Earlier today I tried something, and it didn’t work at all. Was it embarrassing? Not necessarily, but it was definitely weird. Let me tell you what happened, and discuss 3 lessons on how to learn from your mistakes.
Here’s what happened.
Earlier today I wanted to do a Facebook live and a YouTube Live showing everybody my trading routine, and I planned it out this morning.
I had this grand plan. I sent an e-mail out to everybody, and I thought: you know what? This would be really cool if I could broadcast it not only to Facebook, but also to YouTube as well.
So this morning I did my research, right, and tried to figure out how to do this. I found a software that would allow me to do it, and I remembered a friend of mine telling me about this software.
Well, I should’ve checked my facts because I don’t think that he ever did!
Long story short, I was all prepared and ready to go live. I pushed the button, went live simultaneously on YouTube and Facebook and start talking, and everything seems to be going well.
However, it turns out that the minute I shared my charts, it sounded like I was in a bar because here’s what happened.
Somehow, there was a feedback or an echo, so, one device picked up from another or YouTube picked up from Facebook… Doesn’t matter. It was a mess.
Now, here is where it got really worse.
I could not see the comments. And all of you were fantastic and said, “Hey, we have a problem with the sound,” but I couldn’t see them.
There are three lessons here on how to learn from your mistakes.
And they all relate to trading… Because ultimately, you’re probably here because you want to learn how to trade, but every now and then, life teaches us a lesson that we can use in trading.
The first thing I’ve learned from this is: Don’t give up
I mean, yes, this was awkward… and I know I might have annoyed some of you because I didn’t respond to your comments.
This was definitely awkward, and I think the worst thing for me to do right now is give up, yet this is what I see some people do.
I mean, they try something and if it doesn’t work right away, they give up.
This is a lesson that I’ve learned in life. Learn from my mistakes.
Trust me on this one.
I have had many failures in life. I’m turning 50 this year in November.
But yeah, I’ve had my fair share of mistakes. The important thing is don’t give up. Keep pursuing your dreams or whatever you plan to do. Continue to learn from your mistakes.
Second thing that I’ve learned is: Test, test, test!
So this morning, I did a quick test here and it seemed everything worked fine, but I must honestly say, I shortcut the test. I did not do it with my team as I should have.
This brings me back to trading. When I meet traders at our live events, sometimes they tell me, “You know what? Whatever I do here, it doesn’t work.”
And I say, “How long have you tested the idea?” “Oh, you know what I looked at it for a day, and now I’m ready to trade it live…”
It doesn’t matter what you do in life. It definitely helps to first thoroughly test it.
Don’t overdo it, but this morning, the test that I did was definitely way too short. The same goes for trading. Learn from my mistakes.
I always recommend that you practice any trading strategy for at least 40 trades because then you get some ideas of how it works. You make some mistakes during these 40 trades, but you learn from these mistakes.
The third thing that I learned from this lesson is: Let’s do it again!
If at first you don’t succeed, do it again, right?
I mean, learn from your mistakes, and don’t give up.
Sometimes with traders, they place a trade. It doesn’t work out. The first trade is a losing trade. They give up, or maybe they trade for a week or two weeks, maybe even for a month.
You see, trading is a marathon, not a sprint.
And so, this is what I learned from it. Think about it. If we give up as soon as we experience an obstacle… My gosh, we would never even walk.
I mean, kids… How often do they fall down before they can walk? How often do they fall off a bike before you can ride the bicycle? As we get older, it seems that we get more impatient.
And if something doesn’t work right away, we give up.
So, I think sometimes it helps us to think like a kid, right?
When you want to do something, whether it’s swimming, riding a bicycle, running or playing sports – whatever it is, you may not always be great at first, but you tried.
You practiced. You didn’t give up and eventually you got better.
Isn’t that the truth? Does this resonate with you?
Learn from your mistakes and keep going!
Recap: Three quick lessons on how to learn from your mistakes.
- Don’t give up after it doesn’t work the first time. Learn from your mistakes and carry on.
- Be prepared and test, test, test! No matter what you do in life. Here I shortcut the testing and it bit me in the butt.
- If it didn’t work the first time, do it again. Start over. Move on. Shake it off. This is why I decided to share this with you an hour after it happened.
I hope you enjoyed this article on how to learn from your mistakes. If you’d like to learn more on how I trade, visit mytradingroutine.com now.
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