Trading Group Therapy – The 11 Year Glitch

Published on: August 13, 2021

Imagine selling your business to trade and sitting there 11 years later, still not profitable. There are a few questions that come to mind when you hear this. Some assumptions you might make too. I had a lot of assumptions and even some possible conclusions before going into this discussion with CB (alias name to keep his identity anonymous)

I was wrong on all counts.

The way this session came about is that we polled Jigsaw users to find people with issues we could examine in a live session with an interactive audience. When CB reached out – we agreed to go into the details in the live session, so that I’d be learning the issues at the same time as everyone else. 

What I didn’t expect was to find someone that checked all the boxes in terms of approach and attitude.

• Consistently following and refining his approach.  He was taught by John Grady at No BS Day Trading- so the techniques are solid.
• He competes in a sport, so he gets the development process.
• He videos and journals his trades and reviews them.
• He has taken responsibility and control of his trading decision-making.
• He makes consistent profits for months on end.
• But then, every few months, a single, innocuous losing trade flips a switch and he gives the money back.

This took me by surprise. I see traders all the time unable to follow their own plan – but normally, they can’t follow it for more than a couple of days. In fact, I’ve never come across a trader that was so diligent and yet blew up so infrequently.

This is a fascinating interview as we hear his story, his journey and his issue. I discussed my own issues with self-sabotage that I didn’t even know I had and while it sounded similar – it’s not my area of expertise. Luckily – Mark Selfin, a member of the Jigsaw community and a retired Psychotherapist – was in the room.

He provided more insight and amazingly – offered to help CB for free. We’ll circle back in a few months to see how that is progressing.

While the effect of his issue is rare, you might find some parallels in your own trading, especially if you end days, scratching your head thinking “why on earth did I just do that”.

Let us know what you think – this is a new format and we will iron out the wrinkles over the next few sessions. Feedback/Suggestions would be amazing. 

A big thank you to both CB and Mark. Here’s the video: