Good morning, traders…
Most people start trading stocks before they take a shot at options.
And there’s a common problem I notice with these traders:
They hold onto positions for way too long.
I’ve seen it over and over. A student gets comfortable trading shares, maybe even makes a little money doing it. They learn patience. They let winners breathe. They hold through dips, earnings, and news.
It works fine in stocks because there’s no ticking clock. You can afford to be early. You can ride it out.
But when those same traders switch to options, that “wait and see” strategy doesn’t work.
They ignore how fast premium drains when time decay kicks in. They don’t realize how a flat chart can quietly bleed an option trade dry.
They think, “the chart still looks good,” or “there’s still time.” Next thing they know, a solid +40% gain turns into +10%, then into break-even, then into a loss.
Not because the stock tanked, but because they held the position too long.
The best setups give you a burst of premium, then stall. You want to be in and out before the stall shows up, not sitting there watching your profit melt like an ice cube in the hot sun.
If you’ve been noticing your paper gains evaporating in short order…
Let Me Show You How To Stop This Habit And Start Getting Comfortable With Booking Wins Early…
More Time in the Position = More Risk
Every minute you hold an options trade, you invite more risk. Greeks shift, headlines hit, theta decays.
It’s like standing on a melting iceberg hoping the sun takes a break.
A short-dated options trade can go from +40% to break-even … quickly. You’ve seen it. A stall. A reversal. A vol crush.
And what do most traders do? Nothing. They wait. They hope. They tell themselves, “It’ll bounce.” Maybe it does, but usually it doesn’t.
You make your money when the market offers it, not when you think it should.
Early Gains = More Opportunities
Think about your best week this month. Not the home runs. The stretch where you were clicking—quick in, quick out, low stress, solid gains.
That’s repeatable. That’s scalable. That’s how good trading businesses run for years.
And if you size your positions correctly, those smaller wins compound much faster than most people think.
Let’s say you’re trading calls with 30%+ targets. You hit that in three days and move on. Do that three times in two weeks and you’re up almost 100%.
How to Make “Early and Often” Work for You
Set targets (and scale-out levels) before you enter.
I might sound like a broken record, but this is the most important part of profit-locking…
Determine the levels at which you will scale out of your gains.
Define a percent gain or dollar amount that you’ll be happy with as a final price target.
Then stick to those levels.
Use Good-Til-Canceled (GTC) orders.
Good-Til-Canceled (GTC) limit orders sell your position at a specific price (and keep that order active until it fills or you cancel it).
Unlike day orders, which expire at the end of the trading day if they’re not filled, GTC orders stay open until your target hits.
That means you don’t have to watch every tick. You don’t have to guess when the market might pop. You pre-set your profit targets and let the system do the work.
When your option hits that target price, your broker sells it for you automatically.
You’re often not fast enough to hit the sell button when that moment shows up. GTC orders are.
Don’t second-guess when your target hits.
When your targets hit, don’t look back. Don’t chase the gains that might be left.
Log the win. Move on. Most of the mental wear in trading comes from overthinking exits. Solve that with automation and trust.
Track your outcomes.
Look back on your trades at the end of every month. How many trades hit your target and kept running? How many reversed? You’ll find that holding longer often adds risk without much extra reward. Let data (not gut feelings) be your guide.
Paper profits don’t pay bills. They’re meaningless without profitable exits.*
Taking gains early might feel premature if you’re not used to the practice…
But it will keep your account alive. It will let you sleep better. And it will give you the rhythm and confidence to keep placing winning trades (without holding on for unrealistic grand slams).
Happy trading,
Ben Sturgill
P.S. Want to learn how to execute trades like this?*
The best place to start is in our Smart Money Workshops.
You’re one click away from the best setups in the options market.
👉 Join us TODAY at 10:00 a.m. EST.
*Past performance does not indicate future results