Shadowing Practice: Why 90% of Traders Fail (And It's Not What You Think) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Everybody says that 90 % of day traders fail.

You've heard it, you've seen it, you've read it, it's all over the internet.

YouTube videos will try to convince you that it's

because of some indicator you're not using or because you're not using their strategy.

And to be honest, y 'all, that's a lie.

Like that's just not the whole truth.

And I'm tired.

My name is Sierra and I have lost over six figures day trading, but I'm proud to say that I've made over a million dollars day trading.

One thing I would always do is I would take every single loss again

if it could still get me back to where I am now.

and fail is not because I was not using this strategy.

It wasn't because I wasn't using this indicator.

The real 90 % has nothing to do with that.

So let me put you guys on to why most traders fail and how you guys can actually persevere.

To be honest, when I think about my trading journey, I really shouldn't be here.

Like I really shouldn't.

I'm going to make a separate video about my trading journey and how I got here.

But like the mistakes I want to tell you guys about, I made so many mistakes, but I think I was just delusional off the record, y 'all.

I do feel full -time day trader.

The reason why I say that is just because every day is not guaranteed.

Like, you could be up one day, you could have the best setup, the best strategy, the best everything, and then all of a sudden something happens with news, takes the stock, and now you lost your trade.

Nothing to do with you or your credibility or your setup or your understanding.

That's just a part of trading.

And that's why I say it's not about the strategy.

I've been a part of the 90 % and I've also been the 10%.

So I feel like I know a little thing or two to be able to tell you guys how it

the whole bunch of videos on how to trade, how to do this, how to take an entry, how, how, how.

But we need to talk about the why because as somebody who has a discord, right?

I've had a discord now for two years.

I've been trading for five years.

And so I have seen in the last two years, a lot of people come and go in trading.

I've mentored a lot of people.

And I can say a lot of people that I've mentored might not be trading today.

Not because I suck.

I don't think I'm a bad teacher or anything.

But trading is just, it takes a lot of people out.

I can admit

gonna get here and tell you guys that it's

because you're not using emas you're not using this indicator you're not using this strategy you're not waiting for this

and honestly i think that's very important like having a strategy

is very important i have a strategy to be able to

trade however the problem isn't the strategy it's you it's you like it's it's actually you

and the hard part is is you can't outwork you you

can't outwork your mind it is trading psychology psychology is something

that i'm so heavy on as a trader because you would have the best strategy and mess up up and lose everything.

It has nothing to do with the charts, nothing to do with your setup, but everything to do with your mind.

In my discord, we literally host psychology zooms every single Monday because they're that important.

I'm going to give you guys some personal examples

and let me know if you guys have ever been in the trade like this.

There'll be times, right, where let's say I'm in a trade and I'm up 30%.

And for me, I'm like, you know what?

Green is green, right?

But because it's moving so fast, I'm thinking to myself, okay, 30 could be 40.

So maybe it becomes

only up 20 % and I'm like dang it used to be 30 %

so now I'm sitting here and I'm holding the trade

because I'm sitting there and holding on the profits

that I used to have so then it goes down to 10 %

and I'm like dang I still gotta hold it

because I used to be up 20 %

so at least let me take something instead of closing the trade

and taking the little bit

that I'm getting I'm holding the trade now I'm negative on

my trade now I'm down 10 % keep in mind my

stop loss is always 20 % I'm down 10 % instead of just cutting it

and taking a little bit of green that I should have gotten I'm like, man, I don't want to be red today.

So if it just goes back green, then I'll close it all together.

So then it goes back green, right?

So I'm like, okay, cool.

I'm green.

I'm fine.

But I don't close the trade because now I'm getting greedy again.

And I'm like, you know what?

I actually was up 10%.

I was up 20%.

I was up 30%.

So let's get back to there.

So now I'm still keeping the trade.

And then it goes down to 20%.

Oh no. So now it's at my stop loss, but I'm in disbelief.

