How Full Time Trader Neil Added $200,000 To His Portfolio After Learning My Mechanical Rules

So a bit of a different one for you today. This is my client Neil. Now Neil has actually been a full-time trader for the last 4 or 5 years, and primarily he's been trading on the higher time frame. So he's typically been a swing trader for his, his career. Now he was running into some problems and he wanted to come down to the lower time frames, simplify his trading, and just be a little bit more efficient. So after coming on board with us and learning our mechanical strategies He's just gone and acquired another $200K in funding. So strap in, this is a, this is a good one. You're talking to a veteran trader who has been there, done it, and got the t-shirt. So I hope you enjoy it, and I'll see you in the next one. Perfect. Good stuff. How's things?

Very good, very, very good indeed. Yes, I'm very much, um, enjoying the process of what's happening being part of the community, bouncing ideas off in a structured criticism way. But yeah, no, thoroughly enjoying it. Really, really enjoy it. So glad I joined, really.

Amazing stuff. Amazing stuff. And yeah, listen, I think one of the main reasons why we wanted to do this interview, I mean, obviously other than the fact that you've managed to go and get another round of funding and you're obviously doing incredibly well, I think really the reason that I wanted to do this was because you've kind of come into this from a slightly different perspective from other people. I mean, a lot of the clients that we work with are of course people that haven't traded, haven't traded before, they're new to trading, and they're kind of starting from, from the bottom up. And you're kind of a little bit different to that. You've had quite a bit of experience before, so you're kind of coming to us for a slightly different reason. So I want to, I want to delve into that, um, at some point on this call, but Firstly, I guess let's start from the beginning of your journey and sort of give us a bit of a rundown as to how all of this, this started for you.

Um, so the— I've been training for around 4 to 5 years now, and when you start the beginning, you don't really know what's what, and you had to kind of find your feet. There's no other way of putting about it. You just had to do the time and learn the processes. And it's far easier to start at higher time frames and use far less capital in each trade and use the volatility to go longer distances than it is to use the lower time frames and get caught out in the noise, as we now call it. So historically, I've always been at the higher time frames and letting that distance run and feel fairly confident in the confluences that I had to go about that. But I've never really had the confidence on the lower time frames, which is why I came to you guys, um, because you— it's a different ball game, uh, and understanding one is not necessarily understanding the other, and you need the correct tools in the toolbox to be able to play both games. So yeah, I come from swing trading, fairly profitable, very consistent at it. But it's a long game. It takes weeks, months for a trade to play out. And it's been very noticeable this year that with the way the markets have been and who's going to cut interest rates first, and most of the information coming out and fundamentals was due down to inflation, um, how the market's just so choppy. So I was getting into these high time frame trades, just getting chopped out of it, even on 4-hour, 1-day charts. Um, so it's very volatile. There's no trends playing out. There's no trends, you know. I couldn't play the game. So which is why, like, I had to re-examine what I was doing, um, to, um, to carry on.

So yeah, no, 100%. I think a lot of people are in that situation. I mean, listen, of course, like, an edge plays out over time. So when you're trading on higher time frames, you've kind of got to wait a bit longer for things to turn around and pick back up again. But I think when you're when you're maybe relying on trading to be your income, it's kind of like, okay, I, I need to, I need to be making money here. So I think having that ability to use higher time frames and lower time frames is, is of course really handy. Um, so I mean, before, before trading, I mean, are you, are you still, are you still in work? Are you trading full-time now?

No, I've been trading full-time now for the last 3 to 4 years. Various, various businesses over the years and kind of decided I sort of hit that 40 that, you know, you're replacing time for money. And what I've discovered is, or what I want is, you can always make more money, you can't make more time in your life for family, friends, exploring the world, whatever it happens to be. Um, so there has to be a better way of going about it, and unless you're prepared to jump or rewire your brain to see that, you're never going to make a difference. So, um, yeah, the reason I went to trading is purely to have the freedom to do what I want to do.

