In this episode of The Forex Pod, Charlie Burton and Matthew Spurr tackle one of the hardest questions traders face: how do you know whether your strategy is simply going through a normal drawdown, or whether it’s genuinely stopped working?

They break down the dangers of curve fitting, why robust backtesting matters, and how to think more clearly about historical drawdown, losing streaks, and when a system may need to be taken off the pitch rather than trusted blindly. The conversation also explores why so many traders struggle to stick with a strategy even when the data says they should.

The second half of the episode turns to one of the biggest obstacles in trading: fear. From cutting winners too early to hesitating on valid setups, Charlie and Matt unpack how fear shows up in different ways depending on the trader, their capital, and the pressure they’re under.

It’s a grounded and honest discussion about trusting your process, understanding your personality, and building a trading approach that actually suits who you are.