End-of-Year Trading Self-Analysis
As you know, it’s the end of the year. That means it’s a great time to take stock of your trading performance over the past year and be honest with yourself about what you did right and what you did wrong. As a trader, I like to take the last week or two of the year off. I don’t trade during this time at all. Instead, I use this time to hangout with my family more and also to reflect on my past year’s trading performance and tweak my trading plan for the upcoming year. I believe every trader will benefit by taking a similar approach into the year’s end.
Here are some tips to help you end this trading year on a high note and get yourself primed and ready for all the new opportunities the market will offer in the new year.
Take some time to reflect on your trading performance
I find that taking a week or two off from the market can often by the exact ‘cure’ that many traders need to refuel their objectivity and ‘logic tanks’ to help them get back on track. After all, if this year has been marked by huge emotional ups and downs in the market for you, as well as huge trading account ups and downs (these things usually go hand-in-hand), there’s nothing better than just taking some time away from the charts for a while.
Whilst you have some down-time where you’re not actively analysing the markets and looking for trades, you will be in the right mental state to take an objective look at your past year’s trading performance. The key is to be honest with yourself about yourself. In other words, ask yourself some tough questions and give yourself some honest answers to those questions. If you blew out your trading account this year, take some responsibility and ask yourself what you did to cause it.
It’s easy to blame the market or your broker or a ‘tip’ you got from some ‘guru’ on the internet. But, usually you are the one to blame for your trading losses, and until you realize and admit that, you will never move on and begin profiting in the market.
Ask the hard questions to improve your trading performance
Here’s an exercise for you to do that will help you see what you did wrong in and what you need to fix to improve your trading in the new year. I want you to get a pen and paper and actually do this, or it won’t work.
Answer the following questions about your trading over the last year, answer them honestly:
- How often did I over-trade? Meaning, how often did I take trades that weren’t obvious confluent price action setups?
- What time frame were most of my trades on? Did I have a lot of losing trades from trading short time frames where there’s more ‘noise’ and less meaningful price action?
- How often did I interfere with my live trades unnecessarily, resulting in a loss?
- Did I manage my risk properly on every trade or did I over-leverage my account and risk too much, resulting in larger than desired losses?
- Did I stick to my trading strategy / trading plan or did I basically just gamble in the market?
- Do I even have an effective trading strategy that I have mastered?
These shouldn’t be the only questions you ask yourself, they are a good start though. You should definitely add to this list as you see fit. Once you have your list of questions, print them out and then write in your HONEST responses below them. Take all your honest responses and put them together and you’ll know the main things you did wrong in your trading. From that, you can formulate your plan of attack for next year and decide how you will move forward without committing those same trading mistakes you made.
Prepare for the new trading year ahead
If you answered the above questions honestly, you now have a good idea of the things you need to focus on changing in order to improve your trading performance in the new year. A lot of people come into trading thinking it’s going to be something they excel at very quickly. However, trading success typically comes as a result of trial and error, over time. Eventually, after making enough mistakes, and making many of the same mistakes over and over, you either ‘figure it out’, or you give up altogether. That’s the general progression of any person’s journey as a trader.
The point of this end-of-year trading self-analysis is to try and progress in your trading by doing some simple trial and error. “Did my trading approach this year work well? If not, how can I fix it? What did I do right, and what did I do wrong?”
For those of you who are dedicated to ‘figuring it out’ and not to giving up, you need to listen to what I am trying to tell you in this article and my other forex trading articles, because the insight and wisdom I am sharing is the result of things that I have learned on my own personal trading journey. Over my 14 plus years of trading, I’ve literally experienced it all, and I’ve done the trial and error and I’ve learned from my mistakes. This blog is a testament to that and I hope that over the course of this year the lessons I’ve shared with you have both helped you avoid losing money unnecessarily in the market and gotten you on the road to trading success.
It’s not a quick or easy journey for most, but if you want it bad enough, you can become a successful trader. Just be honest with yourself by honestly answering the ‘hard questions’ I discussed above, and never assume you know it all, because you don’t. No one does, trading isn’t about ‘knowing it all’, it’s about picking an effective trading strategy like the price action method I teach in my trading course and having the patience to stick with it by not over-trading or over-leveraging your account. If you do that, you’re trading performance in the near year will be vastly better than it was in the prior year.
Happy New Year and Cheers to the fresh start and new trading opportunities that the new year will surely bring.
– Nial Fuller
Hello, Nial.
Great article Nial, I’m really enjoying being part of this trading site. With each of your articles, I’ve gotten on the road to trading success.
Thank you very much. Happy New Year…
Good Article.The Market will not change in 2015,likewise the Brokers will remain the same.The only thing you can change is YOU!.By changing your thoughts about what is possible in the Market,you will make 2015 profitable.Compliments
Yes Nial. Very true.
Take stock. Analyse. Rectify the mistakes.
Nial,
First of all thank you for your dedication to expending your knowledge and helping me grasp understanding of the market.
Second: I have found the course is not a one time read; then I got it. Each time I review the material I hit the market and have a new weapon that puts smart trades in my folio.
Have a prosperous 2015. I look for your articles knowing there are great pieces of knowledge hidden inside.
