Process, Part 1

Morning:

As I am writing to you, I implore you to ask yourself the question, “Am I in the right state of mind to trade right now”. I personally, require effort to get into the right state of mind. This morning it was a large cold brew coffee and an hour in the gym. After that, I listened to 15 minutes of a motivational video with David Goggins and did my scans. The intensity of the workout gets my blood flowing, endorphins running and boosts my energy for the morning session. I then look to see what the macro is doing (SPY IWM etc. ). As I trade mostly big cap I need to be on top of the SPY all the time, as it will influence which side of the trend I want to be on. Following the macro outlook, I narrow my focus to what is moving and what formed a good trend yesterday. I try to match up as many positive catalysts for a thesis as I can. For example, yesterday my focus was VCEL because it had good #s and a 52wk. Those two events generally provide a good thesis for a long trade in my opinion based on what I have seen. I try to keep my focus between 1-4 names. My goal is to really zoom in and be laser focused on these names, that is, so far, provided the best results for me as a trader. This pretty much sums up the morning for me.

How you manage your state will probably look different than mine. But in order for you to even have a chance in this business for the long haul, learning how to get in gear mentally is a necessity. If working out works for you great, if not, maybe meditation does, maybe reading something that will make you smile is the answer. Whatever it takes for you to get into the right state of mind, master that.