Um, yeah, yeah, no, 100%. I think that's really the main reason. I mean, why everybody gets into this— I mean, of course the money's there, the money's great, and if you can get it right, then yeah, there's a lot of money to be made. But I think majority of the time people are getting into this for the reason that, okay, if I do learn how to trade, it's not so much of a, of a task of me putting in the time to trade. Obviously you have to do, have to do so in the start, but it's, it's, uh, I, I put a little bit of time in the mornings, I set my trades up, and then I'm kind of just, just need to be in and around the, the charts or be able to check on my phone to see what's going on. And, and the rest of the time you can kind of, kind of do what you want really. So I think that is a super attractive side of trading.

Um, oh, definitely. It's how I run my life. Um, you know, we enjoy holidays around the world, and I take 4 laptops with me, and, you know, I keep one with me all the time in the hire car. We travel around wherever it be, and let's say you keep tabs on it, but you don't want to detract yourself from it so much you can't enjoy yourself. But you don't want to be looking at 10 screens constantly all day long because it's just paralysis by analysis. It really, really is. Uh, been there, done that. It doesn't play out. And you had to get escapism and get away, reframe your brain and come back to it fresh, uh, whatever time frames you're away, the times you're running it from. So the psychological aspect of all of that is very, very important. That's one thing I've discovered over the last 4 years of— you've got to be, um, very disciplined, I suppose, is the right way. And people say, oh, you know, you look retired and all the rest, you're not doing anything. But yet we all know if you're looking at a 1-minute chart, you're definitely working. It's way. Working smarter, not harder. That's how I look like.

Yeah, definitely. It's like all of the day's stress into, into an hour or so in the day. You kind of just cram it all in and then you've got to just sit back and relax for the rest of the day just to sort of cool yourself down from the, from the session. Yeah, I can definitely relate to that. But yeah, so obviously, again, like from a completely different perspective, a lot of the people that we do interview are either on the path of going full-time, or they have just gone full-time with their trading. So I want to, I want to go back to the sort of days where you weren't trading full-time and just understand a little bit about that journey and sort of how you transitioned into full-time trading. So I guess, what were some of the main struggles that you faced sort of leading up to the stage where you were able to make that decision to, to sort of really just go full-time with your trading?

The full-time of trading, um, the struggles was the psychological struggles were the biggest ones. Having the, the confluences or the, the confidence to place that trade, um, rather on a, on a bias that you have that direction to, rather than gambling. A lot of people from the outside world and family members, friends, see it as gambling. Um, and it's making that transition of just putting a trade in just for the hell of it, see what happens, gambling, as to having a technical analysis, fundamental basis, and the bias to go with it, to, you know, you've got an edge, um, of there is a, you know, something to it. And it's, yeah, that jump is a difficult one, um, because you have to believe so much Um, you know, 90% is psychological basis, no doubt about it. Um, believe in yourself, believe in your charts, believe in the data. Um, and yes, of course it can always go wrong. There's no magic pill here. But if you can get within 50% being right, um, on the usual risk-to-reward ratios, you're well in, um, being on the good side of things. But the struggle for me is psychologically, definitely. Um, I think for a lot of people it is You know, I come from a background of being a farmer for 20 years. Trading definitely wasn't on my agenda. You know, I worked very, very hard 7 days a week for 20-odd years. I've done my hard graft and, you know, very— it was very successful at the time. But like all these things, farming changed over the years and what was profitable with supermarkets coming online and stuff like that, they changed the game completely. We used to serve corner shops, grocery stores, and that sort of thing. They just gone, you know, all places where Tesco Express now, and they're not interested in the little people. So the game changed. So I had to do something. Um, so I had to rewire my brain and yeah, find something that suited a lifestyle that I wanted to lead, to have that choice, really.

Yeah. So when you were sort of making that decision, I mean, were you looking at other things to do, or was trading kind of something that you had a previous interest in and you wanted to go into that, or Like I say, when you start looking at other things.

In 2015, 2016, I bought some cryptocurrency purely by chance and it was significantly lower than what it is now. And that intrigued me where that was going and what it was doing. So although I didn't understand what cryptocurrency was, Some friends got into it and you kind of just go down a rabbit hole. And back then it really was, you know, this isn't gonna go anywhere, you're wasting your money kind of scenario. We all remember those stories. But as it is, it's played out quite well. Yeah. But that got me intrigued and I've always loved technology and I've always loved that side of things. So Because of that, I've always looked at trading but never knew how to go about it. Well, you know, we know what a candle was when you first start, you know, it's just all a bit of a blur to you. Um, but because I had this cryptocurrency, um, it did spark an interest. I started to learn about it, uh, where you can from YouTube videos. Yeah, the basics, it really is the basics. Um, little did I know when I looked at started trading it, how difficult it actually is. It's the most challenging thing I've ever done in my life. And on a daily basis, it constantly changes. It's never the same twice, ever. So it really is incredibly hard to be consistent. It's not hard to get it right once or twice. It's just hard to be consistent. And that's the key to it. So yeah, so making that jump was very, very difficult. But the spark was interested— the spark came from cryptocurrency a few years ago.

Yeah. And I guess you kind of then sort of fell into, into the FX space and stuff like that and sort of saw a market that was maybe a little bit more— I wouldn't say forgiving, but there was a little bit more data there to build a better picture from.

Yeah, the cryptocurrency stuff, certainly in the early days, was, you know, incredibly volatile and for no reason whatsoever. But when it was small, the market cap was fairly small, so therefore just get manipulated by whales very, very easily., now, you know, in excess of $1 trillion, I think it is now. So it's not so easy for the, even for the big boys to manipulate it like they used to by quite a few percent per day. Um, so yeah, I wanted a market that was less volatile, but everybody played the game, um, globally from, you know, from the little people through to the big institutions. Um, and I learned quite quickly that, you know, you don't don't want to try and beat the institutions. You just want to follow what they're doing. You just join on to it. You know, if there's a sandwich and the institutions are the top and the bottom, you just want a little bit in the middle. And, you know, that's more than enough for the average investor to do very, very well and enjoy it. You know, the fear factor, the greed factor, the two biggest things that play on our minds. It's like, you can't use those. Don't be greedy, don't be fearful. Just, just be sensible and just, just enjoy the bit in the middle. Be happy with that.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I try and say that a lot. It's like, we're not here to hit home runs every day. Like, we just want to take, take a little bit where we can. We understand where our edge is. And, and yeah, don't try and shoot for the stars on every trade. I think a lot of people— I mean, I've definitely worked with people in the past where they've got the knowledge to, to trade and they're catching good trades, but then because they're being greedy, they're trying to shoot for the stars every time. They have a bit of profit that's sat there on the table and they don't take it. And I think that's a a big thing that a lot of traders definitely, definitely need to learn, or sort of come to the— come to their senses at some point in their trading career and just say, okay, I'm not here to try and become the best trader in the world. I just want to take a bit of profit, walk away, and, and live my life.

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think depends on where you are in life as well as to what matters to you. Um, once you get over 40, some people realize that time is against them, and I, I was certainly one of those people. I'm 47 now and, you know, very much looking forward to enjoying 8 hours of the day, working 2 to 3 of them intensely rather than around the other way that the majority of people do. And to have that opportunity to do it is fantastic.

Yeah, and I think that also comes from, I mean, probably it was, it was probably very similar when you started as to when I started. It was kind of like capital wasn't as readily available for the average trader, I mean, 5 to 10 years ago. So it was kind of like, okay, if I want to, if I want to make some good money here, I've either got to sit and compound my account over the next few years, or I'm just going to try and over-risk, take massive trades, and, and see what happens. I mean, when, when you started your trading journey, did you go straight into prop? I'm not sure if many prop firms were around at that stage.

They weren't around then. No, exactly. So it was use your own capital and learn the hard way.

Yeah, yeah. And how was that sort of beginning period when you were trading with your own capital? And sort of how did that then transition into prop trading?

