Today, I want to do something a little

different. I don't want to teach a

strategy. I don't want to teach options.

I don't want to teach adjustments. I

want to tell you a story because this

lesson probably had a bigger impact on

my trading career than any strategy I'd

ever learned. And it came from one of

the worst periods of trading I've ever

experienced.

One of the biggest advantages I have is

that I trade at SMB Capital. When things

are going well, that's great. But when

things are not going well, I have access

to some incredible people. Mike, Steve,

Seth, Jeff, Carlton, Dr. Steenbarger,

and many others.

What I'm about to share with you is

something that these people helped me

work through.

And looking back at it, it completely

changed how I think about trading.

Because the problem wasn't my strategy.

The problem wasn't the market. The

problem was me.

Now, before I get into what happened, I

want to give you some background. I've

always been somebody who likes data.

I spent a tremendous amount of time back

testing, building dashboards, analyzing

trades, reviewing statistics, looking at

win rates, looking at drawdowns, looking

at risk metrics, trying to understand

what actually creates an edge. And if

you'd follow me for any amount of time,

you know I am consistently looking at

analytics.

I want proof. I want evidence. I want to

know what works and what doesn't.

So, when I build my trading plans, they

weren't random. They were tested. They

were researched. They had data behind

them. But something started happening. I

would take a trade, the trade would

lose. And instead of saying, "Good job,

you followed your plan."

I would start asking myself, "Maybe

there's something wrong with the plan."

Now, at first, that sounds reasonable.

You should always be evaluating your

trading.

You should always be looking for ways to

improve. But there's a huge difference

between evaluating your plan after the

market closes and questioning your plan

while you're in the middle of a trade.

And that's where I got myself into

trouble.

What started happening was this. I would

have a trade, it would hit my stop.

Exactly according to my plan. Exactly

how it was designed.

Exactly how I tested it.

And then instead of accepting that loss,

I would start trying to solve a problem

that didn't actually exist.

I would think

maybe I should adjust here.

Maybe I should give it more room. Maybe

I should size differently.

Maybe I should stay in a little bit

longer.

Maybe this trade is different. And every

once in a while, I would do something

that was completely outside of my tested

process.

And it would work.

That was the problem.

That was actually the beginning of the

drawdown. Not the losses, not the wins,

because when you lose while you're

following your plan, that's normal.

But when you win while breaking your

plan, that is dangerous.

Because now your brain starts telling a

story. It starts saying, "See, the plan

was wrong. You found something better.

You figured it out. You outsmarted the

system." And before you know it, you're

no longer trading your proven process.

You're trading ideas. You're trading

opinions. You're trading emotions.

You're trading things that have never

been tested. And that is exactly what

happened to me.

I slowly started moving away from the

things that had actually made me

successful.

Not all at once. Just little pieces. A

little adjustment here. A little

exception here.

A little creativity in the middle of a

trade. And eventually, I wasn't really

trading my plan anymore. I was trading

something I was making up in real time.

And I can tell you from experience,

making up trades is one of the most

expensive things a trader can do.

Now, here's the part that took me a long

time to understand.

The drawdown wasn't caused by my

strategy.

The strategy was doing exactly what it

was supposed to do.

The drawdown got larger because I

stopped following the strategy.

I turned a normal drawdown into a large

drawdown.

And those are two very different things.

Every strategy loses.

Every strategy has drawdowns.

Every strategy has periods where things

don't work. That's part of trading. If

your strategy never lost, nobody would

take the other side of your trade.

Losses are part of the business.

The problem wasn't losing. The problem

was what I did after I lost. And

fortunately, somebody noticed.

Seth pulled me aside. We had a

conversation about what was really going

on.

Not what I was trading. Not what

strategy I was using.

What was going on in my head.

That conversation led me to spend time

with Dr. Steenbarger.

We started talking about the psychology

behind my decision-making. Why I felt I

needed to change things. Why I struggled

to trust the process during difficult

periods.

Why I was trying to solve problems while

I was in the middle of trading.

Then I had conversations with Jeff and

Carlton. We talked about accountability,

process, consistency, systems, how to

build an environment where I could

actually execute. And honestly, those

conversations changed everything.

Because they helped me realize

something. Creativity belongs in

planning.

Discipline belongs in execution. I want

to say that again. Creativity belongs in

planning.

Discipline belongs in execution.

When you're back testing, be creative.

When you're researching, be creative.

When you're analyzing, be creative, but

don't curve fit.

When you're building a strategy, be

creative. But, the trade is on,

your job changes. Your job no longer is

to be creative. Your job is to execute.

Follow the plan, manage risk, accept the

outcome, and move on. That lesson alone

changed my trading.

Now, one of the biggest changes I made

was in my journaling process.

And this might sound simple, but it

completely changed how I evaluate

myself. At the end of every day, for

every trade plan I run, I ask one

question.

Did I follow my plan?

Yes or no, that's it. Not

did I make money, not did I have a green

day, not did I beat the market, did I

follow my plan, yes or no.

And what's interesting is today, I'm

actually more afraid of writing a no

than taking a loss.

Because a loss doesn't necessarily mean

I did anything wrong. A process

violation does. A loss can be a

perfectly executed trade. A process

violation is something I chose to do.

And that's a huge difference. Today, I

understand that process is what creates

consistency, not outcomes. Outcomes are

random in the short term.

Process is what matters. And that's what

I focus on.

Now, another thing that changed for me

was during my weekly review process.

And I know a lot of traders hate

journaling. [snorts]

I know a lot of traders hate reviewing

trades. I know a lot of traders think

that's boring. I used to feel that way,

too.

But today, I look forward to it because

that's where the improvement happens.

The market is going to give you feedback

every day. Your journal helps you

understand that feedback. Your weekly

review helps you identify patterns. Your

data helps you identify weakness.

Your process helps you fix them. And

over time,

that's how you get better.

Not through some magical indicator, not

through some magical strategy, through

consistent improvement.

Now, if you're watching this and you're

currently in a drawdown, I want you to

ask yourself a question.

Is the drawdown coming from my strategy

or is the drawdown coming from me?

Because those are two completely

different problems.

One requires strategy work. The other

requires personal work. And for me, the

biggest breakthroughs in my career

didn't come from finding a new strategy.

They came from becoming a better

executor,

a better risk manager, a better decision

maker,

a more disciplined trader.

The market is always going to challenge

you. The market is always going to test

your confidence. The market is always

going to make you question your process.

The question is whether you trust your

work when that happens. Because that's

what I learned during that drawdown.

The traders who survive are not the

traders who never lose. They are the

traders who can lose, stay disciplined,

and continue executing. They are the

traders who can trust their research.

They are the traders who can trust their

process. They are the traders who

understand that consistency beats

creativity once the trade is on. And

that ultimately is what helped me get

out of that drawdown.

Not a new strategy, not a new indicator,

not a new setup, a better process, a

better mindset, and a commitment to

doing things I already knew I needed to

do.

That's one of the biggest lessons I

learned in my trading career, and

hopefully it helps you avoid making the

same in yours. Now, if you'd like to

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