So you want to be a day trader…

This is the very beginning of my journey to become a crypto day trader. I dabbled with crypto in the past and still do but without really knowing what I’m doing. I take random chances buying coins that I hope will generate a profit.

When I first started learning about crypto, it was 2017. I spend a lot of time on social sites eg. Twitter, IG and managed to gain an IG following of over 1,000 in about three months posting random crypto news, memes and at one point I even produced a guide for beginners wanting to learn more about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Then life happened and I won’t go into details, but that was put on a power hold. It was right around the time Bitcoin and the entire crypto market saw a huge correction. That was over three years ago, but now I’m back.

My goal isn’t to lead anyone down this path or journey. I don’t care for followers. But if anyone chooses to read these posts I hope that they will learn something.

I started this blog in hopes to solidify what I’m learning about technical analysis and help myself learn to be a great trader. So without further ado, here is post #1.

Q: WHY TRADING?

Trading is going to require a level of excellence, unparallel to any professional career you’ve had. The level of excellence required can be compared to the difference between being an all-star NBA player and a bench warmer. The difference between being a movie extra and an Oscar-winning actor/actress. Between a weekend gig musician, and a rock star.

To be a successful trader, you must first develop a strong routine and the discipline of a monk. This may be my biggest challenge. I suck at commitment and consistency, but I’m determined to work on it and get better. To be successful you will need to know how to learn, what to learn, and learn from your failures.

Trading is gambling. PERIOD. You may get lucky and have a few wins, whether by taking someone’s advice or picking a lucky coin. But if you don’t have a solid strategy, good luck will catch up with you. It’s like playing slots at the casino. It’s a game of probability and beginner’s luck will run out. But with a solid strategy, your aim should be to consistently win over time.

The odds of anyone becoming a successful trader and do it for a living is extremely small. The odds are stacked against you immensely. For every winner, there is a loser. Every time someone profits, someone else loses their investment. Please understand this. The money doesn’t come from thin air. You will be competing directly against incredibly talented and smart people. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. But it’s not.

Trading takes advantage of the two most basic human emotions. FEAR and GREED. You must master these two emotions, or panic will overwhelm you as a trader.

All emotions must be tossed out the window, and instead replaced with rationalization through detailed and well-thought-out processes. “Holding and hoping,” doesn’t work. I know this from first-hand experience. And as a woman, I’m naturally inclined to operate based on emotions but I know this is an obstacle that I can get over. I’m certainly not going to use my gender as an excuse to not be great.

The most important topics to understand are how to reduce risk, how to shed risk, how to take high probability trades, how to patiently wait for the right setup. These are topics that must be researched for months on end.

Valuable lessons unfortunately come at an expense. But you don’t have to learn them at a costly price. Start only with what you’re comfortable losing because I guarantee that you will blow your account at one point or another. Start with $50, with $100, with $500, whatever you are comfortable to lose. Keep in mind you must first wet your feet before going all in.

A: I feel like it’s my reasonable service to make the most of my life. To push myself out of my comfort zone and be great. I want at the end of my life to know that I gave my all in every area of my life. I want to know that I used the talents and abilities God gave me to the fullest.

To become a successful trader I only need to push myself. I don’t have to rely on any external forces. I don’t have to be a great conversationalist or great at sales for example. My success all depends on ME.

Sort of unrelated but still somewhat relevant is the fact that I ran 5k in 2019. I had never run a race after middle school but I wanted to lose some weight that year and going to the gym was becoming tedious so I set a goal to run 5k. I figured once I reached the end goal, I would have inadvertently lost the weight. But if I didn’t run every week, there was no way I had any chance of running 5k non-stop. To help encourage myself and to give myself a deadline, in May that year I signed up for the Oasis Zoo Run to be held in September. It took me about 3 weeks to run 5k non-stop. On race day, I ran it in just over 34 minutes and that year I lost about 30 lbs.

My why for running 5k was to improve my appearance, confidence, and my overall physical health. My why for trading is to improve my financial health. I don’t want to have to worry about money or allow a lack of funds to be a determining factor for doing or not doing something. My first goal is to consistently earn $5K/month from trading. Then the sky is the limit.