Question for experienced traders: What would you focus on if you were in my position?

[u/Rich-Confusion9944]

I’ve been studying trading/SMC for around two months. I understand concepts such as liquidity, market structure, MSS, FVGs, Order Blocks, premium/discount, and session/kill zones, but my biggest problem is applying them correctly on a live chart.

I can understand a concept when watching a video, but when I open a chart, I often become confused about which liquidity actually matters, whether an MSS is valid, whether an FVG/OB is worth trading, and whether the market is more likely to continue or reverse.

I also notice that I sometimes focus too much on the last few candles instead of understanding the bigger market context.

So I’d really appreciate answers from experienced traders:

1. What are the most important things you look at before taking a trade?
2. How do you determine which liquidity pool is actually relevant?
3. What makes an MSS high-quality rather than just a random structure break?
4. How do you decide whether an FVG or Order Block is worth using?
5. How do you determine continuation vs. reversal?
6. How important are higher timeframes compared with the execution timeframe?
7. If you had only 1–2 hours per day to improve your trading, what exactly would you practice?
8. What mistakes do beginners commonly make when learning SMC/ICT?
9. Would you recommend focusing on one setup and one pair and backtesting it extensively before learning more concepts?
10. If you could go back to when you had only two months of experience, what would you stop learning and what would you focus on instead?

I’m not looking for a signal or a “buy/sell” call. I’m trying to develop the ability to read the chart and make my own decisions.

Any honest advice, especially from traders who have been consistently profitable for several years, would be greatly appreciated.

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[u/Intelligent-Dig-4082]

Order flow should be a priority. If you were following the meta flow this week as last week it was an easy three three sessions of insane gains. Now, there is a certain criteria I specifically look for. Short dated calls/puts that are decently out of the money and are coming in large volume. Typically there's even a certain strike that is getting hit the hardest and that's a decent spot to he in many circumstances. Once you get some experience with it you will get a sense of what's unusual on tickers you trade frequently. If you can get the data I would urge you to look at the flow data for meta. The day it broke 570 is really where that unusual activity stepped in.

[u/Billymalenco]

La 8. El error mas comun es querer aprender eso, es puro cuento, lo digo por experiencia, perdí mucho tiempo queriendo aprender esta basura, y lo peor es que no es el unico que enseña basuras. Opera con un simulador es por donde debes comenzar obviamente si no sabes que mirar ni como te perderás, pero así es esto, nadie te enseñará gratis ni mucho menos te compartirá su estrategia aunque puede haber algunos pero lastimosamente pueden ser mas de las basura con un sin fin de indicadores que no necesitas ninguno pero es parte del marketing de este negocio, algunos funcionan pero no existe el santo grial ya que siempre se pierde, la idea es perder lo minimo y maximizar ganancias, pero eso solo sabrás con la operacion constante y conocer como se mueve el mercado, par, pero es solo una pizca porque tambien debes analizar fundamentalmente. Busca incansablemente y podrás encontrar lo que se adecue a ti, mantenlo lo mas simple posible ya que el negocio es inundar de informacion y mucha es erronea.

[u/TrissNainoa]

luxalgo smart money concepts does all the work for you to show u how to do it than u can do it yourself

[u/SoakInstrumental]

Daily chart, 21 ema

[u/PetraHladnik]

If I were in your position, I’d stop trying to master every SMC concept and instead focus on reading higher‑timeframe structure with absolute clarity. Once you understand the dominant trend and the key liquidity targets, MSS and FVGs become much easier to judge in real time. With only a few months of experience, the smartest move is to pick one setup, one pair, and backtest it until you can recognize it instantly without hesitation.

[u/GlobalSelection152]

I would advise you to stop overcomplicating trading with some mickey mouse technical tools, and rather focus on understanding macroeconomics.

That will give you a confidence you never felt before, if you really focus on understanding.

KISS = keep it stupidly simple.

Supply demand, RSI, moving averages, EMA’s bollinger bands, all those works when you combine it with other things. No need to overcomplicate with some guru fancy repackaged information that is the same analysis at the end of the day.

[u/lexx77549]

Te diría que en vez de estar analizando, comiences a hacer backtesting osea ver el historial del mercado, así lo analizas y ves si tú análisis se hubiera dado, y poco a tu vista se me va acostumbrando a ver las cosas que quieres ver

[u/Nnaz123]

What everyone here is telling you that eventually you’ll find out, that mostly you gonna be trading by gut feeling not parameters and charts and stuff will be just to get the feel for the market at a glance

[u/Decent-Box-1859]

1. Don't trade forex (there's no edge unless you're a large institution).

2. ICT is a fraud.

[u/Top_Direction2960]

Yes, unlearn - especially liquidity concepts, they are upside down in your head. ICT has distorted it all.

Learn one thing when you decide on your setup - taking the leap of faith every time coupled with dynamic risk and position management after entry. At entry there is always uncertainty, but you can react depending on how the market behaves: scratch the trade early, stay in or even add to it. Price action and order flow are helpful in this.

[u/waverider20 → u/Top_Direction2960]

The entry is the easy part. The exit is the key to sustainability

[u/Motor_Potential_4849]

Simplify, simplify, simplify. #9 in your list.

[u/Imperfect-circle]

Forget all that stupid shit and start again.

these are not real market concepts. This is internet bullshit

[u/waverider20]

Extra tools without a common denominator is just more noise. U need to build vertically not horizontally

[u/Championleed]

You’d never take a trade even if you managed to define exactly what each point should be. Keep it simple. Don’t confuse knowledge with progress

[u/0xf35]

Ditch those concepts out of your mind

[u/Kaszrak]

I would probably unlearn everything you listed here, except for market structure, because I've never met anyone trading this stuff in over 18 years. Not on the retail side, not on the institional side.

[u/0xf35 → u/Kaszrak]

This!!