A successful Aussie futures trader wrote that the best way to learn was to paper trade at speed. Many platforms allow you to 3x or 10x the playback speed. Pick an instrument you're not overly familiar with, and just sit there clicking for an hour or two. At the end of it, review your trades on the chart. Where did you do well? Where did you mess up? Are there consistent patterns?
A second exercise he mentioned for paper trading was to genuinely try to lose as much money as possible. In other words, click short when you'd normally long and vice versa. Compare & contrast the results with the first run. The things you need to learn will stand out like dogs' ears.
Another tip he had for paper trading was to stay in the market 100% of the time. After your first trade, the only button you're allowed to hit is 'reverse position'. You can't ever be on the sidelines waiting. Again, the process will show you things you wouldn't otherwise notice about your trading prefernces, strengths and weaknesses.
Doing such exercises for several months will allow you to develop an approach that suits you (swing, MR, breakout, momo, scalp), and a TF that suits you (seconds, mins, days, weeks, months). Feeling confident with it will take care of a certain portion of trading psychology, but not all. Trading psychology may be the holy grail, but this fundamental step is necessary for most tarders.
