have a legitimate reason to take a trade.
u/Crazy-Strawberry2879 1 5 hours ago

Also, do you follow any traders? read books on strategies? find one you feel like you understand and keep tinkering with it to suit you. I bought a course 5-6 years ago and still use the thesis of that to what I trade today. It's different but based on it still and has evolved to suit me/the markets.
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

I've read *so* many books and have checked out *lots* of traders. It all leads to the same spiral of complexity. I can't even explain it.
u/sandradee_67 1 5 hours ago

Exactly this, it’s a lot of WORK. Most people don’t realize that. I work twice as hard in 1 hour of trading than I do in 8 hours at my job as an accountant. You have to be so focused and disciplined with no distractions.
u/Medical-Ad-3660 1 6 hours ago

Another 5000 hours you should get close to consistency.
u/thecolour_red 1 6 hours ago

I may get downvoted for suggesting this, but I suggest you get a mentor. I'm a successful trader and teaching my fiance who lives with me and her progress is really fast... She'd get nowhere close to the results she has if she tried doing it alone.
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

Yeah, easier said than done. Your wife is lucky!
u/thecolour_red 1 5 hours ago

Check out neoh young on YouTube he does 1on1's he's very good
u/Accurate-Exchange298 1 5 hours ago

You can start here :: I posted this a few days ago for beginners who want to learn about trading. Anybody charging money to teach is not he right person to go to . Some of it might seem complex, but the good part is that you have an accounting degree and that should be a plus to your learning curve. Fell free to reach out if you have any questions. https://www.reddit.com/r/CoveredCalls/comments/1vixrzu/a\_beginners\_primer\_for\_trading\_stock\_options/
u/xbrpa 1 5 hours ago

u/AskGrok tldr
u/AskGrok 1 5 hours ago

TL;DR: 35yo guy quit life for full-time trading 2.5yrs ago with 250k, logged 5k hours, still can't pick or stick to any strategy without overthinking himself into paralysis. Risk-averse, hates losses, wonders if he's just not built for it and should quit before blowing up. Wants a "start tiny and build" path that fits his brain. ^(what is this?)
u/dreddit15 1 5 hours ago

You don’t need the ability to come up with something in house, this is the most common mistake IMO most traders make. Let me give you a none trading example. You are stood at the start of the forest, and you need to make it to the other side. There are people all over telling you they know the way, they don’t but will take your money offering to guide you. You have a little machete, so you can either join these people and trust them or make you own way. Or, you look to the other side and notice that there is a team of thousands of men, with heavy machinery that are going to slice right through this forest. So do you follow these guys, who have supplies resources and knowledge to navigate this journey, or do you go left and take your chance? The markets are moved by serious money, not day traders, learn to read what big money is doing and jump on board. I don’t know how many times people need to hear this, But YOU CANNOT BEAT THE MARKET. Understand markets cycles, when they are trending and when they are not, understand the impact of news events on the markets and when to step aside. Absolutely nothing of any significance happens on a timeframe below 15m, chase candles all you want down there but it is irrelevant and that’s why you see people with ridiculous win rates losing money. Low risk, high reward. The less time you expose yourself to the market the more you preserve capital and allow your portfolio to grow. My personal opinion is anything over 5 trades a day means you don’t have a plan, I know most will disagree and that’s fine. But you are strategy hopping because you haven’t found what works, steps back, zoom out and look at the daily and hourly charts to understand what is happening with the instrument you are trading. When you do, it is extremely obvious where they are heading, so trade the trend and stop aiming for small wins. Follow smart money.
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. Following institutional money/buying attracts buying sounds great, I just don't know what to do with the information.
u/dreddit15 1 5 hours ago

What do you trade? Stocks, futures, options? With a portfolio of your size, I would have the majority in stocks and just use a portion to day trade.
u/37347 1 5 hours ago

You’re going to blow it up if you can’t stick to one strategy and have consistency
u/iLoot401ks 1 5 hours ago

The single most common advice I’ve read is that I need to find something that works/makes sense to me or my personality (which I still don't understand).
It's quite simple. Example: I don't like trading all day and I'm lazy af so sitting there identifying support/resistance and the ict mumble jumble is not for me. So I took the ORB strategy framework and turned tweaked it into a mechanical strategy within the timeframe of open-noon.
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

ORB is just an entry vehicle, not a strategy, so I don't understand what you mean.
u/iLoot401ks 1 5 hours ago