Um, the first year was horrendous, I have to admit. You know, I think I made every mistake in the book. But by making mistakes, hopefully you learn from that mistake, you don't make it again. Or if you do make it again, you only make it twice, that's for sure. Because when it's your own money, it hurts on the bottom line. And you know, it isn't sustainable. But no prop firms weren't around. So you had to use your capital or a demo account to backtest, forwardtest, and just, you know, get your head around of where you're going wrong, I suppose, really. I'm one of those people that constantly evaluates everything that I have done. Could I have made it better? Did I miss an opportunity? Miss opportunities all the time, but you can't be everywhere all the time either. So, um, you have to accept that. And, um, I think one of the things when I came to you guys is the fact that just concentrate on EU and GU, which I knew very well anyway, but I was also trading all the majors plus a few commodities and a few other bits and pieces to talk— in my head it was broadening my risk, um, rather than pegging it all against the, against DXY. Um, but in actual fact, I was probably diluting too much, um, trying to cover too many bases. Um, so just covering 2 is a lot of work, let alone covering 7 or 8, plus a little bit of crypto.

Yeah.

Um, you lose focus. If you lose focus, you know, you become average at everything rather than excellent at a couple of things.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

It's one of the things I've really learned in the last couple of months. Yeah, and I think it's to really, really focus.

Yeah, 100%. And I was going to say, I think it's— we're not here to make a load of decisions every day. We kind of need to make a couple of good decisions off of a set of rules that we know work. And I think— I mean, I did it myself. I used to trade all of the majors, then I sort of whittled it down to— I was trading like 6 of them split between yen and dollar pairs, and then I kind of ended up sort of diluting it down to just, just the two from there. And I think that one of the key problems that people face when they're trading too many pairs is that you're trying to make so many, so many decisions that as soon as you miss one, then that second decision isn't as sharp as the, as the one that you should have made initially. So you're constantly then making worse decisions, and then that just leads to worse trading results. And I mean, if you go back and especially when you're trading lower time frames, if you're trading higher time frames, it's a little bit different. But when you're trading lower time frames there's more than enough opportunity to catch more than enough profit on a monthly basis for you to make just as much money as you need to make just trading, I mean, even one pair in a lot of cases. So two pairs is, for me, a really good sweet spot. Again, it gives me everything that I need, and I think that then allows you to focus on what the real game is, which is, which is ultimately the capital game, really.

No, absolutely. It's, um, I don't do this to make money in the sense I do it to be good at doing something. The byproduct is the money because you've been successful. Same as anything, you know, if you're a good sports player, you know, tennis player, you become good at tennis because you enjoy playing tennis. The byproduct is you get paid very well for being successful. And that's the way you need to look at trading. Don't look at the money aspect. Um, yes, there is a money aspect, but you can't look at it foremost. Um, it comes secondary. If you're good at it, it will come naturally. That's where you've got to look at it.

Yeah, 100%. I, I say— I've probably said on other interviews, but it's about focusing on the process and not the profits, because the profits are just a byproduct of mastering that process.

And yeah, exactly.

Yeah, so important. So, so important.

Yeah. Um, but you know, also that's another, um, psychological aspect, but if you're trading £1,000 or if you lose £50 on a trade, you've lost £50. You make £50, you make £50. When you jump up a few hundred thousand pounds, the numbers— the other thing that's psychological— psych you out because it's hard to stay in a trade when you're £1,000 up, £2,000 up, £3,000. There's this little inner thing going inside you, take the money, take the money, take the money. But you've got to stick to your plan. And this is where rules come in. And, you know, sometimes— and a lot of people say this— that your best trades are the ones that you just go out the door for the day, come back, and just leave it all alone rather than micromanage it. Yeah. Um, you know, the ones that play out in 30 minutes, yeah, sure. The ones that stick around a little bit or take an hour or 2 hours, it's so easy to press that, um, sell button. Yeah, take that low gratification, whereas you've got to stick to the plan and let it plan plan out, but almost to the point now where if a trade, you know, we strike the bottom, we've gone up, you get into your trade and you're happy going forwards and you're sitting around sort of 1:3R, but you're aiming for 1:5. If your plan was 1:5, stick to 1:5, but just move your stop loss up so that you're not losing from the trades. But just let it, just let it run. You've got to let the, the winners run for this. All these systems to work. That's one thing also, you know, being very, very rules-based now and reinforcing that. And you know, you actually got a little list on the side of my desk. Just stick to the rules, stick to the rules. Like we all have various bit of mottos that we work on sort of thing or little mantras. It's stick to the rules. So you've got to let it run. And even if you want to fail, than you are to come out early, because that psychological point of keep coming out early is going to catch up with you in the long term. So if you keep getting 1-to-1s rather than 1-to-3s, you'll be out the game very, very quickly.