I appreciate the quality of the content on your website and the insightful nature of your articles. Thanks for being a beacon of real knowledge
From the bottom of my heart I thank you for rekindling my hope in Forex trading. You are really a genius. I wish you a new year of greater reward.
thanks happy New Yeary
Hello Nial
Thanks for all the very much explanatory lessons you posted on here, they have really helped me in my trading journey. beginning of the year wasn’t good but I ended the year on a high all thanks to you and your great lessons. I hope this new year would be a good one for you, me and everyone that visits LTTTM. Happy New year to you Nial
Happy New Year dear Nial !
Happy New year and many thanks to you and the team
Its good that i have your article read. I am one of those that the article is meant for. I most say this because i am a victim of over-trading and did not follow the company rules these as hurt my seriously that i am refunding my account but thank God for the lessons learnt and your articles that has been my aid. I will stick to your rules and that of my company’s.Thanks i truly enjoy your articles .
Advance Happy New Year!!!
I’ve never seen or heard of any genuinely selfless trading coach like you before. I lost enormously before knowing you; I lost less after knowing and ignoring you. I hope to start profiting in 2015 as I start to listen to you and follow your guidance. Wishing you all the best for the new year.
Rafa
Mery christmas and happy new year,you are my mentor.
Happy new year and many many thanks to you.
Since I bought your course my trading system improved a lot.
Wishing you and your family a very healthy and prosperous
New Year 2015.
Alf Garcia.
Dear Nial,
The best thing I did in 2014 was to sign up with you. Learning a lot from your sincere insight and wisdom.
Happy New Year to you and your family
Kiki
Thanks Nial, for valuable tips, happy new year
Dear Prof. Nial, Thank You so very Much for your constant and consistent teachings
which has been a great beacon of direction in this Trading journey, as well as your daily
analysis.
Merry Christmas and and great New year to your family.
Merry Xmas nail, I am already reflecting. Happy 2015 in advance see u then.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Nial!
Hi Nial
It is a good idea to reflect on your trades at the end of the year. Unlike you, I was just starting to get a grip on my trading in the last few weeks. I did my best trades. I missed so many opportunities earlier in the year, but I have reviewed the trends over and over, which is why I felt I was starting to “see” the chart better. Looking forward to keeping this momentum going in the new year.
Thanks so much for your help and support in 2014.
Happy New Year!
Ronnie
Thank you very much Nial ! .Wish you a happy NewYear !!!
Greetings of the season,
Thanks Nial
I think a self examination is timely. Great write up.
Cheers
Thanks Nial for another great year,happy new year……
Thanks a trillion for your tremendous contribution towards my trading career. You are indeed my model, mentor and coach. Merry Christmas and a favour – filled 2015 to you and your family.
Thank you for your guidance, it was an interesting year, getting better slowly , there is a lot more to trading than just getting in and out of trades. emotions, discipline, are by far the most important elements in becoming a successful trader. All the best for the new year.
NIAL “Wish you & your Family,” Merry Xmas and Happy New Year”
Thanks a lot Nial, it is addressed clearly. Success and failure lies within us, if we need to change our life we can not do the same mistakes all over again. Because same input always produces same output. Trading success only will come when you learn a lesson from your past mistake. The costliest mistake anyone ever do in a life is doing the same mistake again.
Thanks Nial for your great articles, you are inspiration for lot of people like me, keep on growing and please continue to produce more articles like this very often. May God bless you and your family, have a happy holidays and healthy, happy, wealthy and prosperous new year 2015.
Arun.
Yuletide felicitations young Nial. It’s 2 yrs since i became a member and almost 3 since i first contacted you. Sorry i missed you on the Gold Coast this time last year. Hopefully i’ll be able to catch one of your live seminars in London in 2015 and meet some other LTTTM members?
Long flight!
The best thing I did in 2014 was to sign up with you. The worst thing. Not doing it sooner.
Thanks Niall. I have learnt so much from your programmes and I am no youngster (62)
Your course, articles, trade set up are extremely genuine and mostly helpful. I joined you 3 months back after loosing a huge amount of money using low time frames and indicators. Your course has changed my trading approach and equity curve for the better. Hope to do well in 2015 . Enjoy festive season.
thanx 4 yours life changing suggestion
Nial, I am an admirer of you, just because you are genuinely trying to help the ordinary retail traders. All your articles and free stuffs themselves are a great revelation to new traders. Wishing you Happy Christmas and Happy New Year.
hi Mr. Nial & happy new year in advance. i almost read your articles in your web & i really like it because it’s too much interesting.
merry christmas and many thanks for your enlighten
ing lessons.
France
Dear N. Fuller,
All said is TRUTH at all indeed.
Wish you all well in the coming new year.
kl ni
Thank you, Nial!
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and your family :)
Thanks Nial , God bless you,have a merry Christmas and new year , with you still around , I will definitely be a better trader in 2015 , enjoy your holidays with your family
Thank you very much Nial. Merry Christmas and wish you a happy and prosperous new year…
great advise Sir. Lets make it fresh in 2015.
Thanks Nial. Am reflecting on my trading results thus far this year…
well said.you are Forex genius. love you nial
Thank you my coach. merry xmas and wishing you a successful new in advance
WELL SAID ..NIAL..YOU ARE FOREX-TRADING -GENIOUS…HAPPY NEW YEAR AND PROSPEROUS TRADING YEAR….