TradingLife Podcast with Brad Jelinek

Stay curious and be willing to take days off to clear your head. It will preserve your momentum and help you stay open minded. It’s been a hard lesson for me to work in a less linear fashion.

An old lesson came back to bite me in a big way at an inopportune time. Position sizing continues to be my greatest strength and greatest weakness but at this stage of my career the downside of that is less tolerable.

You must determine the point where you are going to exit your trade before you enter. Sometimes the more complex your strategy the more you can rationalize not doing that in your head. You can also rationalize that when you are trading well and it doesn’t seem important at the moment...but it IS!

Today I talk about being stuck in a loser at the dentist, how to trade (or not) while moving, and what a good friend reminded me about the freedom and your work.

I talk about how I learned a very painful lesson this week about what happens when you’re not independent in your thinking.

This is a longer than normal episode where I take questions from members of the Edge Trading Group. It’s fairly wide ranging.

It’s important to focus on what actually makes you money. It’s very easy to bleed your day away pursuing intellectual macro discussions that won’t give you an edge. Take the time to do the most important stuff first.

I’m using the inner balance Heartmath device get into a focused state. Practicing that way has made it easier to replicate that state during my day.

What makes the most impact for you? Zero in on that. Develop a process to support that.

You can’t get to the next level until you stop getting beat up doing marginal trades. Focus on your core strategy.

Today we got an example of what can happen in the market when a lot of people are short. Be aware if you’re in a battleground asset.

I talk on how more research can make you less flexible without increasing your odds of success. Instead of working harder you may need to work differently.

I talk about how I’m going to treat myself today after having a decent sized loser.

I reflect on getting burned on a 2 month stock trade. I share 3 lessons, one of which really stood out.

Find the facts for yourself. It’s ok to use others to send you down a path but resist the urge to repeat and internalize narratives that aren’t true to you.

I talk about how I’d behave if I had one year left to live after reflecting on a date night question with my wife.

I discuss what it would take for me to make the switch into full-time trading.

I discuss how it’s important to understand your personal risk tolerance. You can’t have market declines outside of your trading ruin your mindset and make you emotional. Proper planning can prevent this.

I discuss a few really important questions to prepare for each trading day. What would be the biggest surprise today? What kind of personality is the market showing lately?

I talk about conducting yourself like a professional when asking questions and when you are having success or struggling. It’s important to approach others with awareness and care.

I talk about how you don’t have to buy on the first big down day and how it’s important not to let the external market influence your internal market.

I talk about how during a sports bet there is a defined ending point but during a trade if you don’t create an ending point it can be a continuous thing. That can be very dangerous if you don’t know where you’re wrong.

Today I talk about what it’s like to have a shit day because It happens and the best thing I did was a little bit of damage control by taking a nap.

I discuss how your momentum is your most precious asset. Sometimes the first loss psychologically doesn’t feel so bad but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it just as seriously.

There are no shortcuts. Pain and experience are part of the process. Nobody else can save you with their system but you can certainly learn a lot from other people. The faster you figure out you need to make a system your own, the quicker you can move toward success.