I can't believe that I lost the trade because I was just up.

So instead of following my stop loss, I hold the trade.

Now I'm down 30%.

Now I'm down 40%.

And it's a cycle.

Mind you, this could have all been prevented if I would have said, you know what, I'm happy for the little bit that I'm getting.

and it's up here, right?

There is no way, there is no way, unless you're doing insider trading and you're going to prison, that you would know to enter right at the low point of the day,

it closed at the high of the day.

So as traders, our goal is really to get a piece of the daily pie.

Do you know what I'm trying to say?

If you were to think of the market as one big, pie, right?

I can't eat the whole pie in one day.

I just can't do that.

It's not realistic for me.

But if I could just get the stock from here to here, if I could just get cues from

you know here to here or here to here something like

that that's fine the problem is people would be like man i got a problem with with exiting too early

but here's the reality of exiting too early right

100

if you were looking at a chart

101

and let's say you get nervous to the point where you're

102

like you know what i don't want to be in this

103

trade anymore like you know i don't see the chart i know what i'm doing

104

and you exit then you didn't exit too early you followed your plan for

105

that time you get what i'm saying like

106

if your plan was i'm scared i can't be in the trade any longer until able to overcome

107

that that's the best you've got give yourself some grace you're never i promise you

108

if you every single day are taking trades from the lowest

109

low point to the highest high point you're going to jail they're investigating you

110

so you might as well just take the little bit

111

that you're getting and that sounds like a really crazy thing to say like oh be grateful

112

but like seriously like you cannot push the charts beyond what

113

they're willing to give you let me give you guys another story right i had a student

114

and i tell this story all the time i asked her for permission

115

but a student who had started with like $1 ,200

116

and over the course of like a couple months she was able to take her $1 ,200 up to $18 ,000.

117

The reason why $18 ,000 I remember and why it's

118

so significant is

119

because she told me she was like you know what I'm gonna withdraw money at $20 ,000

120

and I always tell my students I'm like trading is super fun I love trading

121

but I have bills to pay okay like I'm not out here trading for sport for fun

122

and games for hoopla like I'm gonna make sure I'm her like, hey, withdraw some money, withdraw some money.

123

She was like, no, like it's fine.

124

I'll withdraw when I hit 20.

125

Okay, whatever.

126

Cool.

127

So then she has to 18K and for some reason, she's just overly feeling herself.

128

Disregards her strategy, right?

129

Because when you have strategy, when you have risk management, you understand I only put this much of my account into each trade or I don't take trade after this time.

130

I don't take this many contracts.

131

You have a system.

132

So So when she had 18K,

133

she thought, oh, if I just put 17K into a trade, then if I could just make 50 % of that, then I'm going to make so much more money and da -da -da.

134

In the span of two trades, she lost her account all the way back down to like $2 ,000.

135

Because not only did she full port her trades, which is poor psychology, but in addition to that, she did not honor her stop loss

136

because she was too busy thinking about how much money she

137

could make from a trade instead of thinking about how much money she could lose.

138

make 20 % of 17K, but are you willing to lose 20 % of 17K?

139

That's the problem that I see a lot of traders do and why they fail is because they also, they scale up way too fast.

140

So they'll take trades, right?

141

And they get caught up in, if I could just trade with this much money, if I could just trade with a thousand dollars, if I just make 20%, I made $200.

142

$200 is great.

143

If I can make $200 a day, I'm happy.

144

I'm turned, I can get food.

145

I can go to TJ Maxx.

146

I can do what I want to do with $200 a day, are you okay with on the downside losing $200 a day?

147

It's very easy to sit and plan and think about the upside

148

and how much money I can make and what I could do, but instead people don't think about the downside to sizing with that much money.

149

Another psychological trading issue we see is people don't trust themselves.

