4 Life Lessons I Learned From Day Trading
Day trading can be the absolute best job in the world on the days you make money. You might sit in front of your computer for 30 minutes, close out a single profitable trade, and go daydream about how much money you made. On good days you can make more than the vast majority of people make in a week. Bad days on the other hand, you can lose that same amount or more if you are not careful. One thing about stocks/markets in general, they tend to take the stairs up and the elevator down, and money earned, can quickly evaporate into nothing. Best advice, take profits when you can.
Health
Day trading might be one of the most life sucking activities known to man. It literally sucks the life and health right out of you, sitting in front of blue screens all day, listening to the blood coagulate in your arteries, and losing the feeling in your butt cheeks. Right up there with gaming and coding. Between the migraines, varicose veins, and sciatica, it is a wonder I can function at all. So yes moving is of vital importance during your day. Get up and move! Buy a standing desk with all those profits, or maybe a treadmill in your trading room.
Laughter
Being able to laugh in your life is important. Laughing at your mistakes is crucial, because you are going to make them, and beating yourself up is not productive. I'm my own worst enemy, but I laugh at myself constantly, when I am not cursing, probably because I have made many mistakes. But honestly your best learning comes from your dumbest mistakes if you are not afraid to look at your shortcomings. If you aren't learning everyday in your trading room and your life, what is the point?
Say No
The reward of patience is patience. -Anonymous
AKA never chase a trade, or never FOMO trade. FOMO is the Fear Of Missing Out. You never chase the market, and you rarely, if ever market buy. There will always, ALWAYS, be another trade so what is your hurry. This goes along with being able to say no. If setups are not there, then simply don't trade. Patience and the ability to simply not trade are the hallmark of successful traders.
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Have A Plan
I hope about many different things in my life. I hope the Twins win a pennant one of these years. I hope my daughter is happy in life. I hope my vegetable garden does well next year. But hope is not going to accomplish this, and you can be damn sure I have a system in place to if not ensure, then at least maximize the probability that these things happen. Make sure you have a plan of execution, especially when trading markets, in order to maximize your profits and minimize your exposure to risk.