The Price of Ambition: My Struggles and Lessons in Trading

One of the things people are scared of is failure. We all hope to embark on a journey of success or business without giving it a second thought. Since we are always optimistic, we forget to ask that particular question: "What if we fail?" How will life be after that? I think deciding on these two things might help prepare you for what’s to come and how you will pick yourself up after the outcome. While in school, I was eager to be financially capable of taking care of my well-being without depending on anyone, even my mom. So, I gave myself the task of finding a way to earn online legally. I started making some research online, and all I saw were these referral businesses, which I joined, even though I had no in-depth knowledge of them. I did it for a while until I realized they always used Peter to pay Paul. I had to put a stop to it and focus on something I could do without inviting anyone.

While scrolling through TikTok one day, I saw an ad about forex trading, and that was before I even joined crypto. I DM'd the person with the hope of knowing more about it, and I was added to a WhatsApp group where they were supposed to have a lecture, which they did for about 20-30 minutes. We were told to pay a certain amount of money for the advanced lecture, which would kickstart us. That kind of money was too much for me, and somehow, I just didn’t believe in handing out money when I could sense they wouldn’t teach us but would give us video links to learn from. So, I logged into YouTube and searched for videos on forex trading. After a couple of online lectures, I got stuck at the chart-reading part (technical analysis). The more I read about support and resistance with candlestick patterns, the more confused I became, until I joined another group where they taught us the technical analysis part in the simplest way.

After a while, I jumped from a demo account with wins to a real account, and that was when I knew forex is more than just trading. That’s when the actual struggle began, and like they say, success doesn’t just come easily. After putting in my first savings, reality hit me after I placed my first trade. It went my way at first; I saw the green light, but somehow, I was expecting more, and I didn’t even place my stop loss. All of a sudden, everything went red, and the hope of it coming back to my way became futile. I had to cancel the trade at a loss, waited for a while, and placed a new trade with a stop loss. It hit the stop loss before going my way. Before I knew it, emotions set in, and it felt like the market was toying with me. After a few trials, I decided to quit trading, thinking, “This isn’t my way.”

At that point, I regretted it because I lost the money I should have used for something else. So, I decided to stay away and also find other ways to earn and be financially free. Anytime I logged into TikTok, I would just see different trading strategies and how those guys were raking in dollars from multiple trading entries. I wished I were one of them, but I just had to find other ways. But am I really quitting trading for good? Big no. I find myself going back to trade anytime I have spare funds, and I learn one or two things every time I trade, hoping that I will start earning someday. Joining Hive was a dream come true because the platform was the first where I got to earn without putting in money but just time and effort. While trying to accumulate my earnings, I also got to try other investment opportunities on the platform, investing in Dapps and thriving alongside. But based on fear, I haven’t invested in some things I wish I could invest in because it might be a win or a loss in the long run, and I really don’t want that to happen.