I wasted 3.5 years of my trading career not taking a single partial.
It was stop loss or full TP, that's it.
So I'd watch trades run 80, 100, 200 points... and give it ALL back to break even or a full stop.
Take the profit bro. You literally can't go broke taking money out of the market.
I’ve made every mistake so you don’t have to.
The biggest one was thinking I was in control of the outcome.
I’m not.
He is.
Trade the levels.
Manage the risk.
Detach from the result.
Faith. Hope. Love.
Even when the screens are red.
a candle pattern without context is not a setup
you can find a double top on any chart in 14 seconds. you can find an FVG every 6 candles. you can find a "perfect" reversal setup every 9 minutes of NY AM
the question isn't "is the pattern there." it's "does the market have a reason to deliver it."
reasons are: liquidity above is taken, liquidity below isn't. NQ is leading and ES is lagging into a key level. AMD cycle is in the manipulation phase, not distribution. there's a higher-timeframe FVG sitting unfilled 30 points away
pattern + reason = trade.
pattern alone = a screenshot you'll be confused by tomorrow
your win rate isn't suffering because your pattern recognition is bad. it's suffering because you take every pattern you recognize
the difference between a trader and a chart enthusiast is whether each click required a sentence of justification. if you can't say what the market is doing in one line before you enter, you're not entering. you're guessing
lesson
The difference between winners and losers is how they handle pressure.
This applies to everything btw: business, sports, school, job interviews, and obviously trading.
And yes, pressure sucks.
But only when you can't handle it.
So you better start embracing it.
Post Holiday Trading Protocol:
If a holiday falls on any weekday, the following Monday is a standard business day, trade accordingly.
If the holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, Monday following this event, tends to be trash.
I just told Calub we are waiting for 10am ET, to determine if we are engaging at all.
Lecture after.
Be safe.
Self leadership is just not an abstract concept, psychologists have studied it and they call it self efficacy beliefs. They have also found how to develop that through structured process.
Search for my posts on it.
One of the biggest misconceptions in the retail trading space, is that once you learn to become profitable, that your success is linear and you’re gonna print money hand over fist every single year.
100% not the case.
Just like the market moves in cycles, so does your p&l.
Some years, I just haven’t felt like trading much at all. Other years, I’m sacrificing sleep and time to be at the desk.
All it takes is a few good months or years to make your career a success.
If you have a year of outperformance, there’s nothing wrong with taking time off.
To change your trading behavior, you need to change your beliefs. No amount of discipline or ra-ra motivational books or slogans can do that. We change beliefs when we gain new insights or information, are shocked out of our current beliefs, or reflect. Study the psychology of belief change if you are having recurring trading problems.