We challenged some of our newest traders to expect more from their results recently. We wanted to push them toreach for a goal just outside of their present ability. This is how you improve at anything. You push yourself beyond your comfort level for a new goal you are not quite good enough to obtain.

Every night I asked these traders to thoroughly review their work and send me an email with their path to 1k for that day. Friday I pulled the plug on this project as it was time and I want to concentrate on a new push for their learning. I asked our traders to give me some feedback on this exercise. Perhaps this is a learning exercise you might consider for your trading development.

Hey Bella,

I thought it helped a lot. My review was more thorough than it was before. Before the exercise I was satisfied with the days where I was up two or three hundred bucks. After we began the exercise I raised my expectations significantly. Jeff and I were talking about it a couple nights ago and we both found that something interesting was happening. Those $200-$300 days were coming much easier but we were still making a lot of mistakes, with some poor execution. What we previously considered pretty good days were now dissapointing days and we were mentally prepared to have bigger days. I think raising expectations helped a lot in that way.

This is definitely something worth doing again in the future. I improved my performance more in the last few weeks than any prior period since starting. It seems like a developing trader can be as thorough (or not thorough) as they want with something like this, but for me the most important thing was identifying where my money could/should have been made each day.

There aren’t really any negatives I can think of with the exercise, although sometimes I felt like there’s a lot of woulda/coulda/shoulda during the process. Overall, it was well worth the time and effort and I don’t think I was reviewing my work properly until recently.

And…….

Mike:

The exercise was good. It helped me notice which plays i should have more size on and when and where i should and shouldn’t be aggressive. The only bad thing is that i think i tried to hard to make that 1k and wound up not trading my style, I think I over traded a little bit and pushed some trades with size that when I look back wasn’t even worth the trade. I lost more money since I was using more size so my losses were bigger and i had to adjust to that and made me really focus down on what plays are the best setups for me and be aggressive with those A+ setups. Overall it was a great exercise and hopefully that 1k day will just come naturally and I don’t force it.

And…..

Bella,

The path to 1k was a great way for me to focus on the “A” setups and all of the nuances involved with trading them. The exercise helped me breakdown each trade where I should have had more size and helped me think about why I didn’t and what I need to do to work on that. I think every setup we determine to be an “A” or “B” deserves this type of review. All of the setups done for this exercise are an awesome addition to my playbook and I will work hard to find more of these plays and trade them with more size. Exercises like this really help because reviewing the “A” setups as many times as possible and seeing these patters over and over again give me the confidence need to absolutely crush them when I have the chance.

And……

Bella,

I thought the path to 1K exercise was very helpful. It has forced me to raise my expectations. Last month, I was happy with a $200 day, and now that seems like nothing. I don’t think my problem has been taking bad trades, I think my problem is not making enough on my best trades. Every day after the close, I would pick one or two stocks that I traded and review the trades in more detail than usual. Instead of focusing on where I bought/sold, I focused more on where I could have added size.

When I was marking up the charts after the close, I was able to visualize places to add. Getting more aggressive in positions is one of my weaknesses, and this exercise directly addressed that weakness. My mentality in a winning position has changed since the exercise. Instead of looking for places to take sales, I am asking myself, “where can I add size to my best setups?”

Even though this exercise is over, I am still going to pick out my best setups and mark up charts after the close. Instead of paying attention to every little trade, I’m going to continue to focus on how I can get more aggressive on trades that can make my week. This exercise taught me a lot about being aggressive and expecting more out of myself.

Try this exercise for your trading and please send us your feedback. If you are an experienced trader pick a P&L number just outside of your reach. Hope this helps.

Mike Bellafiore

Author, One Good Trade