Good morning, tradersâŚ
I hear a lot of excuses from students about why they arenât killing it at trading.
Some say they donât have disposable income to trade, while others feel the market is cosmically stacked against themâŚ
I canât tell you how many times Iâve heard traders say that the market âalways does the oppositeâ of what they do.
According to these unlucky traders, when they buy calls, the market tanks. When they buy puts, the market ralliesâŚ
If you trade long enough, youâll experience a period like this. But it should never become an excuse.
As a trader, your decisions determine your success (or lack thereof). Youâre in control of your trading destiny. Not anyone else.
This isnât to say the market canât occasionally surprise even the most experienced traders. Of course it canâŚ
But if it does, donât blame the tape itself. Rather, identify what was incorrect in your decision-making and vow to never make that error again.
If you find yourself making excuses for your trading mistakes, looking for anything to blame but yourself, itâs time to pay attentionâŚ
The Money Excuse
Trading isnât for everyone. Unlike most careers, thereâs no income guarantee. Many aspiring traders never make a single cent in the stock market.
But I often hear serious misconceptions about how much money is needed to start tradingâŚ
âI donât have enough money. If I had more money, I would open a trading account.â
This is nonsense. Look at Tim GrittaniâŚ
One of the most successful students to come out of Tim Sykesâ Trading Challenge, Grittani started with a measly $1,500 and turned it into over $13.5 million in verified trading profits.
Grittani proves itâs not about starting with a large account ⌠itâs about skill and dedication.
In fact, starting your trading journey with millions of dollars would likely end in disaster.
First, youâd have too much capital available to risk before developing a reliable strategy that works for you.
Second, you need to develop a risk management system before putting serious money into the markets.
How much should you bet on each trade? What kind of contracts are you most comfortable trading? Whatâs your style, whereâs your edge?
These questions will answer themselves as you discover what works for you (and what doesnât).
By consistently stacking small wins, one after another, youâll build your small account up naturally.
This is yet another reason why I advocate for options trading â they allow for maximum leverage on a small amount of capital.
Donât use the money excuse, itâs bogus.
The Time Excuse
I hear some people say, âI donât have enough time to trade. If I had more free time, I would dedicate myself to learning the markets.â
But this never really made sense to meâŚ
You see, the same people who complain about not having the time to learn how to trade will spend years earning a degree that gets them nowhere.
Or worse, theyâll sit around doomscrolling on social media and playing video games all day.
To be a winning trader, you have to make sacrifices. And one of those major sacrifices is time. Take it from meâŚ
I work all day, every day. Granted, I love what I do, but I didnât get here by being lazy and watching Netflix.
When Iâm not hosting a webinar, writing one of these blog posts, or actively trading the markets, Iâm studying charts, analyzing trends, and looking for ways to improve my performance.
And I do all of this while remaining a dedicated father and husband.
If you really examine how you spend your days, youâll probably find thereâs some mind-numbing waste of time you engage in regularly that could easily be replaced with studying.
Plus, donât sleep on part-time traders. I know many who work tirelessly at trading while still finding time to complete the tasks required for their day job.
The Knowledge Excuse
Last, but not least, I hear would-be traders saying they donât have the knowledge to trade effectively.
They think you need to have a fancy degree, or maybe even the business acumen of Warren Buffett, to be a decent trader.
But again, this is wrongâŚ
I didnât know a lot about the stock market when I started trading. But what I lacked in knowledge, I made up for with passion.
I was hungry to learn and wanted to succeed more than anyone else. I started studying the stock market like a maniac.
Then, once I discovered the options market, I was prepared to apply what Iâd learned from my previous studies.
If you donât understand the markets enough to trade yet, donât use that as an excuse to avoid the game altogether.
Take it from my buddy, Glenn PetersâŚ
When Glenn started trading, he didnât have any fancy financial degrees. And he didnât even do it full-time. He was busy with his job as the Director of Operations for Tim Sykesâ mentoring program.
This is where some would-be traders start to lean on the knowledge excuse, but not GlennâŚ
He wasnât intimidated. He went into the gauntlet as a trader and turned $8,300 into over $1.6 million.
Staggering results with no prior expertise. This is why I donât want to hear âthe knowledge excuseâ from anyone.
The market doesnât hand you anything on a silver platter. Youâve gotta work unbelievably hard to be a successful trader.
Lose the excuses. Take accountability for your performance. I promise, youâll be a better trader for doing so.
Happy trading,
Ben Sturgill
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*Past performance does not indicate future results
