Why Most Traders Fail (and It’s Not the Strategy)

Let’s get real: 90% of traders fail. And here’s the part that most people don’t want to admit — it’s not because of the strategy.

There are tons of working strategies out there. I personally trade Mack’s Price Action Trading System (PATS), and it’s been the foundation of everything I do. But the strategy itself? That’s maybe 25% of what makes a trader successful.

What about the other 75%?

• 25% is sticking to the rules of the strategy.

• 50% is how you handle your own psychology.

That’s the killer: psychology.

Trading forces you to face yourself. Greed. Fear. The need to be right. The impulse to move targets or widen stops when you’re in a trade. The temptation to trade when you know you shouldn’t. That’s the real challenge.

“A person with good self-discipline but a poor trading method will outperform a person with poor self-discipline but the best trading method currently available.” — Larry Levin

I’ve seen it in my own journey. The days I stuck to my rules — even on losing trades — I felt more confident than the days I broke the rules and happened to come out ahead. That’s not real progress. That’s gambling.

If you’re still chasing the “perfect” system, let me save you some time: stop. Start mastering yourself. That’s where the holy grail actually lives.