From RAF to Pro Trader | Paul Wallace's Battle-Tested Trading Secrets

From RAF to Pro Trader, Paul Wallace’s journey is a masterclass in trading psychology and discipline. In this episode of the Two Blokes Trading Podcast, Paul reveals how his years as a Royal Air Force fighter controller shaped his decision-making, risk management, and resilience in the financial markets. His career transition from the military to professional trading wasn’t about luck; it was about applying structure, adaptability, and the ability to thrive under uncertainty.

Paul discusses the critical importance of risk management, comparing trading capital to military ammunition, once it’s gone, you’re out of the fight. He explains how a military mindset provides the ability to remain calm in volatile markets, adapt strategies to current conditions, and manage emotional responses to losses.

Listeners will gain practical insights into building consistency through rigid rules and flexible expectations, understanding market psychology, and developing habits that prevent burnout. Paul’s experience spans intraday FX mean reversion strategies, coaching traders worldwide, and helping them master the mental game that separates short-term success from long-term performance.

Whether you’re an aspiring trader or a seasoned professional, this episode will challenge you to think differently about your approach, helping you improve decision-making, survive market turbulence, and ultimately trade with greater confidence and control.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

In this episode, you’ll learn how to harness the power of trading psychology to strengthen your performance and resilience. Paul Wallace shares how his RAF background instilled discipline, situational awareness, and the ability to manage risk under pressure—skills that are directly transferable to trading.

We cover why psychology often outweighs strategy when it comes to long-term success, and how the right mental framework can help you handle drawdowns, losses, and market uncertainty. You’ll discover why having rigid rules and flexible expectations is essential, and how to adapt trading plans to different market environments without losing consistency.

Paul explains his intraday FX mean reversion strategy, why resilience is a trader’s greatest weapon, and how to avoid the self-sabotaging habits that derail so many careers. We also explore how to build a sustainable trading routine, from ring-fencing time to using self-assessment tools to measure readiness and prevent burnout.

By the end, you’ll understand why top traders view each trade as a data point, not a personal verdict and how to leverage that mindset to stay in the game, learn from mistakes, and grow as a trader. This is a practical, experience-rich episode that blends real-world market tactics with the high-performance mindset of a seasoned veteran.