Transcription
So, you've made it level six. You are an optimized pro. What does that mean?
Well, it means you are a trading god amongst mortals. No, it doesn't. It just means you've done the work. You followed a system. You followed a process. You've had patience and you've been willing to do what 80% of traders aren't willing to do out there.
Now, this is important. If you've reached this level and you filled in your form and it said, "Congratulations, you're an optimized pro." What that probably means is you lied on your form or you made a mistake or, all kidding aside, you're in a situation where you're a bit lonely and you want a community or, importantly, you're actually at a point where you're able to deliver on the trading strategy that you have. We'll get into the details in a second. You've literally got all boxes ticked. There's no real weakness in anything that you do, but you want to maybe expand your trading into prop firm or fund management. And again, that's where it loops over. A lot of traders at level five start in that process or start that journey. But it might be that you didn't do that at level five and you've now got to the point where you can deliver on this.
So, it's important to understand an optimized trading pro isn't a professional out in the city. This can just be a retail trader, someone like me, someone like you listening to this, but they are doing everything from a professional platform and in terms of how they think, how they act, how they operate, how they review, how they show up, all of their habits, everything is aligned. So it doesn't matter whether you're just trading consistently a set of strategies you've always been trading or, like I said, you're in that position where now you want to do other things within it.
So the way to think about professional is very simple. An amateur is someone who does things repeatedly until they can do it successfully once. A professional keeps doing it regardless so that they don't do it wrong once. So it's this idea that I'm going to get to the point where mistakes are an absolute minimum. Conscious rule breaks just don't exist. So there's no conscious rule break. You're not breaking your rules. You're not doubling up on risk. You're not doing any of that. None of that curse. But mistakes are at an absolute minimum. They will happen from now from time to time. You're a human, but the focus really is on a level of excellence that is really missing in a lot of the trading industry.
And I've been very fortunate enough to work with people from all the way down at the bottom who've been sat down at a naive new newbie all the way through to this point. Kerry being an example of that. You've probably seen her case study on the website. And I've got somebody like Martin who came in really in that kind of avid learner slash frustrated implement phase and got him all the way there. And I've had other traders that have come in almost at a level four. Rushi, a guy I work with very recently. He probably came in at about a level four and he's got through to this level. So, and there are people I've worked with that have made it to level five and they feel they're happy at that point and they move on. So, it isn't that you have to absolutely have to get to level six, you know, in a short period of time, but if you're doing everything right, you will end up here. It's inevitable that you will move from level four to level five to level six if you continue to do everything right. But the real marker is both the strategy delivery and the execution and the profitability.
So the key thing here, let's just talk about what traders have said to me that have worked through the system, got to this point. What are the types of things they say to me to actually highlight what this means? So the first phrase here is really important. It's the bit where it says everything is dialed in. Another phrase I hear quite a bit is everything is locked in. So everything feels tight, focus, crisp, polished. Everything's dialed in. You know exactly where you are. The other big word here is ownership. We'll touch on that before we finish the video. That everything you do, you feel that you own. Like it says there, my strategy, my mindset, and my execution all work in sync. I can see how they all fit together and they're well, they're working optimally. They're well-oiled. It doesn't mean a little bit like a car where things, you know, you're going to have rough terrain or you're going to go through a drawdown period or you're going to have a smooth bit of road. All that happens, but everything within that vehicle is all tight, working properly, and it's all locked in. I trade with precision. I review with purpose. Mistakes are rare and emotions don't control me.
We talked about that in the last level, how your emotions will minimize as you go from a level four through to a level five. And now you're at the point where they don't control you. You don't react to them. You literally acknowledge them. It's almost like you see them outside of yourself when you're at this level. It's not that you sit there talking to yourself in the third person. However, that is actually quite a good coaching tool that you can use, but it's that you emotionally are detached from them. Yes, you will see a little bit of fluctuation and you've been through enough scenarios.
Now, this is important. You don't have to have done this for 20 years to reach this level. I've had work with traders get here in two years, two and a half years, sometimes even quicker if you really put the work in. I'm working with a guy at the moment that I think will get here probably within about six months. They will literally get to that point. So, anywhere from six months up to two years is really common if you're doing everything right. But this is really, really important. That emotional detachment is there. They have the ability to really make sure that they're not attached to it. They can see themselves separately from what it is they're doing. As it says there, I'm not reacting to the market. I'm responding like a professional.
And even over that short period of time that traders can reach that point if they're doing everything right, they will have been through enough scenarios that there's very little that could happen in the market that could shake them. There will be certain market scenarios that they they won't have seen, which we're going to touch on in a minute. But they've been through winning months, losing months, winning quarters, losing quarters. They've been through all of these different things. Quiet periods, busy periods, busy periods where a lot of the trades don't go their way. Quiet periods where the trades tick along and they actually do very well. So, they then build up that association that just because they're busy with potential trades doesn't mean they're going to make more money. They've gone through periods where the market is choppy if they're day trading and they've had to be really careful about the trades that they take. They've gone through periods where the markets have been trending, but their setups haven't quite occurred. So they've had to sit back and watch the market go sailing off at two 300 points on that day and not actually get any of those points but come back the next day.
