You are now firmly on your way to the Pro Phase. The reason you’re on your way is because you know who you are in the markets and how to make money from that. It means you’ve got the tools and knowledge to be a consistently profitable trader. Now you have to go out there and make that money, and get better and better at what you’re good at. You need to go profit from your uniqueness.

In order to profit from your unique personality you have to constantly remind yourself what you do. If you’re an intraday and swing trader of stocks you need to remind yourself of this every day, especially when new and interesting trading styles and strategies are always being talked about by other traders in chat rooms or being emailed to you on a daily basis. You have to resist distractions and dance with who brung you, as they say.

You see, once you’ve reached this point the last thing you want to do is get distracted and stray from your core approach. The last thing you want to do when you get to this point is to lose focus on what got you here.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying you can’t add other strategies and concepts to your repertoire. As I discussed before, you can still spend some time on things that continue to pique your interest, but make sure you spend more time on your strengths. And if you consider adding new strategies, first make sure they fit into your core approach and lifestyle. 

If trading futures intraday doesn’t fit into your core approach, don’t add it. Stick to your proven disciplines. But if it does fit, work on it, test it and trade it in the live markets when you’ve developed a plan to make money and are willing to be disciplined enough to make money from that plan. And then maintain focus on it as a core strategy.

And as you stay focused on your core strategies, applying the proper amount of discipline to them every time you enter the markets and staying flexible with them through changing environments, you get better and better at what YOU do. This is what consistently profitable trading is all about.

At this point your opportunities in the trading world expand beyond just the prospect of preserving your wealth or building it. You now have the knowledge and skillset that can lead to managing money for others, advising others on their investments and trades, trading prop for firms, starting up your own brand on a web site and selling strategies or offering trading services, coaching and mentoring other traders, etc. Some of these options will take more work and experience, as well as obtaining licensing and registration with regulatory agencies, but they become real possibilities. And you’ve earned the right at this point to consider them seriously. Very few people have the knowledge and skillset you’ve worked hard to build.

But it’s important to realize that, just like developing your core trading approach and strategies, figuring out how you want to proceed from here depends on what fits your personality and lifestyle. Don’t become a money manager or investment advisor just because it sounds prestigious. Do it because it’s where your passion lies in trading. Don’t become a prop trader just because you think it makes you sound like a professional trader. Do it because you want training from professionals, access to high-performing proprietary software and access to more buying power than you can get with a retail firm.

Every day go into the markets and remind yourself who you are in the markets and what you want. Remember the what and the why? You’re getting much, much closer to achieving that now. Good for you. You’ve earned it. So go get it.

What do I do that is unique?

I realized at a certain point that I do three things: automated strategies in volatility, swing trading in stocks and ETFs and market-neutral options trading. I continue to look at other things and consider adding them to my core approach but I’m in no hurry. I’ve already got the approach that makes me consistent money in the markets and allows me to be adaptable and flexible to changing market environments.

This doesn’t necessarily make me unique as far as what I trade, but within my core approach I trade the way I see the markets. This means that although my trading styles are fairly common in the retail trading world, nobody trades my strategies and trade plans exactly the same way I do. Nobody chooses their swing trading candidates exactly the same way I choose them.

I’ve heard the co-founder of a very prominent and successful proprietary trading firm say he can have an intraday trading desk made up of several traders trading the exact same strategy, but each trader will be trading it differently. This is because they’ve each personalized the strategy – made it their own. And that’s why they each make money at the same strategy in spite of trading it differently. They each see the markets in their own way. And this is how you generate profits from your uniqueness.

When I would get distracted by other trading styles as I was still developing my unique approach I would stop and ask myself, “What do I do?” This would always direct me back to my core approach and keep me focused. At this point in my trading career it’s very hard, if not impossible, for me to get distracted because I know exactly who I am and how I make money in the markets. This is how I’ve become a successful trader. The thought of moving away from my approach and doing something that doesn’t fit my personality is just crazy. 

So I’ll continue to dance with who brung me.