I hate social media.
It's 4:36 AM.
I'm sitting in the Chicago airport, running on no sleep, so bear with me for 2 minutes.
1 thing I've noticed about social media is that everyone loves talking about the beauty of success, but almost nobody talks about the ugliness that came before it.
I don't mind talking about it.
I lost over $60,000 during my first few years of trading.
I've had nights where I couldn't sleep because I had just lost what felt like six months of income in a single day.
I've had moments where I genuinely questioned whether there was any hope left, where I was fighting spiritual battles nobody else could see, and where years of effort seemed to be producing nothing but frustration.
Transparency nowadays feels like trying to pull teeth.
Instead, we're flooded with P&L screenshots, luxury cars, watches, mansions, status, and a constant pursuit of things that promise fulfillment but rarely deliver it.
What changed my life wasn't figuring out "how" to make money.
It was understanding "why" I wanted it in the first place.
My big bro used to tell me that all the time...
"Think about the WHY, not the HOW."
The older I get, the more I realize he was right.
Because I've learned that you can achieve everything the world labels as success and still feel completely empty inside.
1) You can have money without peace.
2) Recognition without purpose.
3) Achievement without fulfillment.
My breakthrough came when I stopped viewing suffering as evidence that I was on the wrong path.
Instead, I started viewing it as PREPARATION.
Every setback forced me to grow, every loss forced me to become more disciplined, eand very difficult season revealed parts of my character that comfort never could.
In scripture, it talks about how suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character is 1 of the few things nobody can take from me.
I'm truly grateful for every painful lesson.
Not because they were enjoyable...but because they shaped me into someone capable of handling the blessings that eventually followed.
Just some thoughts from a tired 21 y/o sitting in an airport before sunrise.
Thanks for listening to my yapp session.
Helpful prop tip:
Stop trying to get the payout in the minimum trading days.
All of my payouts have been 11 or more trading days.
Chasing the “minimum days to payout” incentivizes you to tilt when you go off track.
The best traders I know take 30+ days to get a 40k payout.
i stayed longer than i should’ve because part of me thought patience would turn effort into love. it doesn’t. it just teaches people what you’re willing to tolerate.
Best thing I’m learning about relationships is just enjoy your time with them. Let it flow, live in the moment, no one is yours to keep and no one belongs to you.