---
title: 'One of the BIGGEST Trading Mistakes Beginners Make'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=lr2y7Jl5cVs'
video_id: 'lr2y7Jl5cVs'
date: 2026-08-10
duration_sec: 68
channel: 'SMB Capital'
---

# One of the BIGGEST Trading Mistakes Beginners Make

> Source: [One of the BIGGEST Trading Mistakes Beginners Make](https://youtube.com/watch?v=lr2y7Jl5cVs)

## Summary

The video addresses a common pitfall for beginner traders: trading with excessive position sizes too early. It emphasizes that early trading performance is typically poor, and aggressive sizing can lead to significant financial and psychological damage before a trader discovers their actual edge. The advice is to start small, focus on learning and survival, and only increase position size after establishing a proven strategy.

### Key Points

- **Trading too big too early** [00:01] — The biggest mistake beginners make is trading with too large a position size at the start, when they are at their worst as traders.
- **U-shaped journey** [00:15] — A trader's performance typically follows a U-shape: first losing money, then losing less, and eventually becoming profitable. Aggressive sizing early can dig a deep financial and mental hole before finding an edge.
- **Poker analogy** [00:31] — Professional poker players size up when they have a strong hand, but beginners don't yet know what a strong hand looks like in trading—what market conditions suit them or their trading personality.
- **Goal is survival, not profit** [00:45] — The initial goal should be to survive long enough to learn, not to make a lot of money. Start small, build one or two setups, backtest, journal, and refine them.
- **Sizing up after knowing your edge** [01:00] — Once you actually know your edge, that is when increasing position size makes sense.

### Conclusion

The key takeaway is to prioritize learning and survival over early profits, starting with small positions and scaling up only after you've identified and refined your edge.

## Transcript

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make, trading too big way too early. you're literally the worst trader you will ever be. Think about that. Your journey is usually U-shaped. First, you lose money, then you lose less, then
become profitable. But if you size aggressively at the beginning, then you can dig yourself into such a deep hole financially and mentally before you even discover where your actual edge is. And that's why small size matters so much
Think of trading like poker. When a professional poker player gets a strong hand, they press. They raise, they size up. But when you first start trading, you don't even know what a strong hand looks like yet. You don't know what
market conditions suit you best, what your trading personality is. So your goal in the beginning isn't to make a lot of money, it's to survive long enough to learn. Start small, build one or two setups, back test them, journal
them, refine them, and then once you actually know your edge, that's when actually know your edge, that's when sizing up starts to make sense.