I've been studying everyday, for many hours a day, for a while now. During the fall semester, there were times that I had to focus more on school. Electrical Engineering takes a lot of effort, much like learning to trade stocks. But, I have NEVER given up on my dream of successfully trading stocks to become financially independent.

I have had a lot of losses, but I'm so much better than I was at the beginning of this journey. I lost $2000 in my first month, because I decided to just jump in without any preparation. That was obviously a terrible idea. Haha. Then I took a month off to study and learn, mostly from Tim Sykes. Jumped back in last August, lost another $500. So in my first two and a half months, I was down $2500. That hurt. That hurt pretty bad. So I decided I needed to really put time and effort into this journey. Over the course of the fall semester, I woke up early everyday and watched stocks and put together watchlists, always ready to make a trade if THE perfect opportunity presented itself. Needless to say, no such play appeared. I was looking for a sure thing, and there is no sure thing in stocks. After having lost so much money, I was very worried about losing more. I was basically paralyzed. I told myself that all I needed was one big win and I'd be back in this thing. That never materialized.

Towards the end of the fall semester, I realized there would be no perfect play. I realized that yes, I have lost a lot of money, but I lost because I was very foolish. I realized that I've learned so much since then. I watched stocks everyday do exactly what I thought they would, but I was too scared to take a risk. I realized that if I had just taken a small position on each of those plays, and had the discipline to follow Tim's rules, I could have made all of my money back. Around the beginning of December I forced myself to make some trades again. The problem was, again, I had a lot of trouble admitting I was wrong, and cutting losses quickly. I lost more money. The problem was, my losses were a significant portion of my account. I only had a couple losses, but I had allowed them to do significant damage to both my account and my confidence.

Once winter break began, I was more dedicated than ever. I was seeing plays set up, and watched the stocks do exactly what I thought they would do, based on the teachings of Tim Sykes. The problem was I didn't obey the rules. It was then that I decided that not only would I not give up, but I would double down. It's time to go all in. I'm ready to devote my life, for as long as it takes, to learning this skill. I know I can do this. But I also know, I will never succeed unless I work harder than I've ever worked, and I MUST follow the rules. Over winter break I studied and traded every day, all day long. I started waking up at 5am, to prepare for the market open at 8:30am my time. I started to understand more of what kind of news is significant. What news is just fluff. I started to understand that just because there's good news, it doesn't mean the stock will rise. That's just one piece of the puzzle. There needs to be multi day/week/month/year chart breakouts, along with the catalyst. For a good morning spike, all of these things were needed, but the RSI, the 50MA and 200MA also mattered. The float is crucial, along with volume. Also, social media can impact a stock. There are so many things that can impact a stock.

I love waking up really early and being super prepared for the market open. Watching the premarket helps to give me an idea of the best entries and exits. STT is also a great help and fantastic software for traders. I've been using the news scanner to really figure what news matters, and to capitalize on it before the crowd. I think I'm finally at a point were I'm beginning to understand this to the point, that I can now make money with this knowledge. I've been trading, keeping it small and following the rules. I feel like I'm right on the cusp of consistently making profitable trades. I think I'm getting to the point where everything starts to just click. I know I have a lot of losing trades, but things are really starting to make sense. I can't explain it, I just feel things coming together.

I applied to the millionaire challenge. I hope I'm accepted. I think I'm finally ready to take this to the next level. I will become successful. It's only a matter of time. I can't control the market, but I can work harder everyday than I did yesterday. I'm watching every one of Tim's 4000+ video lessons. I'm rewatching HTMM and Trader Checklist. Hopefully I'll be accepted into the challenge. If so, I plan to watch Spikeability, Pennystocking, Pennystocking Part Deux and Pennystocking Framework to start. The secret to success is that there is no secret to success. It's the same old boring habits. That means studying your ass off and following the rules. That's what I'm going to continue doing. I believe in myself and in Tim. I'm going to be one of his next millionaire students! Rome wasn't built in a day, but I'm laying one brick Every Day! Thank you Tim.