IT’S THE WEEKEND (January 21st, 2023)
The market gives to us what we mostly DESIRE. This thought came to me today while I was reflecting on my past TRADES for the year. January started off SH*TTY and I remember how I was so close to my PAYDAY. Then I took an L and another one, AND, yeap—another one. What could I have been doing wrong? I mean, I’m following the RULES, right? Listen, trading is really tricky. I’ve been stubborn with changing my STRATEGY at every drawdown and that has helped me. I can only tweak some things but to change it, NAH. If you change strategies at every drawdown, You’ll never move on. I tweeted something today: There’s no one to judge us than the PERSON in the mirror. The most TRUTHFUL person on earth is a SUCCESSFUL trader. You know why? It takes being HONEST to yourself to attain that level of success. I mean we could all just LIE on social media right? Honesty is all we need in this game. Like, an honest evaluation of yourself. If you’re BAD just say so. Like I said, “The market gives us what we mostly desire”. However, sometimes we get confused at what it is we desire. You could desire WEALTH but FEAR is the constant. What we actually desire is “fear of failure” and not wealth—that’s what you’ll get. I see the market as a MIRROR and that never gets old to be honest. So, I decided and asked myself a question, WHAT are you so scared of? I needed an honest answer. Then I replied, “LOSING”. An honest answer if you ask me. Right? But here’s the thing, I needed a solution. Why do I feel this FEAR? Why does it keep limiting me. Then I saw a TWEET from a trader that resonated with me. He said, “All you need is a 45% win-rate with a 2:1 to be solid” Now, I have more than that. I mean, I’ve never ended any year in LOSS. Then I tried to always remember that tweet whenever I felt that fear. The truth is, We can’t get better in TRADING without losses. Your losses tell you where you’re at. I’ll leave this here as I go and analyze those winners. Yeah, if there’s a winning trade, Screenshot the CHART and keep all winning charts so you can always go over them.
WEDNESDAY (January 25th, 2023)
Today I wrote something. “A broke man would always be scared of losing MONEY; A broke man can’t TRADE successfully. Then again, being broke is a mindset. For we are first broke MENTALLY before physically.” January has taught me that MY EMOTIONS and lack of TRUST due to FEAR OF FAILURE (losing) still fail me. A habit can be quite tough to change all we need is RESILIENCE and patience. There’s a word in play for me today. The word kept ringing in my BRAIN (I wonder why I think of BRYAN anytime I write “brain”) — That word is: scarcity. LACK! When there’s lack, there’s a need to protect. There’s FEAR. My worst TRADING days are days I feel the need to be over-protective. Time and time again, I have to remind myself that they’ll always be another trade. The constant reminder because I haven’t been the best at containing the habit of adoring scarcity. Like the “BOY ON A SWING” there’s also the need for balance. You have to believe in abundance but at the same time; Don’t be wasteful. Life is about “balance” likewise TRADING. Today was a good day but I kinda still feel that FEAR each time there’s a pullback in the MARKET. First TP hit, The second I closed. Lack of patience to wait for the outcome and follow my process still disturbs me I guess. But, Why? That’s when the word “SCARCITY” popped. I’m in a DILEMMA between protecting my b*tt and allowing the MARKET do its thing. Sometimes I think i’m too protective of my CAPITAL; other times I remember it’s the reason I’ve not BLOWN that account yet. What do you do when you’re stuck between RISK and MANAGEMENT. These two words can stand on their own in trading. It’s almost like a PUSH and PULL. A situation where you can’t push too hard and you can’t pull too hard. How do we find that BALANCE? How do I find that balance. Again, TRADING is indeed a MICROCOSM of life. I enjoyed today’s trade though, I made some good profit and I’ll always celebrate my WINS no matter how small. I’m grateful!
THURSDAY? (February 2, 2023)
First of all HAPPY NEW MONTH. I can’t even believe it’s THURSDAY. Lol! I remember saying, “It’s Thursday?” twice because of how fast the week went. Today’s JOURNAL is because I took my first TRADE for the month of FEBRUARY. The SETUP of yesterday expired but also went well so I couldn’t take it. Today, I was left behind by the MARKET because I slept back after waking up early. That’s the LESSON for today. “If the MARKET has left you; Don’t chase after her” Well, I mean if your GIRLFRIEND or BOYFRIEND leaves you I don’t think you should chase after them—LET THEM GO! Sometimes, the easiest things are the hardest to adhere to. So, I had to let this one go! A WIN for me because I think it’s best to follow your RULES. These days I believe I have just 3 rules:
- Only take 1 trade (if available) a day. Not more than 1.
- RISK only 0.5-1% max in your account. Shouldn’t exceed that.
- Always TRADE in the direction of the current TREND. Whilst appreciating the HLS and LLS; LHS and HHS.
That’s it! Three easy rules. I realized having too many RULES can mess you up. Having at least 3-4 makes it easy to follow. There’s no way I’ll take more than one TRADE a day, I can’t trade against the TREND, and finally, I can’t risk more than 1% of my ACCOUNT. Following these rules have become really easy for me to keep going. I try not to complicate things. I guess that’s why I’m still in the GAME. The idea is to survive for as long as I can till I get this right. The next step has been to just MAKE MONEY. Take the profits I can and make sure I have more BLUES than RED. I think that one is easy for anyone who isn’t COLOR BLIND (no offense). It’s 2:55PM and the BULLS came through for that SETUP. A good one but if I took it, I’d have gotten stopped out before it went my way. All the same, I’m GRATEFUL for the intuition and ideas of WAITING and LETTING GO.