Free tips cost me about eight months’ pay. Eventually, I stopped taking tips and started taking notes.
From the habit to the decision↓
The tip was free. The lesson wasn’t.
A closer look Illustrative example
The expensive click.
The idea didn’t change. My entry did.
Move the entry. See what changes.
Your entry100
Distance to boundary2points
Room to target4points
Entry as planned. The original distances hold.
Illustrative price distances only. The target is hypothetical; no probability, money at risk or trade outcome is shown.
Planned entry 100. Distance to boundary 2 points. Room to target 4 points.
Behind the ledgerPune → Mumbai → Queens
I audited everyone’s numbers. Except my own.
In 2018, I joined a group sharing free trading tips. A year and a half later, I was down about eight months of salary. Quite a price for “free.”
In 2020, I finally opened the spreadsheet. Not someone else’s numbers. Mine. Too many trades. Too much in fees. Profits cut short, losses left running.
I moved from Mumbai to Queens in 2022. Since 2023, trading has been my main work. The habit I kept from auditing? Check the numbers before believing the story.
