Sometimes I forget to stop and think, to reflect on past successes or failures, and to appreciate how far I have come. With the year coming to an end I want to take a moment to reflect on my journey. I started trading four years ago. I did not know a thing, was very young and had no clue where this journey would take me. 

I first heard about penny stocks when I was 18 years old, some dude named Tim Sykes shouting about them online. I decided to watch some of his material. I instantly fell in love with markets. I watched every video lesson I could, scoured all the DVDs I could find, and had such a passion for penny stocks. I started staying up all night, not going out, and becoming obsessed. I thought studying a lot would alone make me profitable, but then I started trading.....

Learning and simulating trades vs the real thing is a whole different story. It is like studying for a test and then taking the test but all the questions are different than what was taught. So instead of making a ton of money overnight (like I hoped) I now had to learn the intricacies of the market: volume, liquidity, level two, timing, etc. This alone took about two years. I barely scraped along making small gains. Then another year went by and I did not have much to show for it.

I was coming to the end of college and I wanted to be a full-time trader, but I had little to no profits. It was crunch time. I hunkered down and studied even harder. Yes, 3 years in and still studying. Went through more material and trading psychology books. Then one day in December 2020 something happened. OTC's got hot and I all of a sudden made about 15k in one month. Was it a fluke, I had no idea. Then 2021 came and I had a 16k January, then 37k February, and then a 21k March. It almost seemed unreal. The reason I made it this far was just consistent effort over time. 

 The real lesson here is to NEVER give up. In trading, as long as you stick around long enough, great things can happen. Did I get lucky with the good market? Maybe, but without the hard work for years I would never have been able to take advantage of the market presented to me. 

Right now things have slowed down. My recent months have been less fruitful (all still profitable or breakeven though). What I have done this year is great, but one good year means absolutely nothing now. All that matters is if I can adapt for the future because success is still not guaranteed. And this takes me back to my mindset when I was fighting to be profitable. In this time I am back in the lab, studying, learning new things, and getting prepared for the next time the market offers something great.

I wrote this to look back on later in my journey and I hope this encourages anyone who is struggling to keep pushing forward. I can guarantee that you will become successful as a trader. All it depends on is if you stick through it, keep working hard, and never, ever, quit. 

Do. Or do not. There is no try.