‍What attracted you to trading?

Money in the first place, but I was also interested in crypto. I started with crypto in the Summer of 2017, and since then, I've traded all crypto markets.

How long did it take you to become profitable? Were there any significant turning points?

Becoming profitable is a long journey; I am still learning and making mistakes. Hard to say how long it took for me because I was profitable right when I started but lost most of it. Then I learned not to lose and became good at it. I think that was the turning point. You have to stop losing first - even if that means that you have to stop trading. Identify mistakes, take it easy, and practice slowly.

You have to stop losing first - even if that means that you have to stop trading

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Looking back now, was there any particular thing causing those early losses you cut out?

Holding losers - obviously. As beginners, we naturally can't accept losses and hold losing trades while hoping to get out at break-even and even add size to them, causing the loss to become more significant. Huge 

mistake.

Cut losers early and keep them as small as possible, allowing you to have more losing trades and recover with a winning one. After some practice, you also get better with tighter entries and stops. Then you only have to learn to hold winners because that's the other issue.

We naturally take profits early because we think profit is profit. But small profits, in the best case, barely cover your losers. You have to hold winning trades as long as possible to recover losses and be profitable.

How has raising a family impacted your trading?

When my son turned two years old, I decided to dedicate most of my time to him because he needed that as a potential autism candidate. Because I had less time, I had to switch from intraday scalp trading to swing trading, which is not easy. Checking lower timeframes on the phone can be tempting, which can lead to manually managing trades against your initial plan. I'm still working on improving that. I will let people know once I figure out the best way to handle all that. For now, I'm figuring it out myself.

What's the worst thing about trading and why?

I would say the fear. It tricks the brain into making bad decisions. It's happened to me too many times to count. Every time you cut trades early, it is because of fear. To avoid that fear problem, you need two things: conviction in a trade, and the balls to hold it. 

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Every time you cut trades early, it is because of fear.

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Tell us about your most memorable trade.

In 2020, I shared my favourite pattern based on supply and demand. My colleague RektProof later made it famous as the "Three tap pattern". My most memorable trade was Bitcoin's rally from 30k to 58k. I held an excellent long position from 30k up to 46k with conviction. That trade made me happy and proud because it drastically changed the size of my trading account.

Colleague? Were you part of a group of traders when you were learning? 

No, he's a good friend on CT, which is why I said a colleague. We had similar approaches to TA and trading that's why we have love and respect for each other, but it's been a while since we talked. Having people to share ideas with can be helpful but also harmful. Choose your friends wisely - loyalty is rare these days. 

What's the best trading advice you've received?

To learn orderflow to understand precisely why the price moves the way it does. Orderflow means to know the market participants who trade and form the candles. To understand where the price will go, you must guess your opponent's next move, just like in chess but with more than two players.

Trading:

What's the most important quality in a trader and why?

Discipline. Trading ain't easy at all; you have to keep learning and improving. The best way to do that is to write things down. Having a journal is a must. It's something that I still have to work on myself, even if I trade less.

What kind of things do you journal?

I journal execution and reasoning. I don't journal immediately and not every trade, but it's better to do that. The purpose of journaling is to improve your conviction. Conviction is the second most important quality in a trader after discipline. Many traders who made it are not even good at TA or risk management, but thanks to their conviction, they took risks and made it. The ultimate superpower would be to have all qualities combined.

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Why do you think you have success trading?

My TA game is strong - I'd say it's one of the best on CT. Good TA can compensate for bad execution. My trade execution is bad. I still often take profit early. But as I said, when you nail entries perfectly, thanks to good TA, you'll still be profitable, although there's more potential.

Do you still backtest and refine your strategies, or are you "set" now?

I haven't backtested in a while, but I am still refining. I'd argue that watching PA and memorising new patterns is self-refining. A pattern works for a certain time until too many people use it. That's why trading bots won't stay profitable forever. You have to adapt to changes like in everything else in life.

What keeps you trading? What does "making it" mean to you?

I trade because it's better than 9-5. If I had enough to retire well enough, I would probably not trade anymore. Being financially free means freedom in general.

What's something you've learned in the last six months that has made you a better trader?

I've started setting my take-profit levels in advance and calculating my profit if price went to target. It helps me hold a position if I know exactly how big the reward will be. 

Taking partial profits will significantly erode your returns versus holding a full position. It makes a huge difference. 

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What's the mistake you find hardest to avoid when trading?

Cutting winners early because of the fear that I mentioned earlier. Once you enter a trade with size, your body gets into "fight or flight" mode, making the brain use short-cuts for decisions. Those decisions are mostly not the best. You can avoid that by practising and entering trades with a plan B. Again, a journal can be beneficial too.

If you could give someone starting trading tomorrow one piece of advice what would it be and why?

Look for trustworthy people to learn from- people respected by the community as legit teachers and not random people on YouTube or Telegram.

There are different methods to trade; you have to find yours. Less is more. Learn risk management first. I see many people frustrated with their losses. You have to solve that mental issue first. Mindset is the key to success.

Take a break, and be grateful for your health and loved ones. Then once you feel better, you can start again. Money is not more important than your and your family's health.

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There are different methods to trade; you have to find yours. Less is more.

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‍Is there anyone who was a major influencer or mentor when you were learning? Who are some traders you look up to?

I never really had a mentor, honestly. I appreciate people like Hsaka and Cobie for having the ability to check complicated stuff and immediately draw conclusions from it. I appreciate everyone else who has a talent. I mean, we can't be good at everything right? That's why it's cool to have each other. 

Fill in the blanks

• Most traders would be better off without leverage.

• What separates the pros from the rest is discipline.

• A good trader should never risk too much.

• The biggest misconception about trading is that it's easy.

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