“Winning the day” @Mike86
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 @Mike86 has to say!
What brought you into trading?
I became friends with a currency trader. He and another friend of mine would discuss markets when we were hanging out.
I didn’t understand the lingo, but it piqued my curiosity when he showed me the trading app on his phone. He gave me a few educational resources to check out, which I promptly did. I opened an account, my first trade was a winner and I fell down the rabbit hole!
What do you like most about Convergent?
There is so much to like about Convergent, that it is difficult to narrow down! Overall, what impresses me the most about Convergent is that it is clearly built on the foundation of a growth mindset. The offerings included in a Convergent membership have continuously expanded and improved since I have been a member. I originally signed up to check out a webinar here and there but was mostly just using the stalk zones and wasn’t active on the site. There is so much value here and it just keeps getting better.
If I had to narrow it down to one or two specific things, I would say the focus on process and accountability has been hugely instrumental in my growth since I became active on the site.
How have these aspects helped you grow as a trader?
The ideas that I’ve been exposed to through the webinars and the head traders in the chat room have shifted my focus away from trying to make money today towards building a repeatable process that can sustain a viable business over a career. The accountability forum, the new journaling tool (which is great by the way), and the strong suggestions to commit to working with an accountability partner have helped me to be honest with myself about what I’m actually doing day in and day out, and to attempt to focus on my strengths and decrease my errors.
My accountability partner and I recently expanded to form a group with two other Convergent members, which has been a great experience so far. I love that Convergent not only gives us access to successful professional traders, but also encourages us to intimately work with other developing traders. It is a huge thing to be able to connect and grow together with other individuals who have committed themselves to the grueling process of becoming consistently professional and profitable traders. The accountability, encouragement, and insight gained from working with other traders makes the learning process so much more rewarding – both in results in your work and on an interpersonal basis.
Do you have a favorite community quote or webinar?
Two quotes regularly come to mind. One is from Morad – I regularly think about “winning the day.” I’m not going to make money every day, but I can still win the day by sticking to my process and doing the work that I said I would do. Another quote I think about regularly is from Dr. Andrew Menaker. In one of his webinars, he mentioned “substituting the need to be right with the need to be precise.” That is such a great concept!
Another member recommended the “Trader Mindset” webinars from November of 2018 to me, and I really enjoyed them. There’s a lot of great stuff in there!
Do you have any advice for new members?
The number one thing I think most people would benefit from is a full acceptance that it is probably going to take you longer than you might think to reach the level of consistency that you desire. It is tough, but try to set your life up in a way where you can commit to pursuing trading through a long haul. Having said that, I wasted a lot of time trading in isolation with no accountability and a poorly defined process. There is so much value here at Convergent. Commit to making FULL use of it and you probably won’t have to bumble along making the same mistakes and expecting different results like I did for a long time!
What is your favorite non-trading activity/hobby?
I am a simple man! I enjoy cooking, eating, and hanging out at home with my wife and cats. I play guitar, but not as much as I should! My wife and I enjoy video games and we have really gotten into board gaming over the past year. We also enjoy hiking and camping, when the weather is just right.
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