Here’s what I realized during my last hike over the mountains, that mountaineers and forex traders has a lot in common.

First mountaineers need tools to make the trip easier. You have a lot of things to carry and all of it must fit in your backpack. Only necessities are needed. Forex traders are the same thing. They need tools to get better trades.

But things gets a little nasty when mountaineers and traders fall into the trap of having too much of the needed things. Mountaineers who bring with them more than anything necessary will suffer the burden of carrying that to the top of the mountain. Just like forex traders suffer from analysis paralysis when there’s too much clutter and information.

In short, too much of something is bad for both.

I have seen mountaineers pack so much stuff in their bags to the point that they can not carry anymore. Stuff that they don’t need. It does defeat the purpose of the trip. They avail the services of “porters”. Which defeats the purpose of the activity. To survive using the bare essentials. They try to use money for their lack of physical fitness. For forex traders, this is sometimes the same. Newbie forex traders will gladly spend money on seminars that won’t help them be able to stand on their own. To survive. Just like a newbie mountaineer’s mistake. Paying money for the lack of experience. As if you could instantly learn how to trade.

Well, maybe you’re not focusing on the right things. Though paying someone to carry your stuff works. Is it the right thing to do? I mean, you went mountaineering probably to become fit right? Why not harden your body so you could enjoy the trip. Are you going to pay for someone to carry your stuff all the time? You don’t need someone to carry your stuff, you just need a fitter body or lesser stuff to bring.

Same goes for forex trading, are you really focusing on the right things? Even if your mentor taught you how to trade. I wonder how far could you go with that system. I doubt it, its not very far. Why? Because you paid someone to tell you how to trade. Its not something that would stick to you like a true experience of losing and winning on your own trades. Just like a body of a mountaineer won’t get tougher by choosing the easy way of paying someone to carry your stuff. And, do you really need 10 indicators on your chart? Tell me how that’s working for you.

A lot of good things in life, like mastery of skills or improvement of body and health, comes from the fact that you went into a lot of hardship to learn. This is not something you should ran away or “trick” yourself into. Thinking that someone, something or any outside force can teach you how to trade. It will not. “I can’t not trade, I need a mentor.” Well, maybe not. Maybe what you need is a little more experience…