I was actually working with Alan who's known as Anchor. He I was working with him today in a session and this month he's had just just over a break-even month but overall his first month was six his second month was 20 just over 22%. And he's had a break-even month this month and he's had to sit through a five-trade losing run, two-trade win, three-trade losing run and a period where he was underwater by 5% for that month. And I said to him, I'm actually more pleased about this month than I am about your 22% winning month the previous month. And the reason why is this month is harder. You've had to go into a drawdown, go down 5% for the month, stick to your rules, stick to your trades, not just grab short winners. You've had to stick to the two and a half R, the three and a half R, the different R:R value trades that he's taking. And actually to get to that end of that month, stick to your rules, be at break-even. The result I'm actually more happy about because what it shows me is he can deal with adversity.
So, he's building up all of these scenarios, going through these scenarios with feedback, making sure he's trading something that's proven, and he's building up that resilience that is taking him in this direction. He's not there yet, but he will get there because he's also got the right mindset. It's little things like he said, he's like, "Yes, also on top of that, that month I had to be away for a week and I missed out on some of the winners. So, not only have I had a break-even month and gone through all that adversity, I've actually seen the strategy perform quite well." And had I been around that week, I would have had a positive month. But his response was fascinating. He said to me, "Since being working with you, Al, I've realized that I should be happy that the strategy has performed well that month. I couldn't perform as well because I wasn't around." Now, it would have been very different if he had been around and he wasn't delivering on the trades. But the three weeks that he was around, he was delivering on those trades, but delivering on them whilst going through adversity. So all of these scenarios, he's able to now experience, journal, and review on a regular basis. So what he's doing, he's building up all these experiences. So when a similar scenario occurs further down the line, it will just be, "Yep, I've scenario planned for this 'cause I've been through it."
So once you reach the level of an optimized pro, you're calm, you're less reactive, you're less involved, you take each trade far less seriously. You're less emotionally involved. You're not concerned about the result on a day-by-day basis as a day trader or a month-by-month basis as a swing trader. You know, there is a knowing and an ownership inside of you that knows that if you keep doing what you're meant to do, the results will come. And this is key. So here what I do is sustainable, scalable and I trust in my process. I've mentioned that already.
So let's go and have a little look at what it looks like in terms of the six areas. How does it figure for you in that? Well, let's start with the first five. Essentially, I can get through this pretty quickly. For all of those, there is no issue. It's working. So there isn't really an issue to have to think about or work about. The habits are built in as well. The habits are so well ingrained that you're just executing with that unconscious level of competence. And the goal at this level is if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Maintain a consistent approach. So yes, you might choose to start doing some prop firm. You might start to investigate funds. You might investigate all different things on alongside this. But it's this approach that you will use. And this approach is working. You might have to tweak that approach to fit some specific fund criteria or prop firm particular criteria. You might have to tweak it. You might have to change it. You might have to trade less. You might have to trade. Who knows? I can't speak for every scenario that's out there. But in terms of your own trading, there's nothing that you need to change.
Now, market conditions could change. And this is what I want to talk about here. You might be in a situation and I've worked with people over that period of time that have reached the skill set, mindset and everything you need to be at a level six, but there are certain market criteria, market setups, market volatility that they won't have experienced because you can't experience everything even if you've been trading for two or three years. So the things to be aware of here and more mindset is complacency can creep in for some people. Some people are more likely to be a little bit more complacent. Market conditions may shift as I've just said. And as it says here, there's a risk of underestimating what it takes to trade larger size or scale up. So what I mean by that is the trader might want to scale their own account up, which we've talked about at a level five. And it might be that that is what you're going to be doing. So you're going to be doing that at this point. And scaling up is tricky. Doing running prop firms. All of that is a new discipline. So you might underestimate that if you're sitting here and you're feeling a little bit good about yourself, feeling a little bit like, "Yeah, I've got this all licked."
But here's the important bit. This happens very, very rarely because at the optimized pro level, part of that within that knowing and confidence is also a balanced level of humility knowing that the market can come and get you at any point if you or slap you down if you're getting a little bit over the over or ahead of yourself. Let's just put it that way. So still important to use journaling. Meditation for some people is really, really useful especially if they're then going to shift things slightly and prepare mentally for account growth or larger trades.
And the reason I know this is because this is something that I went through when I started trading my own fund. One of the things that I realized and this is again from a mindset point of view is because I was delivering and had to deliver my results and still do on a month-by-month basis in the initial six months to nine months of doing that it didn't affect my discipline didn't really affect my emotions but what I did notice very subtly is I was starting to be a little bit more aware of what the result was on a month-by-month basis. Now, as a swing trader, I can let the end of the month go by. And whilst I will make sure my results are up to date, and I will note where I am, I don't tend to worry too much if I'm up, down, or wherever I am because month by month, that's not what I'm looking at. I know my data, I know the strategies, and I'm looking quarter by quarter, six months to a year, I've got a bigger term outlook. But just the mere fact that I had to deliver my results just made me a little bit more aware of where I was. And there was a tiny wanting in me to be able to deliver a profitable outcome month by month. And even though I knew realistically that wasn't going to be the case and I knew my numbers and the guys at the fund knew that knew the issue there as well, they knew that that wasn't necessarily going to happen, there was still a little bit of a want and desire in me. So when I shifted and essentially traded exactly what I was doing, but just at a lower risk, was running the same type of trades, that new discipline just made me start thinking a little bit short term and being a little bit more aware of that. And because of the experience I've got, I was able to go, ah, just be wary of that, Ally. I was aware of that.
