Inside the Trader's Mind: How long it takes to become profitable?
Welcome to another edition of Daily Pips Trading, your Weekly Dose of Trading Insights & Mindset Hacks
It's been a week since I swapped trading screens for a full-on wellness reset here in Ubud. Our panchakarma retreat has been an intense experience: meditation, yoga, and downtime as the part that makes me smile, but yes, lots of ghee instead of breakfast was consumed. The full-body cleanse phase wasn't easy, but that's the point I guess. On Saturday, the focus turned to rejuvenation, and I'm already buzzing with excitement to get back to all things trading.
Have YOU ever tried taking a screen break for better trading focus? Share your experiences in the comments!
Let's dive in...
Remember those early days? I sure do. For a year and a half, I burned cash day in, and day out, driven by fear, anger, and a whole lot of gambling mentality. It took that long to even grasp what I was getting myself into in terms of trading. That changed when a colleague introduced me to Michael (ICT). His emphasis on the WHY behind price movement was the key that unlocked the game for me. Michael became my mentor in 2019, and that's where I learned the foundation of everything I know about price delivery. Lucky for me, I never fell for the typical social media noise – all those zones, indicators, you name it.
I've spent the last four years dissecting price action – thousands of hours of backtesting, tape reading, and experimentation. And the biggest takeaway? A lot of the retail trading "wisdom" out there is pure BS. You know what I'm talking about:
Supply-demand zones
Moving averages and fancy indicators
Price patterns
The best one: "Learn my million-dollar strategy" videos on YT
Excuse the bluntness, but with the experience I have, that's what it is.
I’ve met a lot of new faces in Ubud over the last week and the top question I got was “How long to become profitable?” Here's my honest answer: it's not about time, it's about unlocking the core of what moves markets and trusting the price and information it gives you. Trusting price delivery instead of EMA crossing paths..
What I’m trying to say is that you have to put the work in and learn about price delivery yourself. Then and only then psychology and the more beautiful things about trading will come into place. Can I help you with that? Certainly.
Anywho, I’m still on the retreat, so I will keep this short with the last thing I wanted to mention. Who knew taking a break would lead to more funding? My latest evaluation account just passed! Sometimes the best trade setups come from stepping away from the charts.
Let me know if any of this resonates with your journey. Feel free to share your experiences in the comments!
Okay, now for the fun stuff I dug into last week...
➡️ Ali Abdaal's "Intentional Productivity".
It's about doing everything with intention - meaning staying productive. I already journal for better habits, but two concepts pushed that further. Constant mindfulness check-ins: Am I really being intentional right now? This killed mindless scrolling, I don’t have any social media apps but YT on my phone now. I also started to consume content with purpose: YouTube is my go-to, but now I curate playlists for specific learning goals and trading-related things. I do have a "Waste 15 Minutes" playlist, and the fact that I actively avoid it is its own mind game. More on that here:
➡️ Need a mind reset?
The fact that I actively avoid that playlist is its own funny mind game. Speaking of intentional content consumption, lately, I've been finding my "chill out" time on Eugenia Cooney's YouTube channel. Her videos about living off the grid are slow-paced, mindful, and strangely grounding to watch. If you need a mind reset, I highly recommend checking her out!
Let me know if you find any other gems like this 😉
My new content:
➡️ How To Overcome Losses
You guys have been asking some seriously good stuff lately on Discord! So I hit record on a recent Q&A session. We cover those trade entry headaches, how to deal with the inevitable losses, why liquidity raids matter, journaling power, and a lot more. Head over to the video and see if it helps with those trading challenges!
Quote of the week:
"Your brain is for having ideas, not for holding them."
David Allen
Want to hang out and learn? Here's where to find me:
✅ Discord = Trading HQ —> Daily analysis, trading education, and a whole community of passionate traders ready to connect.
🌟 Weekly Outlook —> Hope this helps with navigation!
🎥 My YouTube Life —> See my trades unfold, catch my live streams and get those chart analysis breakdowns.
📲 Tweet Me, Maybe —> Quick insights and the occasional pep talk, all in 280 characters or less.
💼Let's Talk Business —> Got ideas? Collaborations? Hit me up at ignas@tmp.business