150

I see a lot of my students still find amazing setups

151

and because they've maybe taken a loss before or because maybe something hasn't played out, they'll be like, trade and they missed out on an amazing setup

152

that they were able to spot have you guys done

153

that drop a comment down below at some trading mistakes

154

that you guys have made

155

because i feel like the day trading community tries to make it seem like it's all fun

156

and games and blitz and glam and every day the stock's just going up

157

and we're just doing so great and that's fine and all

158

but we make mistakes too i made mistakes i'm five years in i make mistakes sometimes i over leverage

159

if i'm having a bad day sometimes i may hold a

160

stock a trade though a little bit too long sometimes i

161

not a robot if i was a robot

162

if i was some ai trading bot that would be an entirely different situation

163

but because i'm human i make mistakes too so

164

if you guys made any mistakes leave a comment down below

165

so we can all sit and then hug about it here are three key things

166

that i feel like actually kill the 90 of traders number one is you're trading your emotions

167

and not your setup being able to be a successful trader

168

is being able to see the same thing trade it rinse and repeat finding something different to trade.

169

It's not about changing up anything about your system.

170

It's about having a repeatable system.

171

That's why I personally consider myself a simple trader.

172

Like my strategy is not the craziest thing in the world

173

because I think some of that can repeat every single day if the trade permits.

174

For example, I see this pattern.

175

You have a lot of overconfidence.

176

You have a green day, right?

177

Which produces that overconfidence.

178

So the next day you size up some more.

179

Then you have a red day.

180

Then you're like, man, let me just size down.

181

Let me do this.

182

Next thing you know, you have another green day.

183

She's like, man, so now I'm going to put more into the trade.

184

Now you're risking more.

185

It's like you're fluctuating.

186

You're not seeing the same thing.

187

You are changing how you trade based off of your emotions.

188

Now the setup.

189

Losses are a part of trading.

190

That's just it.

191

up every single day the same strategy every single day okay

192

if I lose a trade it's going to be

193

because a stock reversed on me

194

which I can't control I can't move the markets it may be

195

because I may not have missed something sometimes I may have not seen a zone

196

but I try to do my due diligence on that

197

if I lose a trade I'm gonna assume

198

that you know what I'm not gonna sit here

199

and say oh I got to go find a new strategy

200

now I got to start sizing up now I got to change this

201

if my strategy is try it up true and tested improvement

202

if I lose a trade then oh well I can't control if a stock just but volume is dropped, now we're consolidating.

203

Oh, well, okay, cool, I can't control that.

204

So I'm not gonna let that dictate the next trade that I take.

205

The problem that I see with a lot of people is that they let their past trades dictate their future trades.

206

Because you lost in the past, now you're gonna operate this way tomorrow.

207

Because you won today, now you're gonna operate this way tomorrow.

208

It has to be uniform, it has to be a system.

209

The 10 % of traders who do make it, it's not that they don't feel emotions, it's not that they don't feel anything, just don't act on them and let them make decisions for their trading.

210

Like I was saying earlier, point number two is you're risking too much because you want it too bad.

211

Again, it's easy to think of if I put this much money in and I'll be able to make this much, but you're not considering how much money you would be losing.

212

People oversize because they're chasing a number.

213

Oh, I need to make 5k this week to pay my rent and pay my bills.

214

They take a setup that they would normally pass on because they don't want to feel like, oh my gosh, here, but hey,

215

if that's not your setup right here, don't trade it.

216

The size of your position should be determined by what you're able to lose without flinching, not what you need to make.

217

Number three, I really feel like has to do with timing, but it's just not having the patience to wait for your setup setup.

218

Most losses don't come from bad setups.

219

They come from forced setups.

220

Like let's say you open the chart, you don't see your setup, but you're just itching to take a trade anyways.

221

So then you end up hallucinating something that's not even there.

222

I tell my students all the time in my discord, I'm like, look y 'all like be mindful that as each minute goes on, as you're looking at a chart, I feel like you start to get a little delusional.

223

You know what I'm saying?

224

You start to hallucinate a bit.

225

Like you'll see it, you'll see a chart consolidating and you'll be like, not a double top.

