Sometimes trading feels like two steps forward and ten steps back…like a dangling carrot. 🥕 And some days I just question, wtf am I doing? This past week had a few of those kinds of days.
I started learning to trade in January of 2019, and even though I know I’m so much further along than my first years, there are definitely times when I feel like I've barely made traction. But then I remind myself that this is just part of the journey, and I look back at some of the bigger turning points along the way.
These aren't necessarily in exact chronological order (some of them overlap), but they're the moments that stand out to me.
Starting Point
Learned someone else's way of trading and studying.
Then spent 2 years losing tens of thousands of dollars to the market (I don't blame this on the course or strategy, I blame it on my get-rich-quick mindset. I was 100% outcome focused).
Turning Point 1
Started studying TA outside of the initial course I was enrolled in.
Started to see that my technical analysis was getting better but I could not close the gap between TA and execution (this still exists for me, just to a lesser/different extent).
Worked with a life coach because I felt stuck at my then-day job and with my trading.
Turning Point 2
Started simplifying my TA.
In 2023, I met a mentor who told me to build a trading plan and that this is the #1 thing traders need, yet 90-some percent of them never do.
Turning Point 3
Built version one of my trading plan and almost "instantly" (within a few months) started seeing consistent profitability.
Spent time just trading and updating my strategy/plan, which included a lot of the psychological aspects I was working through (limiting beliefs, fear of change, inadequacy, deeply ingrained moralistic aversion to wealth, etc.).
Turning Point 4
This turning point felt more like a step backward than a step forward, and even though it was a painful season, I was determined to learn from it.
I was laid off from my day job in April 2026. At that point, I had no debt, substantial savings, and had been consistently earning enough through trading to replace my salary. I decided not to return to traditional work and to pursue trading full-time. This was a decision my partner also fully supported. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have all of this in place before attempting to basically free solo. 🏔️
Then, I experienced tilt for the first time and gave back half of the profits I’d earned that year. I'm sure I had experienced tilt in varying degrees in the past, but this was all-consuming. I wasn't sure I'd recover psychologically and hired a neuroscientist to help me work through it.
Today
I've hit a threshold in my earnings and have been working to break through this ceiling. So far, each attempt has been DENIED 🙅♀️ and has been costly. But I'm actively reviewing what is driving my behavior and results.
I also feel a bit of pressure and urgency to resolve this by year's end because of the competition I'm in again, so I'm remaining aware of that too.
But I share this loose timeline to show you how much goes into this and what this journey can look like, and that at each step there is a new challenge.
I think the toughest part of trading is that you are the owner, operator, CFO, employee, facilities technician, etc., and you live in your head 24/7. It's you vs. you. The market is going to do what it's going to do, and how you respond to it is entirely on you. Yet so many traders are looking for something external to blame or something external to fix their problems, when ultimately, the work is within themselves.
Lead or Gold
Along the way, I've also had to find ways to hold myself accountable to the milestones I've set. Because while trading is a lifelong pursuit, that doesn't mean I will give myself unlimited time to reach every goal. I can spend the rest of my life working on becoming a better trader, but I also have to be honest with myself about whether I'm making progress.
One concept I've used for this is Lead or Gold, something my partner shared with me from successful entrepreneur Russell Brunson. It's his adaptation of the infamous plata o plomo (silver or lead), a phrase popularized by Pablo Escobar, which essentially meant take the money or face the bullet.
The concept is essentially applying a real deadline to a project to create a psychological trap for yourself where missing the deadline is not an option. Leaving yourself only two outcomes:
Lead: Symbolically, the project "dies," or you face a consequence significant enough that not executing is no longer an acceptable option.
Gold: You execute, hit the deadline, and reap whatever reward comes from doing the thing.
I've applied this concept to my trading twice. Once when I was aiming to replace my salary so I could "leave my job." And second, during the episode of tilt where I was so distraught mentally/emotionally that I gave myself a window to get out of the haze or I'd have to give up trading as my full-time work.
Setting these deadlines has helped me confront what is required to reach the next milestone and step up to do the work. I don't always know the right path, but I've always been willing to dig in, seek out help, study, and figure out what I need to change along the way. And I think this is why I always live to see another day 😆 and get another opportunity to move forward. It takes a certain level of resilience and relentlessness to keep going in a pursuit that can be so unforgiving.
Speaking of doing the work that's required...a friend of mine wrote an article called Do You Want It the Most?. It's one of my favorites he's written, and oh so relevant, so I wanted to pass it along.
A Look at the Markets This Week
Dow Jones
A few weeks ago I mentioned that the Dow looked like it could be starting to slow its decline, and this week we started to build the first leg up within its base. Price is now near the top of that shorter-term range around 51,700–51,800. We could spend a little more time moving sideways here before trying to break higher, or break out further, then retest the top of the base.
Dow Hourly and Daily Chart
Nasdaq
Nasdaq made another new high on Tuesday, then sold off over the next two days before gapping back up on Friday and closing around the middle of the week’s range. Coming into this week, the question is whether price can continue holding above the prior range around 27,300 and make another push higher, or fall back inside it.
Nasdaq Hourly and Daily Chart
S&P 500
SPX had a similar week to Nasdaq. Price made a new high around 7,850 on Tuesday, sold off Wednesday and Thursday, then gapped back up Friday and closed right around the prior range high at 7,811.
SPX Hourly and Daily Chart
So I really see two main scenarios here:
Hold above 7,811 and push through last week’s high around 7,850: that would keep SPX building above the prior range and support another move higher.
Fall back below 7,811: that puts SPX back inside the larger range, but it doesn’t mean price has to rotate all the way back to the bottom. We could get a shallower pullback somewhere in between and continue building, similar to how Nasdaq pulled back and consolidated while building the leg that started around September 16.
We’re starting to see buyers show up across all three indexes, so overall structure is shifting more toward the upside. That can still include some sideways movement or pullbacks this week as these moves develop, and I’ll stay with that read unless price gives us new information that changes it.
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