The other day I heard a popular expression on TV that got me thinking.
I’m sure you’ve heard it a thousand times…
Here it is:
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
It’s funny how it relates to trading.
This is a mistake I actually used to make A LOT during my early trading career.
You see, I had a bit of a problem with timing my exits…
More times than I’d like to admit, I’d hold my winners in the hopes that price would keep going up so I’d make more money.
But I’d hold them so long that they would turn into losers.
So when it comes to trading, “crossing the bridge when you get to it” is not the best strategy.
Rather, you want to try and “cross the bridge BEFORE you get to it.”
What does that mean?
Secure your wins along the way!
It’s ok to hold it a bit longer and see how price develops (if Hawkeye indicators tell you it is likely to keep climbing).
But make sure to sell into strength so you mitigate your risk!
Of course, talking about gains reminds me of another expression that can be related to trading…
Now this is a funny one!
“No pain, no gain.”
I mean, who the hell wants to go through pain to get gains?
Who wants to go through pain at all?
When it comes to trading, pain equals losing money.
And yes, it is very painful!
So pain basically means you’re doing something wrong.
Because if you want monetary gains… losing money is not the way!
It just doesn’t make sense, right?
So this is how I would approach it…
“No pain, more gain!”
Pretty self explanatory, right?
If you’re not making the “gains” you desire, there’s a “pain” in the way.
Maybe it’s this next and last popular expression…
“When they zig, you zag.”
Let me explain why that’s wrong when it comes to learning how to trade.
One mistake I see beginner traders make over and over is going to the market by themselves to try and catch the bottom of a stock that’s tanking – or the ceiling of one that’s spiking.
When you’re at the beginning of the journey, you should take it easy and get accustomed to the market.
If you go “all in” trying to win big from the jump, you’ll burn your account to the ground before you could say “zig-zag.”
You should try to go with the trend and catch the meat of the move.
It’s a lot safer and can yield lucrative results.
Also on this point…
Even though you should have your own personal trading plan, I wouldn’t recommend starting your trading journey by implementing your own “zag.”
Instead, find a mentor that’s already crushing it.
One that you can replicate and trade alongside with.
So when they zig and make money, you also zig (and make money).
This way you’ll win trades while you learn how your mentor picks trades, how he executes them, and how you can do it, too.
Then once you really know what you’re doing and feel confident enough, you can start executing your own trade ideas.
Want to know how I zig?