Yeah dude, with this comment, I cant help you lol. I don't think trading is for you my guy.
u/RemoraEdge 1 5 hours ago

You need a mentor. It’s likely the strategies you tried truly have no edge, or you are missing important pieces to make them work. Don’t compromise and say “probabilities say I don’t have too” that’s literally a license to gamble. There is no certainty in any single trade, but there is structure. They’re is logical decisions that you don’t second guess, you act decisively and accept. And until you can get to the point where you can reconcile what you see on the charts with something solid that you aren’t second guessing yourself. You shouldn’t trade with live capital
u/GHC663 OP 1 4 hours ago

I don't expect certainty, and it's the structure I can't find. And I'm definitely missing some pieces. I found edge once (with help), but it was based on stocks I couldn't short.
u/Jacob_Trader0 1 5 hours ago

dw the next 5,000 are a little easier.
u/RealStoicTrader 1 5 hours ago

Listen bro, I'm almost your age and in basically the same situation. I've been trading for 2.5 years with 5,000+ hours of screen time, so I can deeply understand your pain. I recently found my real edge, and what I realized is that all the trading advice and educational content can actually hold you back. For years, I kept hearing that scalping is hard and that you should trade higher timeframes. I tried it over and over, thinking I was doing something wrong. Every time, the market punished me. Then I realized my strategy has to be MY strategy. Something built from my own experience and personality. Once I stopped listening to everyone else, things finally started making sense. You need to figure out what fits YOU. Ask yourself: Are you comfortable holding trades all day? Can you sleep with an open position? Do you want to sit in front of charts for hours, or make $200-$300 and move on with your life? Personally, I want to make my money and get on with my day. I'm a scalper, I use EMAs, and my entire strategy was built from years of pain and experience. I'm not profitable yet either, but I finally know what works for me. After 5,000 hours, I think you're probably close to figuring yourself out too. Just cut out the noise and stop trying to trade like everyone else. Every day is a war.
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

*Are you comfortable holding trades all day? Can you sleep with an open position? Do you want to sit in front of charts for hours, or make $200-$300 and move on with your life?* Totally indifferent. If I found something viable, the specifics wouldn't matter to me. I have all the screen time in the world yet the noise is too loud. And 'stop trying to trade like everyone else' is conflicting. I'm not expecting to invent anything new. Congrats on finding something that works though!
u/MapoTofuCat 1 5 hours ago

Do you even journal? I just stuck with something and spend two years tweaking it. Now it’s green month every month
u/sigstrikes 1 5 hours ago

wrote a lot but you haven't really said anything specific about what you've tried. so what have you tried? at a minimum if you can start to identify what's been the worst that's a start to figuring out what's the best
u/GHC663 OP 1 5 hours ago

Context with what I've done so far might be useful but I left it out for simplicity. A lot of 'work' I've done is likely nonsense so I chose to leave it out and mention stocks.
u/genryou 1 5 hours ago

If you have been hopping strategy, surely you have find some commonality along this strat that is replicable with considerable success rate. Example from my personal experience, I started with learning 4H swing trade for Forex, then I learn Breakout Strategy for Gold, and then ORB trading for Indices. and fast forward today, I combined all that I learn and create my own 2M ORB strategy
u/beefnvegetables_ 1 5 hours ago

I’m in a similar situation. Just give up trading put everything in voo and vgt and keep saving buying shares and don’t sell til you retire.
u/MatureStudent1 1 5 hours ago

Watch the YT traders who stream every day. There are genuinely good traders out there. Then just learn what they do and refine it to your like.
u/Cool1998 1 5 hours ago

Try ChatGPT as a mentor and reverse engineer your thought process- if you don’t have someone you know is profitable as a mentor
u/ModeForJoe 1 5 hours ago

You could try an options/theta strategy: Tastytrade ftw here, and tastylive has lots of backtesting and research videos. It's very systematic and mechanical... it works because options are basically insurance, and the premiums you collect overstate the actual risk (volatility) you're protecting against. There's no way to "study" the market like it's some sort of PhD thesis to be solved. Best case scenario is do lots of backtesting, follow the trend, or follow market structure, or maybe try swing trading. What you won't do is call the top (or bottom)... before the 2008 GFC or the tech bubble burst, lots of publications were glazing the economy just a few months before the crash. You won't predict this, so don't even try, and the more you bet against momentum the more you lose. Letting it happen when it happens, then catching the middle third of the big downmove would be the best retail traders could hope for.
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