The 66 Trade Challenge - 140

The Option Genius Podcast: Options Trading For Income and Growth

Do you have a problem with trading discipline, or not sticking to your trading plan, or not getting consistent results from your trading, or even getting stuck like a deer in the headlights when a trade goes bad.

Let's go ahead and solve that right now. On the other side of the intro.

All right, so what does brushing teeth have to do with trading successfully? Everything. But you didn't know that. Right? And it's the key to improving your trading, which I'm going to show you right here, right now. This is why we don't stick to our trading plan. Wait, you do have a trading plan, right? Because you don't want to be trading options without a proven trading plan.

One that actually works and is proven to be profitable, not just something you saw on some random Youtube video with something that is actually tested with real money over several years in up markets down market sizes and markets everything and you know, hey, look, this works. Other people are doing it. Other people are using it, you need to do the same thing. If you don't have such a trading plan, contact us. And we can help you.

Okay, go to our website, or email us or contact us here, leave a comment, do something we'll get to you, we'll get help, right, because we have these plans, we've been doing this. So if you don't have a plan, get a plan. Today, I want to talk about why we don't stick to our plans, why we don't stick to the rules. And there are many reasons. It could be lack of discipline, could be going with your gut, it could be your technical analysis telling you that the trade is going to turn around. I don't know, maybe a little birdie told you that is all going to be okay. Right? And on and on and on. There's so many different reasons why, you know, we're supposed to do something in a trade and then we do the opposite, or we don't do anything at all right? It doesn't matter the reason that's irrelevant. What matters is that this is the reason for what I call roller coaster syndrome. This is where you do well for several trades, you're going up the roller coaster of profit doing good, then all of a sudden you fall.

And you give it all back and maybe even more, then you do it again. Then again, and hopefully you don't have two drops, right in a row, which could knock you out completely. And you're like, oh, man, this trading stuff doesn't work? Well, it's because you're not doing it right. So if you've been trading for a while and you're not consistent, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, if you're newer to trading, and you don't know what the roller coaster syndrome is, that's great. You're lucky and hopefully you never do as long as you follow what I'm about to tell you in this video. Okay, let's get back to brushing your teeth. How do you brush your teeth? How do you take a shower? How do you put your clothes on?

I don't want it in my head. I'm not asking you for specifics. Okay. What I want you to do is realize that you do those activities the exact same way. Every single time. Every single day. Like clockwork, think about it. How do you brush your teeth? How do you take how do you how do you take off the toothpaste cap? How do you put it on thing what handy you use? Where do you go you go left to right right to bag you do the top top you do top first bottom first tongue first. What do you do? It's always done the exact same way. You're putting your pants on the the one leg always goes in first, whichever one you choose, but that one goes in first every single time.

Why? Because you're used to doing it. Because it is a habit. Yeah. So look, our brains have tens of thousands of thoughts every single day. Right scientists have studied this and they get come up with the number, whatever, it doesn't matter what the number is. But what matters is that the majority of these thoughts, almost like 89% of them are the same every single day. And that's why we don't have brain overload. Right? That's why we can do things in a normal way over and over again, without having to think about it. Because subconsciously, the brain is working. And it's doing it is thinking, the brain is thinking, well, we don't realize, and those things happen. We make them happen with our body. So, you know, gonna get in the car, what do you do, sit in car, put coffee down, put seatbelt on, right on this way.

Press, press on the brake, hit the little button that turns on the car, you do it every single time. So our brain handles all of that for you. You could probably put your car on blindfolded, because it has just become a habit, you've done it so many times. So what you need to do to improve your trading is to make your trading rules, a habit. Following the rules becomes a habit, no more thinking about it. Make it subconscious. I don't know what the subconscious is, maybe back here up here, I don't know.

It's somewhere in your brain, make it go there make your rules go there. And less thinking, more trading by the rules. So to do that, right, to have it become a habit. Scientists have done lots of studies. And recently they did this really massive study. And they determined that the average person on the average task needs to perform that task 66 times in a row to make it a habit. Now I know in the past, people have said, Oh, yeah, you need 30 days in a row to make it a habit. No, it's not. This study blew that out of the water. They haven't actually, you know, it's actually scientific. Now, they did a whole study. Now, that's average 66. The more complicated the task, the more repetitions it takes.

And for some people, it took over 200 times to form a habit, but it can still be done. That's the good news. Right? So then here it is, this is what you need to do in two steps. Number one, you got to make sure you have a trading plan that works. Number two, you do the 66 trade challenge. What is that? Well, I'll tell you, it's simple. The next 66 trades you do, you do them by using your plan, no deviating no using your gut, no praying. No birdie is flying around telling you what to do. Take the plan, follow the plan. No deviating doesn't matter what the market does doesn't matter what the Fed does not it doesn't matter what the company is doing. Follow the plan 66 times in a row. Why is that? To make it a habit. And what happens if you break the streak? What did you get to like number 60? And then you decide oh, no, I gotta go with my gut on this one. No, you start over.

You do another 66. But, but but but but but but isn't that hard? Oh, but trading is supposed to easy? Yeah. It's hard. Making money from trading is easy, but only if you do it right. If you're not following the rules, you're not doing it right. And until now, you're probably not doing it right. Because that's why you're not consistent. So you take it from somebody who is consistent, right? This is what I do. This is what I do. Trade that follow the rules, okay? And then give you the rules. And then you tell me, I didn't follow the rules. Why not? That's why we have this, right. \

That's why I'm talking about it to figure out another way to get you to follow the rules. So I've come up with this 66 trade challenge. That's it. But wait, you went into trading? Because you wanted freedom? Right? Yeah, man, I don't want to be stuck to my job. I want freedom. I want to make my own decisions. I want to follow the markets. I want to trade, bullish bearish, all this stuff. You want to be able to make your own decisions. Fly by the seat of your pants. Well, sorry to hand it to you. But trading plans are restrictive. Okay. You're not a robot. We know that. And you should be able to change your plan when the markets change, right? Wrong. No. So here's the truth. This is a big truth. So so listen in, okay. Trading well means that you follow a process that is proven to work. There is no freedom in that.

You follow the rules, and you benefit. Then, with that benefit that is where you use and you go and you used to get your freedom. But trading itself is not freedom. Trading well means being restricted. That is the truth that no other trading educator tells you. The more methodical, boring route your trading, the better you will do. So if your trading plan is good, it will change for you. It will handle the fluctuations in the market, it'll tell you what to do, it'll already be in the plan. If the market changes, something happens, the trading plan will be like, "Okay, if things go up, you do this things go down, you do this, if things go sideways, you do this. If volatility increases, you do this".

That's the job of the trading plan. If you're making decisions on the fly, it means your trading plan is not complete. But you don't change the plan in the middle of a trade.

Right? So that's it. Take the 66 trade challenge. And if you can make it through, your trading can be changed forever. If you don't, you just keep trying. You do it again, you do it again. And this doesn't have to be with real money. These are no I'm not talking about real money trades. I'm just talking about trading with a habit. Right? So if you want to put on paper trades, that's fine. As long as in your brain, you think this is real money? And you go through it exactly. No cutting corners, no forgetting about a trade No, none of that lack of discipline stuff, right?

Follow the rules. That's it. And you don't have to do it for the rest of your life. You just have to do it for 66 trades until the habit is formed and it will be automatic, and you will automatically be doing it for the rest of you. But it will be subconscious, there won't be a problem, it won't be a pain, you just get used to it. Okay, so this is the solution to lack of discipline and the roller coaster syndrome.

So now you know. Question is, what are you going to do with this knowledge?