Trading Psychology: What 5 Years in Markets Really Taught Me
A personal look at side hustles, AI, and what actually works.
Hi. For about five years now, I’ve been interested in trading, cryptocurrency, and making money online in general. What pushed me in this direction was the COVID crisis.
COVID changed the world. It clearly split life into “before” and “after”. Many people suddenly realized how fragile their so-called stable jobs really were. One moment you have income, routine, and plans — and the next moment everything disappears.
That’s when the idea becomes unavoidable: relying on a single source of income is risky.
I asked myself that same question and decided something had to change. What follows is not motivation, not promises of easy money, but a small piece of my real experience.
Can You Actually Make Money in Trading and Crypto?
Short answer — yes, it’s possible.
But make no mistake: this is not a walk in the park.
In terms of difficulty, I would compare it to getting a university degree. It takes time, patience, and continuous learning. I agree with the common idea that investing matters, regardless of the amount. Even small, regular investments can significantly improve your financial situation over time.
That said, let’s be honest:
👉 Clicking “invest” and waiting for magic to happen is not a strategy.
Yes, sometimes it works. Social media is full of success stories. But this is a classic case of survivorship bias — we only hear from the winners. In reality, for every success story there are thousands of silent failures and wiped-out accounts.
I’ll try to explain how things really work, in simple language, step by step.
What Actually Matters (From My Experience)
1. Psychology Comes First
The most important step is to decide how much you can afford to lose — without affecting your everyday life.
For example, if you can afford to lose $100 per month, then:
- set that amount aside,
- and mentally accept that this money no longer exists.
If you don’t do this, emotions will control your decisions — and emotional decisions almost always lead to losses.
Consistency is critical.
If you decide to invest 10% of your income each month, do it regardless of market conditions.
In the beginning, I wasn’t consistent. I made emotional purchases, lost money, lost confidence, stopped investing altogether. Only after a few years did I realize that psychology and consistency matter more than any strategy.
Today, I simply “cut off a slice of the pie.” I invest it and forget about it. Whether it brings profit or not no longer keeps me awake at night — because I already accepted the loss upfront.
2. Understanding Where Money Comes From
Markets are not money-printing machines.
I often compare markets to a marketplace. Someone buys, someone sells. If you make money, someone else loses it.
This applies to stocks and especially to crypto. Owning a coin or a stock does not guarantee that you’ll be able to sell it. There must always be a buyer.
Your profit is someone else’s loss.
And those with larger capital have far more power to influence price movements.
3. Critical Thinking Over Hype
This is especially important in crypto.
If you hear:
“This coin will go x1000 — invest $100 today and become a millionaire!”
— slow down.
Do your own research. Look for information from different sources. Ask critical questions. You can even ask tools like GPT to get a neutral assessment of an asset before investing.
Don’t follow the crowd. Ask yourself why the crowd is running there.
If an asset is aggressively promoted, chances are liquidity is drying up, and new buyers are needed so others can exit.
What I Recommend to Beginners
1. Define a Safe Budget
Decide how much you can invest (or lose) without lowering your standard of living. Sometimes that simply means skipping a daily coffee.
2. Start Simple
Look into ETF funds that have existed for 10+ years and show long-term growth. This helps you understand how markets behave with relatively lower risk.
If you’re interested in crypto, start with more established assets. Instead of active trading, consider staking or liquidity pools first.
Before trading real money, practice on demo accounts. Just remember: emotions only appear when real money is involved.
3. Be Clear About Your Goal
Ask yourself what you want:
- Passive income → regular investing and patience
- Active trading → serious time investment, learning, and strategy development
4. Consider Copy Trading (Carefully)
There are platforms that allow you to copy experienced traders. The idea is similar to investing in funds: you allocate capital and let others manage trades.
Examples include:
- 👉 Vantage — copy trading for forex and CFDs
Vantage Link - 👉 eToro — social trading and long-term investing
Etoro Link - 👉 Binance — crypto trading, staking, and copy trading
Binance Link
Start with small amounts. Research the platform:
- how long it has been operating,
- its reputation,
- transparency and risk controls.
Never blindly trust anyone with your money.
Final Thoughts
Yes, earning money in markets is possible.
But it requires time, discipline, and emotional control — even when copying other traders.
The most important things are psychology and strategy.
Once you make a decision, stick to it, regardless of noise, hype, or fear.
Disclosure
Some links on this page may be affiliate links. This does not increase your cost, but it helps support this project. I only mention platforms I personally explored or consider relevant.