226

Don't trade things that look like your setup.

227

Make sure it's your actual setup.

228

The truth is the market gives you the setup when it wants to, not when you want it to.

229

That 10 % of traders, they can sit on their hands for three days and not touch a button.

230

How long could you go without trading?

231

Because I believe that as a trader, it's as important to know when not to trade as it is to know when to trade.

232

Keep it above with y 'all.

233

A lot of the trading gurus, a lot of the discords, and again, I know I have a discord, so this may come off as super tone deaf, but I feel like a lot will sit here and try to sell you a strategy.

234

They will sell you an indicator.

235

They will sell you an ebook.

236

And they'll be like, this is why you're losing your trades because you're not trading like me because you're not doing this.

237

But I think it's psychology.

238

I really truly believe that it's because of your trading psychology, why people fail.

239

You can have the best strategy, the best setup.

240

The market could be dropping for hours.

241

But if you're hesitant, if you're As a trading guru,

242

I couldn't fix that for you.

243

Some dude who you just paid $5 ,000 for a mentorship program, he can't fix that for you.

244

You can't sell that.

245

So nobody talks about it.

246

If you're watching this and you're like, okay, well, you're saying all this, but what's your strategy though?

247

That's the whole point.

248

I don't have magic.

249

I'm not a magic person.

250

I don't have a magic strategy.

251

I know how to keep myself disciplined.

252

Your strategy, this is going to sound super crazy.

253

Please don't quit me and cancel me for this.

254

But hear me out when I say this.

255

insane strategies.

256

At the end of the day, I feel like if you're green and you're making money, then oh well.

257

Like that's your system.

258

If your strategy is take calls every time your dog, Sniffles, okay, cool, fine.

259

But even with the little sniffle strategy, if you don't know how to get this together, please don't have that as a strategy though, like for real.

260

I'm not gonna say I hate some of y 'all's strategies, with some I'm like, There is no magic to trading.

261

The only way that I believe that someone could confidently sell you a strategy and be like, yeah, this works 100 % of the time is if that strategy alone moved the market.

262

It does not matter what I put on these charts right here.

263

I could put 15 lines and 30 indicators and circle things

264

and all these everything and that is not going to move the market.

265

Our job

266

saying it's not

267

because oh i paid 10k for somebody's mentorship six thousand dollars

268

eight thousand dollars now i'm guaranteed the market owes you nothing

269

the market does not care about you it's not about

270

that i'm telling y 'all this

271

because i care as somebody who does again like i say

272

i have a discord i deal with people all day i

273

see people i see traders i talk to people who are getting frustrated

274

when i ask people hey why do you feel like you've been this losing streak are you hesitating?

275

Are you over leveraging?

276

Are you being too greedy?

277

Like what's, going on i taught myself how to trade and

278

that was really hard

279

because i feel like a lot of these lessons i learned through losing money unfortunately

280

but you know it is it is what it is

281

if you guys choose to find a mentor

282

or a teacher whether that's me i'd love to have y

283

'all we talk about psychology every monday every day in zoom calls but even

284

if it's not me like find somebody who really emphasizes what's going on with you as a trader

285

because again a strategy is never going something that can tell you, hey, don't take this trade and that'll save you some money.

286

Trading is not just signals.

287

It's not just, oh, calls above here or puts below here.

288

That's predatory.

289

That's not creating any type of independent trader.

290

If I had a Discord and all I sold you was signals, calls here, puts here, how would you know when the setup wasn't good?

291

All you knew was calls above.

292

You didn't know to check volume.

293

You didn't know to check for levels.

294

You didn't know to check how you were feeling that day.

295

You didn't know that.

296

All you knew was calls enter here.

