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I have decided NOT to quit my full-time job by October 2016 and I will NOT be a full time trader.
The last 3 months was a great experience and I am glad I tried a trader's life (sort of)) without my day job's distraction.
It deserves a long explanation but I will keep it simple for now.
First, and most important, is profitability. It's a damn tough job to be consistently profitable. Yes, it's possible but I realise now that it's NOT about how quickly I learn things or even how hard I try BUT how I internalise my experience. My guess is, it's going to take 4 to 5 years to become confident enough to give up my regular pay check. @Big Mike - You are a saint. But, I am like you - I would rather learn from my mistake rather than others.
Second is lifestyle. This may be more important than the first one. To put it bluntly, trader's life sucks. That is, if I don't get my health, relationship and priorities in order. It may work in a group environment but not as a solo trader in my office, not for me. Something to consider in the future, perhaps.
Finally, the time zone difference. One of the main reason I was attracted to trading was the ability to live anywhere and make a living. I wanted to live in Asia and trade and that did NOT work out for me. I am a morning person and trading starts at 8 PM there. There are ways to mitigate this drawback but not worth making changes NOW. Possibly 2 to 3 years from now.
I am NOT giving up trading. Infact, I realised that swing trading suits my personality better. Perhaps, I can get the best of both worlds. Continue to work as a physician and get the satisfaction of helping others but also satisfy my inner risk taking spirit by trading.
Like you, I'm a professional at something other than trading and I've succeeded (so far) in balancing my trading with my work obligations. And like you I have a young family so I realize the necessity of prioritizing. I am so far away from trading as a sole source of income that it's not even worth thinking about. It'll be at least five years. Maybe 10 years. And that's fine. All I can do for now is follow my plan and compound. If you've got what you believe is a good long-term recipe for success, don't mess it up. Don't start adding in stuff that shouldn't be there or try to rush it. You'll get there, just enjoy the ride.
^ " Infact, I realised that swing trading suits my personality better. Perhaps, I can get the best of both worlds. Continue to work as a physician and get the satisfaction of helping others but also satisfy my inner risk taking spirit"
Trading is definately not easy.
There are a lot of nuances.
I would like to highlight this sentence though.
Becareful how you frame this and what you teach yourself. Maybe it's not what you meant, but over time what you meant and what you tell yourself will change to good or bad. May I suggest work on the right habits as you have and it will improve.
I have experienced the strain of relationships juggling profession, trading, exercise and quality time.
I lost a gf due to trading. My trading hours are 3am to 7am. Then I often begin my profession at 8am.
Somewhere in there I have to exercise and provide quality time. Trading homework is usually 930to12midnight. I squeeze a nap in during the day.
It takes a lot but it can be done.
This post of my has been a quiet place for the last 5 weeks. I do post in my regular journal but only made a handful of trades last month as I moved from day trading to swing trading. My average holding period is well over 5 days and hence very little to comment about the daily noise.
Back to the original topic - Full-time trading in 365 days? Absolutely not! 3 2 5 years? May be.
I have NO shame in admitting this again so other wannabes can get a wider perspective.
In my view, trading is similar to any professional sports. Lot of people try with 1) poor training, 2) limited resources but 3) giant expectations.
My current formula to achieve success is to tame my expectations and keep the grinding of training (whilst I preserve my resources by saving from my regular paycheck).