Step Back

I paused.

I stopped for a moment. I dropped whatever I was doing. I tried to reflect. I tried to recall every steps that I've done for the past four months and I realized I've done so much. I have traded. I've gained. I've lost. Got burned. I've cut my losses. Bought a book. Subscribed to recos. Followed the recos. Gained. Lost. Got burned again. Purged. Search a better source of information. Read blogs. Watch youtube videos. Listened to podcasts. Attended webinars. Enrolled to online modules. Purged. Stopped trading. Did a 50K challenge. Did paper trade. Traded in the minutes chart. Intraday entry. EOD exit. Gained.

And then just when I thought na I'm starting to get it...

...someone advised me...

"Don't go into the minutes without mastering the daily... Iwas ka sa ganyang style ah. Pag na adik ka sa intraday charts, pwede kang ma wipe if you're not careful."

I have every reason not to take his words seriously. Why should I listen to this this guy? I've never even met him. I've only talked to him through social media chat. But then I thought, why is this guy also wasting his time replying to my message and gives me advise? He doesn't even know me as much as I don't know him.

I'm chatting him because I needed help and guidance. And I believe that he's chatting back to give that help and guidance. So when he advised me to avoid what I'm doing, I paused.

I paused.

I tried to recall every steps that I've done for the past four months.

I've done so much but the real question is: What have I learned from it?

Four months into this, aside from basic terms and definitions, I am sure I've learned one thing...

Execution of cut loss / trail stop.

Take note of the word 'execution'. For everyone into trading knows what cut loss or trail stops are. Basic yun eh. But not everyone has the capacity to execute it.

And that important lesson was my key take away on one of his lessons. Although I already know what cut loss/trail stops are, I never really put so much effort into executing it. That's why my port ended up red in the first place. HODL!!! No risk management. But somehow, after that lesson about trading psychology and trail stops, my confidence to execute cut loss and trails stops did level up. Thanks to them.

I have every reason not to take his words seriously. But they managed to boost my confidence and helped me execute my cut loss and trail stops. If they can help me with that, they can definitely help me with a lot more about this trading journey.

So yes, I'm taking his advise.

I paused.

I tried to recall every steps that I've done for the past four months.

Ive done so much. And I want to do more. And by doing all that, I realized, it is causing me to lose my focus and learning nothing in return. I'm so hyped up to the point where I want to do everything at once. In the end, I wasn't able to absorb anything from it.

Then this guy told me...

"Why not take a break from everything that is stocks? Mukang gusto mo madaliin [ang] process without having a clear path to take. So take a breather".

And he was right. I didn't have a clear path. I don't even have a trader profile.

What am I?

Trend follower? Momentum trader? Swing Trader?

I haven't even found my bread and butter. I just blindly enters a trade regardless of its setup.

I want to catch every movers. In the end, it just caused me more chaos than order.

I paused.

After the decision was made. I purged my facebook. I 'snoozed for 30 days' all people and pages na related sa trading. I've deleted Investa and vTrade app from my phone. I stayed away from anything related sa trading except my journal.

"Find inner peace. Wag ka pa-FOMO", he said.

I could've ignored the guy's words and traded ISM on my real port after I've sold IRC (Yes, these are all happening during the third telco hype). I could've made more money. I've had ISM on my virtual port at 3.21 before I deleted vTrade. Last time i checked, ISM was trading at 8-ish. That could've been an easy 250% gain if I traded it on my real port. Could've made my first million. I'll be lying if I say it didn't crossed my mind that this guy won't even know it and he won't bother asking. But I told myself, "If I can't follow simple instructions from him, paano ko ifa-follow mga trading rules ko in the future?". So I didn't. I tried to forget about the third telco craze and the thought of trading it.

Control what you can. Control your emotions.

"Wag ka pa-FOMO", he said.

It was a simple advise? But it takes so much effort to do it. Imagine I just took a pass on a chance to easily earn my first million in exchange for a step closer to controlling my emotions. If in every million missed I get a lesson learned. I'd do it again.

I sent him a message and quoted him, "Andyan lang ang market. Marami pang opportunities na darating".

"Correct. 😊 it all starts with the right decisions. Congratulations."

he replied.