Been trading for a while now and I keep adding more indicators and conditions to my setups.
Started with just RSI and support/resistance but now I’m checking like 8 different things before entering a trade. Missing good moves because I’m overthinking everything.
How do you guys stay disciplined with keeping things simple?
Set a timer for trade decisions. Five minutes to analyze then either take it or move on.
Drop one indicator weekly until you’re back to basics. Those eight indicators? They’re all saying the same thing anyway. Price action plus one momentum indicator - that’s it. Give yourself 30 seconds max. Can’t decide on a trade in that time? Skip it. The best trades jump out at you. If you’re hunting for extra confirmations, you already know it’s not the one.
I follow three simple rules: price at a key level, momentum going my way, and volume backing the move.
Everything else is noise. If I’m hunting for more signals, I walk away for ten minutes.
Either the setup’s gone when I get back, or I see it wasn’t worth it anyway.
Cut back to 2 indicators max or you miss everything.
Same thing happened to me two years ago. I was juggling MACD, Stochastic, Bollinger Bands - you name it. Missed a massive EURUSD breakout waiting for all my indicators to line up.
Fixed it by tracking my best trades for a month. Most winners? Basic price action at key levels. The extra indicators just made me hesitate.
My rule now: if I can’t explain the trade in one sentence, I skip it. “EUR hit resistance, momentum’s shifting down” - that works. “EUR hit resistance but RSI isn’t oversold and volume looks weird” - nope.
Simple wins every time.