Yeah, I was gonna say, I think you have to look at that in terms of like, if you are coming out of trades early, then you're, you're going to massively distort your edge, because your edge isn't, your edge isn't necessarily derived from your entries. Your edge is actually derived from your, from your your targets, where you're actually coming out of the trade. So if you're taking, if you're taking profits away that you should have made, it's gonna— your numbers aren't going to be the same. You can do all the back testing in the world, but if you change and you don't follow those rules, I mean, you lose that edge, right? So you have to— I think this is where it comes down to that process of, okay, you build an edge, you back test it, you understand the rules, and you understand how to build confidence in your, in your set of rules. And then it is a case of being able to psychologically stick to that. Because you should theoretically know that if you don't, well, that what I've— all of the work I've done prior to this means nothing.

Yeah, yeah. You know, it's just a mathematical basis that, you know, you need a bit of a 1:3R, um, because you're not going to get every trade. You know, if you get 50% trades right, you're doing quite well. Uh, if you look at the pros, some of them don't get even near 50% right, and they happily admit it. Um, So you've got to have, you know, those 1 to 3, and they stick to the rules, and it, yeah, you'll be in good shape. Um, and if, if you look at it, I just about— what I keep hearing people say, oh, I just got into this trade, but I was a bit— I wasn't too sure about it. If you weren't sure about it, don't get in the blooming thing. Um, it's nothing worse than if you can't sleep at night because the trade's in. You should be in the trade, as simple as that. If your data's not right, your confidence is not right, and you're not psychologically in the right place, you shouldn't be trading. It's as simple as that. Um, so you have to have very, very defined minds, um, of what you're doing and what, what you're about and how you're doing your processes. Um, I hate to read that or see that. It's like, oh God, yeah, you know, you need to sort your head out. Totally.

Yeah, I mean, that's the whole point of trading with the mechanical system, right? So you don't have to think, you don't have to have an opinion, because your job isn't to have an opinion. Your job is to follow a set of rules that you've already tested. So as soon as your opinion starts to come into play, that's you just worrying about something that you shouldn't be worrying about. That's just your psychology taking over to help to essentially stop you from following your rules, right? Some people just, they have like the angel and the devil on either side of their shoulders, and the angel's saying, yes, meets the rules, perfect, your target here. And the devil's saying, no, you need to take this as profit on the table. And it makes you take those stupid decisions where you then say, I wasn't sure on this, I took my profit. And then it goes and hits TP, and then you're like, oh, I should have done— should have, should have just held it. And that's the cycle that people get into. It's just that it's not even necessarily the mistake, right? I've taken my profit, that's a good thing. But it's that moving of the goalposts that then leads into that snowball effect of you then just going into a spiral downhill and, and then just sort of moving away from your rules entirely, which I see traders struggling with constantly. Yeah, I mean, it's the biggest struggle. Everybody struggles with that a lot. And I think that's one of the biggest breakthroughs that a lot of traders have to make to really start to see consistency with their trading. I'm sure, you know, I personally did myself. I dealt with that a lot. I'm sure you, you did as well.

