Brief Summary
Stan, a seasoned trader with 11 years of market experience, shares his journey, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and discipline over solely focusing on trading strategies. He highlights the significance of understanding one's personal tendencies and how they bleed into trading habits, advocating for a balanced identity where being a person comes before being a trader. Stan stresses the necessity of adapting to market changes, learning from mistakes, and the value of community support in navigating the emotional challenges of trading.
- Importance of self-awareness and discipline in trading.
- Balancing personal identity with trading identity.
- Adapting to market changes and learning from mistakes.
- Value of community support in trading.
Stan's Early Trading Experiences and Corporate Career
Stan began his trading journey in 2008 during the financial crisis, initially seeing quick profits but soon losing everything due to a lack of commitment and seriousness. For the first three to five years, he treated trading as a hobby while focusing on his corporate career for stability and benefits. During this time, he concentrated on self-improvement and learning the right way to approach the market, emphasizing that there's no one-size-fits-all strategy as long as it's consistently profitable. Stan tracked his losses, realizing he needed to focus on his wins to pay the bills.
The Turning Point and the Role of Mentorship
Between 2014 and 2016, Stan experienced significant growth in his trading, attributing it to lessons learned from previous setbacks and a deeper understanding of himself. He emphasizes that the edge in trading comes from within, as the market provides opportunities, but personal execution varies based on individual risk tolerance. Stan highlights a crucial learning experience from his trading mentor, who taught him about the psychological factors influencing traders' decisions, such as family responsibilities affecting risk tolerance. Stan had a trading mentor since 2012 or 2013.
Balancing Trading with Corporate Career and the Importance of Structure
Even during his parabolic growth phase, Stan maintained his corporate career, leveraging the time difference between the East and West coasts to focus on trading in the mornings. His corporate job provided structure, requiring him to finish trading by a certain time due to other responsibilities. Stan's successful corporate career, culminating in a C-level executive position, provided the space and resources to focus on trading.
The Significance of Mentorship and Community
Stan emphasizes the importance of mentorship, defining a mentor as someone who helps in both professional and personal growth. He initially distanced himself from social media, preferring to stay in the background within Investors Underground. After leaving his corporate job in 2019 and focusing solely on trading, he gradually returned to the public sphere of social media around 2022.
The Danger of Trader Identity and the Importance of Self-Awareness
Stan cautions against getting lost in the identity of a trader, explaining that undisciplined trading often reflects a lack of discipline in other areas of life. He uses the example of struggling to stop out as a manifestation of difficulty admitting when one is wrong. Breaking one's word with oneself in trading can lead to breaking promises in personal life, affecting relationships. Stan stresses the importance of prioritizing personal roles (husband, son, brother) before being a trader to maintain balance and presence in life.
Trusting Oneself and Taking Responsibility for Trading Outcomes
Stan identifies trusting himself as the hardest part of his transition in 2014. He emphasizes the importance of doubling down on oneself and taking responsibility for trading outcomes. A green trade is a result of one's actions, and a red trade is also due to one's actions. Stan stopped being a victim of his outcomes and realized that a red day was due to wrong actions, which he could then correct.
The Trading Equation and the Control of Risk
Stan presents a trading equation: Market + You = P&L (Outcome). Since one cannot change the market, the only variable to change is oneself to achieve a different outcome. The only true control one has in the market is risk management, similar to controlling the distance between cars while driving.
Finding a Trading Strategy Through Trial and Error
Stan believes that having a setup is the key to trading. He emphasizes that finding a strategy involves trial and error through a proven process or chartist. Traders should reverse engineer charts from someone whose style aligns with their risk appetite and tolerance, adding their own twist to it. There's no magic formula, and markets are cyclical, requiring traders to adapt to avoid failure.
Advice to His Younger Self: Joining a Trading Community Sooner
Stan's biggest regret as a trader is not joining a trading community sooner. He believes it would have shortened his learning curve and allowed him to help newer traders earlier. Trading is a profession where one stands on the shoulders of giants, and community support can provide light during dark moments. Stan can be found in Investors Underground and on Twitter (@CorleonOffer).
