As a trader, one of the best ways to improve is to surround yourself with people who have similar interests and who maybe have achieved what you’re looking to achieve. This is the reason many people will join a traders chatroom at some point.

As more and more people are able to take advantage of fast, reliable internet from providers like metronet internet, online chatrooms have become a very popular way to converse with new people. Omegle, for example, has more than 1.1 million people users each day. There are a few rules when using sites like Omegle, although VPN Compass explains how to get unbanned from Omegle if you ever find yourself booted out. Other than that, they are free to use for everyone and they give people a chance to meet new people and discuss whatever the like. If you’re looking to talk to strangers and strike up conversations with a diverse range of people from across the globe on more general topics then you may want to check out a platform like Speakrandom.

Trading chatrooms are a niche type of online chatroom where traders can discuss their trading activity, news; share trade ideas, knowledge, etc. Whether you’re looking to learn trading from actual traders who are already successful or just looking to share camaraderie (since trading can be a lonely profession), chatrooms offer an amazing opportunity to slash your learning curve in half and enhance your trading experience.

[Tweet “The Pros And Cons Of Hanging Out In A Traders Chatroom”]

Here are some Pros of joining a traders chat room:

• You get to observe others and see what works and what doesn’t.
• You can share your own ideas and have them validated by traders with different views and opinions.
• You get to watch great traders in action and witness how they actually think.
• You can make some good friends.
• It’s a great timepass while waiting for your trades to unfold.
• You get to ask questions to seasoned traders and even answer some for complete beginners.
• When times are tough, you can benefit from the wisdom of seasoned traders who have been through countless rough patches and know how to deal with them.
• You can benefit from the support of the group.

Those are all amazing perks. But, at the same time, there are also a few negatives worth considering.

For instance:

• Noise. Since many traders are sharing their trades, news, and voicing their opinions (which is the point), this also creates a lot of noise which can detract from your ability to focus and implement your own ideas.
• FOMO (Fear of missing out). Some traders in the room will make some call and they’ll appear to make money. You’ll repeatedly find yourself in a position where you’ll feel silly for not following them.
• Comparison. Others’ apparent successes (and your lack thereof) can make you feel bad about yourself and your own results, which can cause you to lose trust in your own process and deviate from your own set of rules.
• Emotionality. You’ll see traders in the room shouting “go market, go” as if they are urging on a horse to win in the grand national. This can make you overly emotional. Trading at this point resembles more gambling than anything.

Let me say that in my early days, I’ve tried joining a traders chatroom. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that this mode of learning wasn’t for me. I’ve experienced all the negatives stated above. Being in that chatroom brought out the worst in me.

But learning is a very individual thing, everyone learns at a different pace, and in different ways. That’s why you have to figure out your own unique path.

If you are in a chatroom, here are a few guidelines that you should know and implement:

First, learn to meditate!

This is a master skill that’ll teach you to focus on what’s important and help facilitate the implementation of the next steps.

If you need an introduction to the practice, check out the Start Here page.

Tune out the noise.

Identify one trader in the room that you admire and want to learn from, then place your entire focus on him/her. Ignore other people’s opinion and ideas. No matter how appealing they are. It’s very important that you focus only on one person. This will reduce emotionality, confusion, FOMO, and all other negative aspects of being in a traders’ chatroom.

Focus on learning.

I hope you don’t sign up to these chatrooms to make a killing in the market. While it can happen, for the reasons stated above, it’s unlikely to happen. So keep in mind that you’re there to focus exclusively on learning. You are there to learn to stand on your two feet. At first, a little assistance helps, but then you have to learn to be self-reliant and catch your own fish because let’s be clear, you won’t be able to build a successful trading career while relying on others’ trade suggestions.

Avoid comparing.

It’s okay to admire other people’s trading performance, but never compare them to your own. We all enter the game with different aptitudes and inclinations. We are all at different chapters of our lives; and we all trade different time frames, methods, beliefs, and objectives. Comparing yourself to others is just a fool’s game.

Conclusion

I will end this short post by saying this: Chatrooms can help you make giant leaps in your development as a trader, but only if you know how to use them. If you follow these few steps, you should be able to take advantage of the incredible opportunity for growth that chatrooms can offer.

But keep in mind that it’s always better to learn to be completely self-reliant than to rely on others to make you profitable. Tune out the noise as much as possible and work as hard as you possibly can to master a simple process that you trust. Develop certain skills that would facilitate the flawless execution of that process, and just see what happens.