trade on day one
The best way to learn is by doing, not by studying first. This principle comes from an episode of the Complex Systems podcast with Patrick MacKenzie and Ricki Heicklen about their "think like a trader" school.
start before you're ready
At their trading bootcamp, students start paper trading on day one. It's the first thing they do before they start any lessons. If they run into challenges, they can ask questions or look up the answers. But by trying first, they get comfortable trading and can instantly apply what they learn as they move through the curriculum.
The best way to learn to trade is by trading.
learning through doing beats lecture-based learning
Ricki Heicklen explains their pedagogical philosophy:
When people walk through the door, the very first thing we do is have them start trading. Absolute number one, immediately throw people in without explaining the rules, without explaining too much logic about what is all the syntax going to look like. We say, "Hey, we're going to go around, play this trading game," and we get them started and correct as they go. The best way to learn how to trade is to trade and figuring it out through making mistakes and being corrected as you go and figuring out what happens when you actually try something and see what changes in the market as a result of that. That is going to ingrain those lessons in you so much more strongly than something more lecture based or reading out of a textbook.
This approach applies beyond trading. When learning any new skill, start practicing immediately rather than waiting until you feel fully prepared. action produces information.