My first month trading attempting to follow Tim's advice was February, 2017.  I did exceptionally well making about $3200 on 29 trades.  I must have started getting cocky because March did not turn out as well.  I started out hot making about $3000 again in the first half of the month and then during the last half of the month I lost about $3000.

This caused me to stop and reflect and create some new rules or goals for April.  Basically I want to slow down and be more patient.  

First of all, because I am a full time teacher I need to focus my trading between 6am and 7am (before work) and close out my positions before work.  I've tried to force a few trades during breaks or lunch that just didn't turn out well because I was forcing it.  So, rule #1 for April is to only trade between 6 and 7am unless some amazing setup hits during lunch that I KNOW I can get out of before the end of lunch.

The other thing I've noticed lately is even when I made a successful trade in the morning (heading off to work in a good mood, etc) I ended up making a stupid trade later in the day that erased my profits for the day.  So, rule #2 for April is if I make a good trade in the morning BE HAPPY WITH IT and just watch the rest of the day.  Stay in a good mood :)

Last, this one isn't really a rule, just a goal.  I'd like to go back to to aiming for about $100 profit per trade for a while.  I made a few big wins last month and it made me start feeling like I could do it every day...which forced bad trades.  If I can go back to aiming for $100 a day and do that successfully again like I did in February then maybe I'll be able to ramp up much more reasonably (maybe $110 as a next goal rather than $1000!!).

 

This post is for my own accountability, I'm not really expecting anyone to read it, but if you do feel free to respond with any comments!  I can take advice/criticism/encouragement equally.  

Thanks!
RBI