one of the most important things I've learned in trading
you don't choose outcomes,
but you do choose your response to them
most have this backwards
you don't decide if your next trade will be a win
but when you find yourself in a winning trade,
it is in your control to get the most out of it
properly managing to targets
scaling in profit alongside your rules
identifying what worked so it can be repeated
in the same way,
you don't decide if your next trade will be a loss
but when you find yourself in a losing trade,
it is in your control to minimize the damage
closing out when invalid
resetting your perspective on price
maintaining your emotions and risk after
you control more than you know
it's just that most think it's in predicting the outcome, when in reality it's in managing it
The market condition manual.
This is the first chapter of a 9-part series that I will be uploading here.
I classify the market into 3 primary environments, which you can see below.
The chapters to come will show you how to anticipate each condition and preserve capital in low probability environments, all while pushing your edge in high probability environments.
Nobody knows what the fuck they’re doing.
Not you. Not your parents. Not the people you look up to.
Nobody has it all figured out. We’re all just trying shit until something sticks, then repeating it.
The ones who look like they’ve figured it out just made it through failure. That’s the part you don’t see, the part you’re going through right now.
You’re not behind. You’re in the process.
Right where you’re supposed to be.
in trading,
you can work hard and still get nothing in return
because simply putting time in is not enough
your effort needs to be directed to the right places
hours of studying scattered concepts gets you nowhere,
but hours refining your own system gets you far
days in the market trading random setups gets you nowhere,
but days executing your defined plan gets you far
weeks of ignoring your own faults gets you nowhere,
but weeks of correcting your mistakes gets you far
months of trading without review gets you nowhere,
but months of consistent journaling gets you far
the time spent is the same,
while the outcome is completely different
one only makes you feel like progress should follow,
the other demands it
so consider how you spend the hours, days, weeks, and months
are you creating progress or only working to an end?
because your trading does not care solely about time spent,
it responds to the actual direction and intent of your effort
remember that
I could have never imagined developing an approach to the market like this. I’ve learned from many traders along the way, but your mentors are never the final stop. They can show you the path, give you tools, and share what works for them, but the real progress happens when you take that knowledge and make it your own.
Everything you see in my approach — mechanically aligning expansion candles, trading PO3 by confirming it with an aligned swing, asset sync, strength switching, SMT break, APD, two stage SMT etc — all of it came from taking what I learned, questioning it, and building a more logical, mechanical way that actually made sense to me. Now you see it everywhere, it all came from innovation.
At the end of the day, it’s not about copying anyone. It’s about putting in the work, thinking critically, and creating a system that fits how you think and operate. Take what works, refine it, and make it your own. That’s how lasting results are built.
You don’t have to be “special” to become a profitable trader
I failed at trading for 4.5 years
I was working as a bricklayer and in a supermarket for years while my friends went to University and started good careers
To people on the outside I might’ve looked like a loser
But I knew that if I kept working on my trading then it would click eventually
4.5 years in I got my first payout ($10k+), and made $24k in payouts that month
The next month, I did $30k+ in payouts
Since then I’ve done $500k+ in prop firm payouts in the last 1.5-2 years
I’m not special, I just worked on trading harder and for longer than most of the people who tried and quit
Just keep working on your trading and things will eventually start falling into place
Being comfortable with uncertainty is a superpower in trading. Most people need certainty. That's why they overtrade, revenge trade, and blow accounts.