“PnL may be the last place in which good prep, good process and good habits are reflected.” @Oddamerican
In Members in Profile, we interview stand-out members that show strong aptitude and work ethic. Our goal is to highlight different folks so that you can see the effort that our members are putting into their trading and hopefully learn from their experiences of the Convergent Trading Community.
We hope you enjoy hearing what @Oddamerican has to say!
What brought you into trading?
In college I majored in Economics. My intention at the time was to work in finance and become an Investment Banker, but life had other plans. In the subsequent years I served in the US Air Force, traveled the world with a backpack, started my own business in a foreign country where I did not speak the language. Then I became a father and a bitcoin miner…The list is endless, and the ride has been anything
but boring. Bitcoin mining piqued my trading interest and now almost 40 years after leaving college I am finally landing that job in finance!
What do you like most about Convergent?
Most of all, I like the Accountability Partnership Program. This aspect of Convergent Trading takes the sense of community to a whole new level. It feels good not to be completely alone with just the market and my thoughts. To know that my trading partners are there as well and ready to help me understand an elusive concept, to console me on a loss or congratulate me on a win – it helps me tremendously to hear their thoughts and plans. To see those plans come to fruition and watch them grow as traders. To be able to console them and congratulate them. To let them know that a single trade or a single day does not define them as a trader. To try to help them when I feel that they are about to go rogue and make some dubious trades. Though I must admit that of late it has been them who are there to stop me from going rogue and to remind me that this bad day or even this bad week does not define me as a trader.
How have these aspects helped you grow as a trader?
These aspects keep me growing, learning and remaining optimistic. They keep me humble and hopeful that if I stick to my routine and process that I too, will one day make the turn.
Do you have a favorite community quote or webinar?
My favorite quote or concept has to do with following your process and that good trading is about good process, not about PnL (at least in the beginning). That it is possible that you are indeed learning and growing as a trader, but that growth is not immediately reflected in your PnL. It reassures me that PnL may be the last place in which good prep, good process and good habits are reflected. Thanks to reading and hearing many iterations of this I can keep the faith and not be deterred by trades that go against me.
Do you have any advice for new members?
- It doesn’t matter what the market is going to do. It matters what you are going to do. The market is beyond your control, but what you are going to do is within your control. Unless you cede control to your emotions. And at that point you are lost.
- Routine, Self-Discipline and Process create a winning formula. When I have a bad day, the analysis of why I had a bad day will most likely reveal that I let my guard down by either not following my morning routine or not being self-disciplined in my entries and exits.
- Do not be afraid to take time away from trading. I have been trading live for six months and I am currently in my third break from trading. These breaks are taken when trading gets the better of me. When my actions, body or mental state say, “enough!” I listen and stop trading. I think it is owing to this that I still have 91% of the original capital in my brokerage account. These breaks tend to last a week to ten days. The time is used to read a trading or trading psychology book, to meditate and reflect upon my trading or to simply not think about trading. When I am ready to re-engage the market, I have found I am stronger, more disciplined and a much better trader in every aspect.
What is your favorite non-trading activity/hobby?
My hobbies are as eclectic as my life and include:
- Creative
- Writing
- Reading
- Meditation
- Smoking Brisket, Pork Butt and whole Chickens
- Hiking
Have you participated in the #TradeRight program/challenges? What discoveries have you made?
The Trade Right Program (“TRP”) taught me the fundamentals of being a professional trader and the importance of following a daily routine, trading process and post trading analysis. From TRP, watching Trader Bite and @John471’s morning review in the Maven’s channel, I was able to put together my own routine that takes me from pre-market analysis, scenarios, to post trade and post market analysis. In writing this interview I had to go back and review the Trade Right Program and it reminded me of all the valuable information contained within. As I won’t be trading this week anyway, I am going to go back through the program to refresh my memory on all the important topics that are covered. Because the TRP and Webinars are not unlike a book, when you read the same book a second time not only do you reinforce what you learned the first time, you pick up facts and insights you had missed.