Back in mid-November 2020, I remember hopping in the car with my wife to go out to a friend’s house for dinner.  That night, like many, she was subjected to me talking about the stock market, my trading day and about how others faired that day.  I remember talking to her about how I had a couple trades: 1 loss and 1 small win.  Then I tell her about how other people in the chat room made $3k, $10k, $25K, and some hitting $30-40k.  I remember ending my 10-minute rant with these words: When will my day come?

It summed up my 2 years of studying, my countless hours staring at a screen, watching video lessons, reviewing charts, reading books, sacrificing television, music, entertainment, a social life, and sleep all in an effort to find success in trading.  All my anger, frustration and exhaustion expressed in 5 simple words.  When will my day come?

Tim says it in pretty much in every single video lesson, every single webinar, and every YouTube video:  90% of traders lose.  Most traders don’t want to put in the work to be successful.  Becoming a millionaire is not fun, it’s hard work.  Every day you have to put in the time, effort and dedication to become a millionaire.  STUDY HARD!!!  No days off!!!   I took these words to heart right from the beginning and had been putting in the effort, the time, the dedication and the sacrifice to find success.  But even in the hottest market in 2 decades I struggled to make $20 on the day.  I saw Tim making $6-7K on an average day.  Kyle Williams and Matt Monaco making $4-5K on an average day.   Roland Wolff making $2-5k per day, Jack Kellogg making an astonishing $10-15k per day…  I had put in 2 years of studying and sacrifice, I’m trading in the hottest market in 20 years and I’m struggling to make $20 in a day???  When will my day come?

I thought about these words over the next couple days and began to realize that I had a fatal flaw in my mindset.  I realized that I was judging my success against the success of others.  I got so caught up in how well the best traders in the room were doing: how much money they made, what their win/loss record was, how many plays they saw, got in on and, seemingly, made money so easily.  I saw their success and viewed it as my failure.  I realized that I can’t put that kind of expectation and pressure on myself and become successful.  I needed to stop focusing on where they are in their journey and start focusing on where I am in my journey.  So, I asked myself again, when will my day come?

At that point I began focusing on me.  Focusing on the setups that work for me.  I focused on what trades I was making.  I stepped away from the chatroom and relied only on myself and my years of studying to look for the patterns and setups that work best for me.  I cut out the noise, the chatter and the distractions.  The money I made or lost on a day was my making and it didn’t matter how anyone else did.  I didn’t care that others were making more money than me, finding more setups than me, having better success than me.  They don’t matter.  It only mattered what I did and what I will do to make myself better.  When will my day come?

I began reviewing my trades on weekends, replaying them on Think-Or-Swim’s “On Demand” feature, finding my flaws and cutting out the things that made me lose money.  I then started the next week with this new knowledge trying to do better than I did the week before.  I stopped watching video lessons and webinars by traders who’s trading style was different than mine.  I began watching only video lessons on my most profitable setups so I could maximize them.  I cut all the B.S. and noise out.  In essence, I started studying “less” and focusing more.  This new found focus opened up my mind to so much more head space.  It was freeing.  The pressure to perform, the frustration and anger of failure, and the exhaustion of it all started to become less and less because I no longer needed to live up to a fictional image of what I should be.  I only had to be me and believe that I could be just a little better tomorrow.  With these mindset changes I began to find some success in the market. 

In November 2020 I lost $362 but in December I made $3,600.  In January I made $4,330.  In February I’m currently up $5,200 with 2 weeks left to go.  Is this life changing money?  Is this “leave my job” money?  No, but it is showing me that I am improving when compared to my former self.  I realize we are in a bubble market but as Tim says, Preparation + Opportunity = Success.  I had prepared for 2 years, focused that preparation over the last few months and now I’m finding the opportunity to have success. 

My point in telling you all this is not to gloat.  It is to let you know that if you feel anger, frustration and exhaustion from putting all your energy in to studying and grinding but are not finding success, you are not alone.  I have been there.  I understand what you are going through.  I have been wanting to know when my day would come and, 2.5 years in to my journey, I am beginning to see it happen.  We all have to go through this journey and we are all at different places in it.  Some people move faster, some slower.  If you are wondering when your day will come, all I can say is stick with it.  Don’t waste your mental energy trying to compare yourself to others.  Focus on you.  Focus on your journey.  Focus on what you can do to be just a little better than you were yesterday.  Do this and you will see some big changes in your trading.  

Your day is coming.