Ups and Downs of the Day Trading Journey

In my years of experience I have seen the ups and downs of day trading, I’ve also seen others experience these stages and subsequently give up during their downs.

Me on the other hand, decided to pursue through the downs and begin to see the highs… and they seem to get higher every time, while the lows seem to also get higher.

What I want you to learn today is summed up in these short topics:

• Keep going, your time is coming
• Downs are learning periods, not punishment
• You can celebrate your highs, just don’t live in them

Keep going, your time is coming

Of course while you are within your upcoming stage or the high stages of your journey it’s easy to keep going because of the benefits you receive from showing up every day.

Some of these include:

1. More Profit Days
2. Flipped Accounts
3. Bigger Withdraws

And the list can go on, but when you’re in your downs it isn’t the easiest to persevere and see those heights which you once saw.

This is what discourages a lot of traders and potential traders from seeing that golden success era that they may see on social media from their favorite top traders, something they don’t show on their highlight reel(instagram) accounts are the downs which they experienced. The downs aren’t usually something any trader wants to remember, I surely have decided to develop something known as a “selective-memory” to only remember the highs which creates this highlight reel in my mind, making it easier to continue to go on with my career and post along side to showcase my journey in a positive light for others to pursue the path. What the public fails to realize is that, not only traders do this. Athletes, artists, CEO’s and other high social class individuals who worked for their success do this exact same “selective-memory” which allows them to continue with their success and continue to inspire those below them. We do this because if we were to always talk about the days where we were in the dark, where nobody knew who we were going to be, what we wanted to be or what we were doing to make our dreams a reality it would deter those who are just starting their journey because of the insurmountable and unanticipated amount of work you must put in during this time. The downs are the building blocks to your future. They create the foundation of what you will become when you persevere and remain persistent during these seemingly rough times. As I’ve stated in the intro I’ve personally seen my lows get higher with my highs, it’s odd at first but when you begin to look at your lows in another perspective you start seeing the differences. For instance my low in 2019 was not the same as my low in 2020, as well as the subsequent years which followed. Along with these lows, my highs were also different; almost like an uptrend in the market.

Downs are learning periods, not punishment

During your downs, you should learn as much as possible instead of feeling sorry for yourself and reminiscing on what “was” and what “could’ve been”. The reason I say this is because it truly is a learning period, not a punishment. Think of the downs like practice in a sport, for instance no one has on record(to my knowledge) Kobe’s, Lebron’s, or Micheal Jordans practice footage before they became the great basketball players they are today. During this time I can assure you it was dark, it was every day waking up and doing what was required; not so much what they wanted to do at first, but it became apart of their identity because they knew that this low only meant one thing: that the only way from here is up. Maybe now these dark days for them aren’t so dark anymore, we can probably call them dim days. This is only because they persevered and kept the mindset that their time was coming. This is why your downs are classified as learning periods because in those times that’s where they perfected their movements which got them to the NBA and the championships they’ve won and immaculate games they’ve showcased which’ve shocked the world. They did it in front of no-one for so long so of course when it’s time to do it in front of thousands, and even millions it’s second nature because they’ve used their downs as learning periods and not punishment. The same is with trading, the same is with anything. Only thing different is what we must do in these learning periods, for us it may not be showing up to a gym at 5 am to put up shots(unless you want to add that to your regime it’s not necessary as a day trader) instead we must do the equivalent such as:

• Reading books on Day Trading Psychology
• Submitting Trades Daily(despite the outcome)
• Applying for Funded Account Programs
• Testing Your Strategy
• Going Over Your Notes
• Taking More Notes
• Enhancing Your Strategy
• Defining Your Trading Plan
• Developing A Trading Schedule
• Learning To Manage Risk

and the list can go on, because just like the number of moves LeBron and the other greats have showcased us throughout their magnificent careers, we must practice all of these moves for when the spotlight is on us. Trust me the time for that will come, what’s in the dark will eventually be revealed by the light. It won’t stay dark forever, so while you’re here you might as well make the best of it by becoming the best version of yourself possible. During these times you can make insane amounts of progress that will set you years ahead of others in the game; you have to think about how your daily actions and activities will compound, today you may only see a 1% increase or you may just see progress… understand that in one year of doing these same actions and activities you will be lightyears ahead of the competition because you decided to stay consistent with what you have developed in the dark. The same as the greatest NBA players to perform in the league, which set them apart from all the other competitors they’ve gone up against and even teamed up with. This is what won them their championships, a feat that is only obtained by the elitist of the elite. This is the same for day trading, you will obtain the picture perfect trading account, the greatest results of equity gain, the high amounts of funding from proprietary firms, the stunning and limited edition items like cars, clothes, houses, jewelry, you name it. This is our championship: Freedom.

You can celebrate your highs, just don’t live in them

Let’s’ face it, the highs are just as inevitable as the lows. It’s apart of the game, when you achieve these highs which you so diligently worked for in the lows you have to celebrate them. You have to create that reward based system for yourself mentally, which will keep you going during those lows that are sure to follow soon thereafter. Enjoy the process, the highs don’t last forever nor do the lows. They are all apart of the process, I think about the relation of celebration different than what many will perceive celebration to be. For me celebration may be purchasing a new vehicle, a new watch, some jewelry and maybe a new property. For others it may be a night out in the nicest city of whatever country they choose, it may be a trip to Cabo or a trip to Abu Dhabi or Peru. It’s all different for everyone, but whatever your definition of celebration is. Do it. This eliminates any regrets that could surface while you are in your lows, along with this I don’t want you to live in your highs because just as we’ve stated before the lows are just as inevitable as the highs. You don’t want to look up 30 days or 3 years later and realize that you’ve been in a low and now only have 15 to 20 days to showcase what you’ve learned at your high. This stifles progress, and can ultimately lead to a downtrend of life because you created two equal highs which if you know anything about trading: a double top formation is a strong indication of a trend reversal and a triple top is an even stronger indication. Please take my advice and prepare yourself for the lows in advance, after you celebrate you should immediately put yourself in the mindset of being in your low. Don’t wait until your back is against the wall to perform, embrace the feeling and get to work. As you build the habit of doing this, your highs will get higher and subsequently your lows will also get higher. Putting your life on a forever uptrend, possibly the only one that exists in this game.