What Have I Learned after 15 Years in the Market?

I am a big fan of investing on the stock market and trading. I’ve been doing it since 2010, in fact. I have read dozens of books on the subject. What have I learned?

“I know that I know nothing”

I should start this article by saying that I have learned very little. The quote “I know that I know nothing” fits me perfectly. Although no, wait, I did learn something: humility for the market. It is the market that can do what it wants with us. It can reward us lavishly, but it can also sap and sap our psyche, rob us of our dreams, illusions and hopes of knowing anything about it. I have learned so much in these 15 years.
Doesn’t sound very optimistic, does it? Well, because where are the profits, where is the passive income, where is the villa, where is the yacht, where is the own plane?

Let’s not kid ourselves, such things are something we can watch ourselves rollerblading on Instagram or some other social media platform.

Shaped by investing and trading

But, as I mentioned, investing and trading have shaped me as a person. Today I have a psyche as strong as ever.

I learned one more thing: a plan of action. If you want be successful in investing or trading, you need to prepare a plan of action. This will protect you from disaster (both in your portfolio and mentally). Before, I underestimated this and thought it was okay to act loosely, spontaneously. You can’t if you want to achieve any satisfactory results. Or at least not lose.

Strategies from books do not work on the market

I learned one important thing from the books I read: what is written in them doesn’t really work. Why? Because each author has his own strategies for doing things. But the problem is that he describes stories that have taken place. And they happened at a different time and under different conditions. You don’t know if these strategies worked, for example, at the time the book was written or at the time you read the book. That’s why you shouldn’t imitate book authors, but look for your own path. And once you find it, you need to constantly test it, improve it and adapt to the market, which is changing.

Let’s also pay attention to the fact that people don’t want to share their knowledge for free. And if they do share something, then…. apparently it doesn’t work anymore. It’s the same as with all the Instagram gurus who offer us great ways to get rich. All you have to do is sign up for training. Only if everyone does the same thing after a given training, then no one will make money from it anymore. A great example is the business on Amazon KDP (selling coloring books and simple books). At one point it made a scourge of training on this topic. The result is that it is very hard to make money in this market, because the supply of booklets far exceeds demand.

No one sells what works

Going back to investments, no one sells for nothing what works, because it will make competition for itself. I know, in a moment you will hear from people who will say that the market is so huge that strategies from books can work. Sure, maybe they can, but we don’t know for how long, because everyone has access to such books. And statistics make it clear that more than 80% of people investing lose in the market. I’ll jokingly ask: how about those who don’t read these books are losing out?

The conclusion? Let’s look for our own paths, let’s not look for the Golden Grail, and is we notice that a particular strategy we have developed for ourselves works, then let’s eat with small spoons. Otherwise, the market will verify us anyway.