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Trading Psychology

3 Mindset Strategies For Leveling Up

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 6/20/2023 5 min read

In the fast-paced world of trading, getting caught up in the allure of big wins you see posted on social media is easy.

However, much of what you see online is just fake.

In fact, the majority of those traders you see on social media posting monster winners are:

  • Not transparent
  • Never showing their losses
  • Masters at hindsight trading
  • Gambling addicts

If you follow them, you’re likely among the 90% of people who fail at day trading.

While I don’t claim to have all the answers…

I have developed a process that has been used by over two dozen of my students to become millionaire traders.

Here are the 3 mindset strategies that helped me become a millionaire trader in my early 20s and successful for over two decades.

 

#1 Success Is Not Linear

position trading the bottom line
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In the beginning, you must invest more time studying.

It will be painful that while you’re studying and working hard

On the surface, it will look like you’re going nowhere.

For example, Jack Kellog, now regarded as one of the top young traders in the country, didn’t make a dime his first learning how to trade.

If you look at his results over time, you’ll see that his success wasn’t linear.

Source: Profit.ly

So, how did Jack push himself to continue to work and study even though he didn’t see the results in his PnL early on?

Jack saw the plays working.

Even though he wasn’t making money off them, he knew other traders were…which encouraged him.

He knew that he just needed to fix a few things and that, eventually, he’d be on the right side of the trade more.

That’s why being a member of my program can be so helpful. Sometimes all you need is to see other people having success to give you the motivation to keep studying and working on developing your skills.

 

#2 Live To Fight Another Day

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The market doesn’t care if today is your first day or month as a trader. The person or machine on the other side of your trade is trying to destroy you.

The way algorithms move stocks these days, it’s almost like they’ve mastered human psychology…

As in they know how to inflict the most pain possible…causing traders to stop out near the lows and cover at the top.

If you’re a newbie, there’s so much you need to know.

That’s why it’s so important you learn risk management right away.

You need capital in your trading account.

If you drain your account by making dumb decisions, then you’ll never give yourself a chance at success.

Your first couple of years should be focused on learning. You want to either be paper trading or trading extremely small.

Again, you are trying to learn strategies, recognize patterns, and discover what moves stocks and creates opportunities…

This matters a lot more than profits.

That’s why you have to keep losses small.

In fact, one of the main reasons I’ve been able to adjust my game and continue to have success over all these years is that I’ve cut losses quickly on my trades. 

Protect your capital and try to give yourself enough time to develop the skills for success. 

More Breaking News

 

# 3 Success Isn’t Random

students kyle mari and jack
© Millionaire Media, LLC

Over 30 of my students who have completed my program have gone on to become millionaire traders.

Their success wasn’t random.

I gave them a blueprint, the one I developed and followed that helped me become a millionaire trader in my early 20s, to guide them.

You see, regardless of what type of trader you decide to become, whether that’s a momentum trader, options trader, short-seller, penny stocks trader…or whatever…

There are certain principles you must MASTER.

And that’s what I teach my students. 

You can try to figure it out on your own, do some trial and error..or whatever.

But here’s the deal.

Time is precious.

Why waste it when you can learn from someone who has gone through and accomplished what you want to do?

If you’d like to take the next step and really level up…CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED.


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* Results are not typical and will vary from person to person. Making money trading stocks takes time, dedication, and hard work. There are inherent risks involved with investing in the stock market, including the loss of your investment. Past performance in the market is not indicative of future results. Any investment is at your own risk. See Terms of Service here

The available research on day trading suggests that most active traders lose money. Fees and overtrading are major contributors to these losses.

A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

A 2014 paper (revised 2019) titled “Learning Fast or Slow?” analyzed the complete transaction history of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1992 and 2006. It looked at the ongoing performance of day traders in this sample, and found that 97% of day traders can expect to lose money from trading, and more than 90% of all day trading volume can be traced to investors who predictably lose money. Additionally, it tied the behavior of gamblers and drivers who get more speeding tickets to overtrading, and cited studies showing that legalized gambling has an inverse effect on trading volume.

A 2019 research study (revised 2020) called “Day Trading for a Living?” observed 19,646 Brazilian futures contract traders who started day trading from 2013 to 2015, and recorded two years of their trading activity. The study authors found that 97% of traders with more than 300 days actively trading lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage ($16 USD per day). They hypothesized that the greater returns shown in previous studies did not differentiate between frequent day traders and those who traded rarely, and that more frequent trading activity decreases the chance of profitability.

These studies show the wide variance of the available data on day trading profitability. One thing that seems clear from the research is that most day traders lose money .

Millionaire Media 66 W Flagler St. Ste. 900 Miami, FL 33130 United States (888) 878-3621 This is for information purposes only as Millionaire Media LLC nor Timothy Sykes is registered as a securities broker-dealer or an investment adviser. No information herein is intended as securities brokerage, investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security or fund. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes cannot and does not assess, verify or guarantee the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, the suitability or profitability of any particular investment, or the potential value of any investment or informational source. The reader bears responsibility for his/her own investment research and decisions, should seek the advice of a qualified securities professional before making any investment, and investigate and fully understand any and all risks before investing. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes in no way warrants the solvency, financial condition, or investment advisability of any of the securities mentioned in communications or websites. In addition, Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes accepts no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this information. This information is not intended to be used as the sole basis of any investment decision, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the investment needs of any particular investor. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns.

Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”