Thread by @maplestax

How I became profitable by focusing on the 3 E’s. Entries, exits, and emotions.
(A Thread)
I was consistently losing on a day to day basis with dwindling hope. After reviewing thousands of charts, I realized I needed to review myself.

1. ENTRIES- A very difficult concept to stand behind as it deals with TA and supporting your analysis with confidence. How many times have you charted out a play and not executed and it went as planned? Missed opportunities.

2. I was frustrated with my lack of confidence in my own plays, so I began taking entries on my best setups with rather small size. Each time I was right I gained a small boost of confidence. I saw a positive change in my consistency.

3. EXITS- Now that I had a general understanding of taking my own entries, I was still not completely satisfied with my exits. Stop Loss and potential Price Targets. I was holding my losers and not letting winners ride. Deadly combination for your account.

4. Now this all sounds familiar as we all endure the same problems whilst trading. My favorite Mark Douglas quote: “Eating like a bird and shitting like an elephant” really defined my experiences taking trades.

5. My exits were poor, so I focused on the basic concept of risk to reward. If my entries were supported by low risk TA, then I should only be taking trades that align with my “edge” for profitability. I began aiming for 5-10% profit with a ~5% SL or breakeven.

6. Now a 1:2 R/r ratio doesn’t sound too glorious after the fact, but we are earning our right to gain consistency. If you focus on profits and not refining your skill set, you WILL lose the endgame. Consistency= increased reward. The profits will come if you stick to your edge.

7. EMOTIONS- Once I gained confidence in my entries and exits, I still had trouble executing my plan at times due to the market environment and chasing FOMO plays. My emotions were not under control and neither were my trades.

8. I began putting my buys and sells onto a reviewed chart to see exactly where I was making mistakes. I noticed that at each FOMOment I took a loss, it was a large rallying bar that I had no business taking as my edge was not present.

9. If I had entries and exits down, why was I still taking these awful trades? This is when I dug deep into my emotions to recognize my major issues: fear, anger, anxiety, greed, despair, overzealous euphoria and the list goes on. I started working on them each 1 by 1.

10. I wrote all my problems down and would read them each morning in PM and before market open to keep myself aware and grounded if my common mistakes. Humility and accepting my faults was a breath of fresh air.

11. If you aren’t profitable at this stage of your trading journey, don’t sell yourself short. You have the potential to achieve your goals and so much more if you can create and put yourself in a positive mindset not only in trading but in life. Work on your 3 E’s!