3.5 years ago I wasn’t making any money as a trader.
Because I wasn’t doing the right things, I didn’t know my role.
I didn’t know what to focus on or what direction to go in order to actually begin building profitability.
I had no structure to my trading, I didn’t know if what I was doing would lead me to the results I wanted.
I lacked confidence in my actions.
This went on for a while, until I found my groove in the markets.
I found the 3 jobs as a trader that when done right led me to produce the results I wanted and gave me confidence in my trading.
These 3 jobs are what I still focus on till this day.
They allow me to trade full-time.
And I am going to share with you what they are in this email.
So you can focus on the right things that you know will lead you to getting paid from the markets.
Before you continue reading, please note that these are not in any particular order - each job is as important as each other.
1: Managing your risk.
One of your main jobs as a trader is to manage your risk.
This means controlling your exposure to the markets and limiting how much percentage you risk per trade.
Usually, this is anywhere from 0.25% to 1% of the total capital in your trading account.
However, managing your risk is not only about how much you risk per trade.
It’s about controlling how often your trade.
Limiting your overall exposure to the markets and ensuring that you only expose yourself to high quality setups.
2: Focusing on execution.
Your job as a trader is to execute on good trading opportunities.
You’re not meant to be sitting on the side lines overthinking on what could happen.
We’re in the business of earning money and the only way to earn money is to focus on executing when the time is right and capitalising on high quality setups.
There's a key point there, 'when the time is right'.
You do not need to trade unless the markets are in your favour.
3: Performing as well as you can.
It is your job as a trader to perform as well as you can in the markets.
Take your focus away from trying to make money.
When you manage your risk and focus on execution you’re putting your attention on performing well.
And when you perform well you will naturally make money and build consistency as a by-product of performing well.
To perform at your best you need to create the right environment for yourself.
This means getting regular sleep, eating right, working out, going for long walks, staying hydrated and mentally preparing, warming up before you begin your trading day.
High performance in trading stems from what you do outside of trading.
These are your 3 jobs as a trader and when you focus on them you will begin to see results from your trading.
Nothing else matters, everything else is all noise.
I'll see you in Thursday's email,
Lawrence 'these are your only 3 jobs as a trader, focus on them and you will make money'.