Yeah, yeah, no, definitely. It's— it is a breakthrough moment. Um, but it's— you see, I say you still see so many people falling away from those rules. Um, you have to constantly— it's almost like, um, One thing you do, you read it when you wake up in the morning, stick to the rules. Um, I know you have on yours, follow the order flow on your, on your screen. It's just a reminder. It's very easy to overcomplicate trading, um, when you're looking at the charts and this going on, there's a lot of data, there's a lot of information going on, a lot of noise and chat, um, and it's just, just, just, it's just keeping it simple. Sometimes you have to remind yourself, or I do weekly remind myself of, right, these are the rules, keep it this simple. And with mechanical trading, you know, if it works out, great. If it doesn't, well, you know, you know where you are. But, you know, you've already got to win a few and you're on the right side of things again. So keep it really— to keep it simple stupid, or keep it stupid simple, whatever they say. It's, uh, yeah, it's very, very true.

Yeah, yeah, I think I've seen that one. I've seen that one. So I just want to go back to the whole funding thing because obviously you've sort of been here for the transition into funding. How, how did funding change things for you? I mean, was it like a notable, noticeable difference in, in your sort of income that you're able to make? I mean, yeah, I guess, how did, how did the whole funding side of things change your, your trading career?

The, the funding thing, it's, it presents its own challenge, um, because not only you've got your mechanical rule to stick to, but you've also got their rules to abide to as well. Which you have to get over that part of it from another psychological aspect. And just treat it like you treat anything else. We all know what the various rules are for various prop firms. But if you don't look at that too much and just stick to what you know, that kind of becomes a blur after a while. But at the start, you're very conscious. You see this big number appear, um, and a lot of zeros behind it, you know. Oh, that's a little bit intimidating by itself. And whereas you're used to placing, I don't know, 1 or 2 lots on EU or GU, all of a sudden you're placing, I don't know, 7 lots or 14 lots, whatever it be, through, through the, uh, for the mechanical trading, you know. That was also a bigger number. So when it goes slightly against you, why people would say, oh my God, you know, you're hundreds of pounds down. But equally, when it goes the other way and you're £4,000 or £5,000 up, um, you know, oh, that's also a big number to, again, not to take, take out early, um, because you got to let it run the trade. So I think the number side of it is, is the biggest psychological issue. Um, it hasn't changed my trading any, any way. Um, I purely use the mechanical trading for for it to get in and get out, um, because I don't like overnight trades and spreads vary massively with props compared to normal. There's just one thing they do, uh, be aware of, um, so it's nice to get in and out within half an hour, an hour, whatever it be, you know, um, so you know at the weekend there's no dodgy spreads going on or you get knocked out or whatever. You're like, how the hell did that happen on a Monday morning? Um, so that's good. So no, it's just getting used to the numbers, I think, is probably the psychological thing, was for me, it certainly isn't now, I'm more than used to it. And also having the confidence to pass these things, you know, if you pass the first one after you failed a few, you're like, yes, it can be done, you know, it's that kind of eureka moment. And then all of a sudden you pass 2, 3, 4, and you're like, oh yeah, this is just normal now. Um, and then afterwards, when you're managing the actual funds after you've passed your challenge, you don't do anything different. You just keep going. Um, just stay consistent, stay the same, don't get blurred or don't get stressed out by any of it.

Um, oh, I think we lost you. Oh, you've muted your mic, I think. Oh, press that again. There we go.

Good.

Yeah, got you.

Got— where was I going with this? Yeah, the whole numbers thing, it's when you do get funded, you know, oh my God, you know, I don't want to cock it up now. There's no reason to cock it up. Just stick back to the rules again. Just keep doing what you were doing. It's again, it's a psychological barrier. I think that is the biggest thing for trading. It's 90% for me anyway. It's the psychological barrier of believing in something, believing in yourself, and just keep doing it. Um, yeah, I would say that's, that was the biggest thing.

Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I think people, people are, I'm gonna do this to get this challenge passed, but then when I'm on the funded account, I'm going to do this. It's like, well, if you can pass the account, because bear in mind you've got to go through two phases with most prop firms. If you can go through two phases and show your profitability, I mean, once you could probably get lucky and do it once, but if you can consistently do that, then all you have to do is carry that same process into a funded account and you can go and make your 10%, you can go and make your 5%. And I, I, one thing that I always, always, always say to people, especially the new traders, is trade now on that $25K account or that £300 personal account you've got. Trade the same now as you would if you had a million in funding. Because if you can't build the good habits now, you're never going to have the good habits when you've got that million. So don't overtrade now, don't overrisk now. Because if you could place that same trade, yes, on the £300 account, it might only be £50 in profit, but that same exact trade, if you had £400K or a million in funding, is going to be life-changing money for you. So you don't have to then hit that 3%, 3% win, let's say, and then keep trying to find more trades. Like, be happy that you've made that, because if you think in the future that that is the specific trade that's going to make you— that's going to make your monthly income, that's going to make you your previous monthly salary. And I think it's really, really important that people build those habits and have that long-term vision. Otherwise, it's— you're constantly changing things and you lose that edge. You don't have the right psychology, and then ultimately you haven't got the right habits to be a successful, consistent trader. When you get to that stage, if you get to that stage.

Yeah, absolutely. The rules, the consistency, and the psychology, you know, that there are 3 switches you need to turn in the right direction, um, and just keep regurgitating the same thing time and time again. It's no good being a bit wacky and changing this. When a system works, yeah, just, you know, you can tweak it, of course you can, you can perfect it, you can always get better at something, Um, but it's the core foundation has to be there and you have to believe in it and go with the process for sure.

Yeah, no, 100%, 100% agree with that. So obviously coming from somebody that's, that's got years of experience in the markets as being a full-time trader, um, I think, listen, there's going to be a lot of information from this that people can take and carry into their trading, but If you can, what would be the 3 tips you would give to somebody that is wanting to or just about to start their trading journey? What 3 tips would you give them if they wanted to build a career in this?

Um, I mean, well, the hardest thing to learn is be patient. Um, when you get new to something, you're always eager, motivated, full of confidence, and you want to get into something and join the game, whatever it be. Um, I mean, realistically, the majority of the time, traders sit on their hands and be patient and wait for that perfect entry rather than overtrade, get 5 trades and get 10 trades in a day, as I have done in the past. Um, one trade a day is more than enough, more than enough. Um, if you did 3 trades a week, it's still more than enough if they're the right trades and you wait for that perfect setup. That is more than enough to have a very, very nice income. So patience is probably number one. I would say learn to be patient. Don't try and dive in over trades because that's a sure way to be very unsuccessful very quickly. The second way is the psychological barrier, um, of if all your confluences line up and your data lines up, go with it. If you're not going to go with it, there's no point in doing it in the first place. Um, the data might be wrong and you might need to tweak it But if you look at the technicals, you do the fundamentals, and it all adds up, up to your tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, and you're in your strategy and your way of doing things, it says yes, go with it. Have a leap of faith almost. Otherwise, there was no point doing it in the first place. If it says no, don't do it. It's very, very simple like that. So secondly, I would say psychologically, go with what your data says. Um, the third thing I would say, don't overcomplicate it. Keep it very, very simple. There's so much data and so much analysis out there, and you don't need the majority of it. Um, stick to 3 to 5 rules and make life easy for yourself, as most of us don't. Um, and you know, you can pile up the indicators, a billion indicators for a billion different things, and all those indicators will work at a billion different times on different things, but you probably won't be on the right indicator with the right thing. So forget about a majority of those. We all tried that, have been there, done it, um, but forget about all of those and just keep it really, really stupid simple, um, because you'll just get— you just get boggled up and you won't take trades and you're disheartened and all those kind of other things. So yeah, patience, psychological barrier. And keep it really, really simple.

Amazing. No, 100%. I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more. And obviously they're going to have to do a bit of digging in terms of finding out how that happens. But I think that is just the trader's journey. That's just the trader's journey to figure those things out. Definitely. But yeah, but yeah, thanks for— thanks for jumping on. I really appreciate the different perspective on this. Again, like I said, a lot of our traders are typically new, so it's been great to hear your sort of insights into your journey. Um, but yeah, I wish you all the best in the future of your trading. You're smashing things at the moment, so I'm sure that's going to continue. And, uh, yeah, let's, uh, again, like I always say, let's pick things up in a year or so, see where you're at, and, uh, and go from there.

Lovely. Thank you, George.