In trading, there will be losses, and there will be gains.
This is true for new traders and professionals alike. Even I lose now and then.
The traders who succeed are the ones who adopt a specific mindset…
Most new traders are looking for hot picks, the strongest stocks in the market…
They want me to tell them which contracts to buy and when to sell.
I get it. I wish trading were that easy.
But do you really want to rely on me for the rest of your life?
What if I take a vacation for a week? Or there’s a technology issue? Or God forbid, what if something happens to me?
My goal for you is to become a self-sufficient trader.
The Best Traders & The Best Boxers
The hardest part about trading: We don’t know which trades will win and which will lose when we enter them.
All we can control is our plan and our execution. The rest comes down to probability.
To do that, you have to be emotionally AGILE, not emotionally FRAGILE.
- Agile: able to move easily and quickly.
- Fragile: easily broken.
And it’s one or the other.
If we don’t learn to be agile, we become fragile.
Think about Floyd Mayweather. He’s not the biggest guy in the ring, but he’s quick. He wins by not getting hit.
That’s how we need to trade. When a position goes against us, we have to adjust fast. That means stopping out and moving on.
There’s no problem with being wrong. The problem is staying wrong.
If you’re getting beat up in the corner, don’t stand there. Move.
If you don’t, you’ll take hit after hit. And the first thing to give out is your legs. That’s when a punch you could’ve shaken off sends you to the canvas.
The same is true for your account and your psyche.
If your position breaks below your stop loss… Get out. Stop taking punches.
Stay in the corner, and it might knock out your entire account. Or worse, it breaks you emotionally to the point where you never want to trade again.
Being a self-sufficient trader isn’t about finding the perfect pick. It’s about having a plan, executing it, and staying agile when the market swings at you.
Take a small loss. Stay on your feet.
Be good (and be good to others),
Ben Sturgill
*Past performance does not indicate future results. Not typical.