So again, these things can happen even if you've been trading a long period of time, but you've been at level six doing everything right with whatever strategy and system and and whatever financial process you've been doing, i.e. your own money. As soon as you do something else, just be aware of whether or not you see very subtle shifts in how you think that if you don't tackle them, and that first starts with awareness and then essentially feedback or making sure that you have a process to be aware of them, but then do something with them and not let them grow. That is key because those things can seep in very, very quietly and that new discipline if it's combined with maybe a drawdown period suddenly you start to get a little bit more nervous and pulling the trigger over there might be tricky. It might be fine on your own account but a little bit tricky over there but that could creep into your own trading and being able to separate the two.
The challenge I see with a lot of people is once they start prop firm trading, if they haven't built up solid trading on their own account, they can get a little bit edgy about the fact that they've got a drawdown, a maximum drawdown level. And even though they might be risking less, it's a different mindset that if you reach that drawdown, you're out versus being in that drawdown on your own account. So even though you might have adjusted the risk to accommodate for that and you've set the parameters up accordingly, it can still affect you psychologically. The mere fact that you're trying to wait for a payout. It might be that you start pushing trades a little bit more. So again, I'm talking about this at this level, but this is applicable to a level five and possibly even a high level four as well. So that's why it's important you watch different levels. You don't just watch this level, you watch below or if you're coming up from a level five or four to watch this. That's important as well.
So ultimately, maintain a consistent approach. Just be wary of the mind and keeping on top of everything there. And lastly, keys to success. Keep doing what got you here, which is essentially what I've just said. Don't underestimate the power of the ability to keep doing and maintaining all of the skills that you have learned, all of the things you've optimized through feedback, all of the things you've done to essentially get you here. And maintain full ownership of your process. Even if you're trading my setups, your own setups, whatever it is, it doesn't mean you have to completely have your own strategy from beginning to end. But it's highly likely at this level and all of the traders I've worked with and I've worked with to get them to this level, all of them will be doing 20% minimum different even if on the face of it they're trading the same strategy or combination of strategies as me, 20% of how they do it will probably be different in terms of how they interpret certain levels, whether they choose to run the trades to higher time frame moving average targets instead of fixed targets, whatever it might be, moving their stop or trailing their stop on a strategy where I don't or vice versa. Because there isn't one way to do any of this. But what happens is once you've owned it and delivered on the basics and you can prove that in level four as you move into level five and here that's the ownership element because you've done the work. You understand the strategy that you trade even if it is my strategy or somebody else's strategy. You understand it better than anyone else. So those tweaks and changes are all back with statistical probability and it's that ownership and that's what keeps you calm and centered when things aren't working.
There is an illusion out there if you've been trading like me for nearly 25 odd years. Other traders I know they've been trading for 40 years don't go through drawdowns. It happens to all traders. And the more that you own what you do, the more easy it is for you to cope with those. And that's where it's very important on the last point here is to stay humble because if you don't, the market will do it for you. Yeah, the market will slap you down if you don't stay humble. But as I've said, if you've reached this point and done everything right, you didn't get here by fluke. You got here by hard work, commitment, feedback, and doing the right things, learning from your mistakes. And as I've said, that process doesn't have to be years and years and years. If you do everything right and you follow all of those things, you will naturally stay humble because you will have been through enough scenarios to know that the market is essentially in charge. And when you turn up on the day, that individual trade is really in the hands of the market, but it's the 50 trades, the 100 trades that you execute with diligence, focus, and stick to your rules are the ones that give you the statistical edge and mean that you're going to end up in that small percentage of traders that is consistently profitable. That doesn't mean week by week. Doesn't even mean month by month. But you are consistently profitable over the time that matters.
None of you listening to this, you won't be listening to this thinking, I want to be successful for a year or two years. I don't know anyone that's come to me and said, I just want a quick smash and grab, Al. I want to be done and dusted within six months. Most people here are here for a minimum of five years, 10 years, 20 years. So if that's the case, honor that process at the start and get yourself to a point where that's where the consistency shows up. Not in what you did this week, not so you can go and say to your mate, you've just passed the let's second stage of a prop firm and get your payout and all of that rubbish. It's all about being consistent and letting those things follow. You lead with your consistency and those things will follow along behind you. The profits, the success, all of those things. And I've done it and seen it over and over again. And I know this is how you do it. This is the process that gets you there.
So, you might be thinking, what's next? Well, feel free to follow me here for more trading insights. But if you're looking for an even more clear, specific, and proven route to your own trading success, then check out the links in the description, and they'll show you exactly how we can.