Daytrader X

When I first got introduced to the arena, I knew my life was about to change. Like most people, I fantasized about the vast potential the market held, imagining endless capital and fortune. This mindset, however, turned out to be a trap. Before realizing this, my daily routine involved blowing accounts left and right—making thousands of dollars in hours only to lose it all by the end of the day. My mentality was shattered, and I couldn’t imagine wanting to get back in. But then I was reminded of what awaited me: thirty-three years of job hopping and becoming a jack-of-all-trades, with no discipline or direction. All I knew was that I valued my freedom, and the only thing I ever discovered that could give true freedom was the markets. To me, it’s worth the time it takes to become profitable. Some people take eight months, others take three years. I’ve heard of traders who were seven or eight years in and still unprofitable. So how can this be?

I think having an edge is important, and assuming you already know how to analyze and have tested that edge, it’s just discipline. That sounds broad, but specifically, it means following your rules and being okay with ending on a red day. When you purchase a prop firm evaluation account and tell yourself you can’t trade more than once a day, but then rationalize moving your stop loss or jumping back in immediately when you lose, or using the maximum available contracts, you’re more concerned about making money and passing the account than proving to yourself you can follow the same rules day in and day out without changing anything. For every day that you respect your rules and follow them to a T, you are already profitable. Congratulations, you have reached the point that seems so out of grasp and unattainable. This is all it took.

The only reason I wouldn’t say you could be profitable from day one is because you still have to learn strategies, test them, and learn your technicals—candlestick analysis and all that—which takes time. Otherwise, everything after that point is just accepting your plan and sticking to it. No strategy is all-powerful; you can make your own, and most do. It seems subjective, but you’re making educated predictions based on your experience, seeing patterns, and knowledge of market structure and time frame correlation that support it. Just think of your why. Why are you doing this? Why do you want to make all that money?

What helped me trade better was not caring about the money—not in an unhealthy way, but in a way where I didn’t care if I won or lost because I knew what it took. For me, that means limiting my trades to one a day. I know my weakness: the more trades I allow myself, the more chances I have to tilt and scramble for trades, desperately seeking to get my money back. Who cares about the money? Not me anymore. I’m detached, and I think losing enough desensitizes you to the pain. Only then do you get so fed up with yourself that you eventually just do what you know you should have been doing because you want to make it, even if it takes forever to get to a payout. Even if you barely made any money today, just a smidge of green. Even if you had a small red day or, worse, a major red day where you lost a chunk. That’s where it’s hard not to tilt.

This is why I limit my contracts in futures so I’m not taking big hits if I’m wrong. Limiting my trading frequency to once a day has also prevented over-trading. I have had some crazy run-ups, trading over ten times a day, but the money always goes back. I could have stopped and continued the next day, but there are no guarantees, even if your edge is phenomenal. What I’m getting at is that it’s all about your habits. If you make it a habit to trade frequently, then you should not only think about the potential wins but also the losses. Most people don’t think about the downside. It’s all about, “I can make this much or that much,” but when the losses come or you tilt after a bunch of losing trades, you’re probably going about it the wrong way.

Think of it like lives in a video game. How many lives do I have if I trade with a take profit here and a stop loss there? How many ticks is it set to, and how much will I lose if I’m wrong? This is all I care about. What will give you the most chances when you lose, which is inevitable. You can be an amazing trader, but you will eventually lose. That’s almost guaranteed, like death and taxes. Don’t try to be perfect with entries; do your best but have zero expectations for the trade. You’re taking the trade because you think it’s likely to win, but you know it’s still a probability, so accept that and move on quickly because your financial future is at stake. Remember that you won’t make it if you convince yourself to cut corners, react emotionally, take a loss personally, or make excuses to tweak your rules. Consistent means doing the same thing over and over. Follow your rules over and over.

I think following your rules is really underrated. I would almost rather you know how to stick to your rules, even if your edge isn’t on point and you’re still losing money, because that’s an easier fix than having an edge but not being consistent. If you’re not following your rules, you’ll second-guess your edge, mess it up, and waste time. That’s why I think it takes some traders longer than others to become profitable. The lack of experience and the lack of sticking to their rules are heavy contributors to the traders who fail in this industry and pay the ones who have that under control, especially their payouts with prop firms. That comes from all those who fail, as you most likely know.

Give yourself a fighting chance and trust yourself to follow your own strategy and plan. Thanks for reading; I hope I helped someone out. I’m not sure what prompted me to write this, but it definitely is therapeutic for me at the very least, even if no one else sees it.