The Stock Trading Reality Podcast

I suppose it's a pet peeve of mine. But I really can't stand it when people who are making good decisions use the word "luckily" or "luck". No! It's NOT "luck", it's you taking action and doing something with good decisions that is the cause. We have a great example of that in this episode with community member Steve. I found him very motivating in regards to "let me do what I gotta do to make things happen", part of which included willing to move to Alaska for work! How crazy is that? Steve has been on a trading journey that, like many, has included several ups and downs. The big difference with Steve though is he looks in the mirror and points at himself. By doing so, he's been able to identify key problems and then make the proper choices in order to correct the problem. Steve is one of those, "I have no excuse" kind of people, so if that sounds like the type of person you want to be surrounded with, then you'll love this interview. Let's get to it!

There are many ways you can go about learning how to trade and be consistent. I would argue that some ways work better and are more cost effective than others, but those are just my personal theories. In this discussion, we are actually making a bit of history. How so? Well, Chris somehow slipped through the cracks and is currently not a member of the community. For those of you newer to the podcast, I try and make it only with current members. I discovered half way through that Chris was not a member, but at that point, we were already so far in, him and I still went with it. Chris is choosing to go on his journey alone, and that brings up some interesting talking points. He has his theory on why this way will work better for him, which while I don't agree with, I do respect. Although we both have different viewpoints on several issues, I will say that he was able to remain an adult the whole time and we still had a pleasant conversation! In fact, I think there are several great learning opportunities for everyone that come from the conversation, so let's get to it!

Ever heard of the K.I.S.S. method? "Keep-It-Simple-Stupid".... I'm a big believer in it as I've learned that not only with trading, but many areas in life, the more simple it is, the more likely it is to happen. With that being said, when it comes to approaches to the market and trading strategy, we may have a new winner when it comes to keeping it simple. My guest from our community, Andre, shares with us his strategy and quite frankly, it caught me off guard. You'll notice I go into a bit of "CIA question mode" as I try to pick apart exactly what is going on. Am I successful? Are there some flaws that Andre is overlooking and needs to correct? At this point in my podcast career, I'm pretty confident in my ability to be "in control" of the discussions, but I admit, for a bit I was taken by surprise at how straight-forward Andre approaches the market. Ready for a "simple" ride? Let's get to it!

Talk about a good problem to have! Finding yourself in a position where your career is doing extremely well, but, still wanting to trade. That's the exact position long time member, Diego, is experiencing. This is Diego's third appearance on the podcast and a whole lot has changed since his last appearance. His career continues to bloom and because of that he's needed to make some changes within his trading. You may be thinking, "why bother trading?" since he's doing so well in his career, which is a fair question on your part. Diego is a hustler and grinder and he wants (like any wealthy person you will study) multiple streams of income. He's an extremely motivating guy, so if you are looking for someone with a "no excuses" mentality, then look no further. Diego shares with us how he works a full time job, yet, is still finding the time to make trades and earn additional income. Let's get to it!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but passion alone is not going to be enough when it comes to becoming a successful trader. In this solo episode, I want to share with you what I've learned to be a very powerful way to identify opportunities to give yourself an advantage of overs. I realize that can sound a bit cutthroat and savage; however, let's keep things real, the world of trading is a competition against other human beings. Like any competition in life, the more advantages you can give yourself, the better the chances are that you find success. Let's focus on some pain and how it can actually help you become a better trader and beat out the competition you face!

For this episode we head overseas to talk with a British member of our community, Jason. I always enjoy these discussions as it does a fantastic job illustrating the fact there is no holy grail. What do I mean? Jason is in a completely different country using different brokers than what we here in the USA are using. Yet, as you'll see, he still deals with the same struggles and traps that everyone else done. Point being, it doesn't matter where in the world you are, at the primal level of trading, we can all relate. Trading has nothing to do with what country you live in, it has to do with the fact you are a human being who has emotions. Jason's willingness to share his journey opens up the doors to someone who I would say is doing things the right way. Is it massively flashy? Nope! But it shouldn't be. Trading is a marathon and not a sprint and when you understand this, it will allow you to approach your journey in a much wiser and controlled way. I would say Jason is a fantastic example of exactly this. Let's get to it with this fine gentleman from the UK!

In this day and age, you would get a funny look if you told someone you tried to learn a new skill without using YouTube. No one is stupid or being irrational for choosing to use YouTube as a learning tool for whatever skill they are trying to understand and master. For some skills, YouTube is a quick and effective way to add in a new skill to your productivity toolbelt. In other areas though, YouTube can bit a whole lot more tricky. To better illustrate this, we have a guest who has chosen to take that path. Jose, while being a member of my trading community, is not a member of my structured learning program. As he admits, he's watched a whole lot of YouTube videos, including mine; however, he's still experiencing quite a few bumps and bruises. I'll be the first to admit that even my YouTube videos have flaws. The two major flaws being they are very surface deep (especially the live trading ones) and they are random. Meaning, there is no structure behind them. When you combine these two, well, you're going to have journey similar to Jose. I applaud Jose for his dedication and willingness to be honest about his journey as it showcases the deep dark rabbit hole known as YouTube.

I understand. I really do. The financial markets and world of trading and investing is awesome and offers so much potential! It seems like any direction you look, you can see an opportunity that could put extra money into your pocket. Splash in the fact you can do all this from anywhere with an internet connection and the temptation to "get going now!" becomes even more of a real thing. You're not alone in that feeling. In fact, as ambitious people, it's extremely normal to feel that way; however, DO NOT do it! Do not rush into this! You need to take it slow. Our guest this episode, Matt (community alias, 'brigbills') is a shining example of this. As you'll see, he has multiple streams of income and has a great work ethic toward life; but he's also taking things slow, as hard as it may be. In doing so, he's been able to expose himself to several pitfalls in safe ways. He's learned quite a bit (and continues to learn) about the proper ways to make all this work. At this point, he has not transitioned to real money, so there is a whole lot to talk about! Let's get to it!

If I were forced to guess some of the more competitive industries you can participate in, the New York City real estate market would be one of my guesses. Huge deals, huge competition and money pouring in from all over the world. It takes a unique individual to be able to survive in that kind of environment. This is the type of individual we have on this episode! Fellow member, Christian, is a long time real estate broker in New York City who has now begun a journey within the world of the stock market. My favorite part about Christian was he could have shown up with a big ego, but he didn't. He was completely humble and transparent about his journey so far, including the challenges that have taken some swings at him. We all have hurdles and adjustments that need to be made in life to maneuver through it, and Christian has been doing a great job with it. Let's do some iron sharpening and hear about his journey!

One of the great things about being a human is that we can relate to other humans. Sure, we are not all the exact same; however, there are some general tendencies that seem to be very common from one person to another. Because of this, we can develop general rules of thumb to help us be aware of these potential pitfalls that we set for ourselves (with good intentions of course). One of these heuristic dynamics we tend to use can be summarized as Hanlon's Razor. This can (and should) be used to many different areas of life, but for us as traders, as far as I'm concerned, it is an improvement tool that must be used. Hanlon's Razor offers benefits for the two different groups of traders. Those that are beginners and just getting started in their trading ambitions and those that already have quite a bit of experience. It is our job as traders to use and leverage as many bits of data as possible in order to give ourselves an edge in the market, and I firmly believe that using the trader improvement tool of Hanlon's Razor will assist in this quest. Let's talk more about it!