Comparing yourself with others' screenshots
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2026 4:02 pm
Forums and social media are full of screenshots of winning trades. Few people share their losing weeks with the same enthusiasm. Comparing your own complete record with others' selected highlights is a reliable way to feel bad and make rushed decisions.
A practical response is to treat screenshots as anecdotes, not data. Without the full history, position sizes, and losing trades, a screenshot says almost nothing about a trader's skill or edge.
It helps to set personal benchmarks based on your own plan: following the rules, keeping risk within limits, reviewing every week. These are within your control, unlike how quickly someone else's account grows.
Some traders mute or unfollow sources that push them towards impulsive behaviour. Others limit forum reading to after the trading session. Either way, noticing the effect is the first step.
If you do share results here, consider including the losing trades and the full period, which makes the discussion more useful for everyone.
Does reading others' results affect your trading?
A practical response is to treat screenshots as anecdotes, not data. Without the full history, position sizes, and losing trades, a screenshot says almost nothing about a trader's skill or edge.
It helps to set personal benchmarks based on your own plan: following the rules, keeping risk within limits, reviewing every week. These are within your control, unlike how quickly someone else's account grows.
Some traders mute or unfollow sources that push them towards impulsive behaviour. Others limit forum reading to after the trading session. Either way, noticing the effect is the first step.
If you do share results here, consider including the losing trades and the full period, which makes the discussion more useful for everyone.
Does reading others' results affect your trading?