297

on repoed you know what i'm saying anyways like i was

298

saying y 'all strategy is not the problem you are once

299

you fix you once you get together up here then you can start to see the work

300

if you're 90 right now that's okay i was too the

301

good news is you can move from 90 to 10 you need to work on yourself

302

and how you see the charts how you see your mind how you operate in taking trades

303

if this hit you if this resonated with you if this was something that you were like you know what yeah

304

way please drop a like subscribe to the channel um

305

if you guys have any questions about trading at all like

306

i said please leave them down in the comments below i love interacting with you guys

307

if you guys want to join the discord we do live

308

trading every day we do pre -market analysis we do post

309

-market recaps this is important to know what happened we do

310

psychology zooms every monday we have study groups every single day

311

we have community we're even having an in -person conference in

312

july you guys are seeing this before july super excited we're gonna have a crystal ball it's called

313

suit

314

and gown it'll be super nice we're gonna have a conference

315

on saturday have some mixers have a cookout it'll be a good time my biggest thing is i love community

316

because trading at the end of the day is an individual sport

317

so it's only you entering and exiting so why not make it fun

318

if you guys have anything you want to know trading related life related please leave it down below

319

and i will take into consideration for my next video thank

320

you guys for watching i will see you guys in the next video have an amazing rest of your day

321

and happy learning

✨ Recommend Video

237 sentences

12-Month Blueprint for Opening Your Own Successful Barbershop (The Shop Owner's Mindset)

Business EnglishWorking Adults

567 sentences

I Cheated Until the Casino Banned Me

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will enhance your English listening and speaking skills by practicing with a YouTube video transcript that discusses the challenges faced by day traders. This transcript provides an insightful look into the psychology of trading, emphasizing the importance of mindset over mere strategies. As you engage with the material, you will develop your ability to recognize spoken English nuances and improve your pronunciation through shadowing techniques. By the end of this lesson, you'll not only grasp essential trading concepts but also elevate your English proficiency, making your learning journey even more effective.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Indicator: A statistical measure used by traders to analyze market trends.
Strategy: A plan devised to achieve a specific goal in trading.
Psyche: The mental and emotional factors that influence trading decisions.
Disciple: A follower or student of a teacher, leader, or philosopher, especially in trading contexts.
Setup: The arrangement of elements in a trade that help inform decisions.
Persevere: To continue in a course of action despite difficulties or setbacks.
Zooms: Online meetings or discussions, often used in learning contexts.
Loss: The reduction in value of a trade which results in a negative outcome.

Practice Tips

To make the most of this lesson, try the following shadowing techniques tailored to the pace and tone of the video:

Watch and Listen: Play the video at a regular speed once to get a general understanding of the content.
Slow Down: Use the playback speed option to slow the video down, allowing you to catch every detail in pronunciation and intonation.
Repeat After: As you listen, pause the video frequently and repeat phrases or sentences aloud. This will help you improve your English pronunciation and fluency.
Focus on Intonation: Pay attention to the emotional tone of the speaker's voice. Mimicking these nuances will enhance your ability to express similar feelings in your own speaking.
Engage in Reflection: After shadowing, take a moment to reflect on the main ideas discussed, as well as how they relate to your own experiences.

By incorporating these techniques, you'll effectively learn English with YouTube videos while improving your pronunciation and confidence in speaking. Embrace the power of shadow speech, and let this lesson pave the way for your language skills to blossom.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to be · used to have
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	You've heard · have lost · I've been
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	somebody who has · student who had · trades, which is
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is not guaranteed · been prevented · is dropped

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Why 90% of Traders Fail (And It's Not What You Think) - Learn English Speaking with Video

How I Beat the Mental Game of Trading (After 4 Years of Failure)

The Lessons We Need to Learn from the Financial Crash of 1929

This Boring Strategy Made Me $53,478 In A Month

Asking the TOP 5 Prop Firm Traders How to PASS

Wild times we live in

The reason you're not profitable even after YEARS of trading

This Is Why Most FTMO Accounts Fail | FTMO Trading Psychology

Brutally Honest Advice About Social Media in 7 mins

Success Is Hard Until You Build Systems Like This

How I Became A Profitable Day Trader | My Trading Journey