Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to better myself. It pushed me to leave my stable teaching career and take on the unknown world of trading. 

And while “I’ve made it” now… nothing was ever promised or guaranteed to me… and that’s why I keep going and pushing… 

This year I introduced some aspects to enhance my trading performance.

For one, I hired a coach — that’s helped me tremendously, as I’ve been able to stay disciplined and focused on risk management. 

In fact, I crossed a big milestone — the $500K market (between my Jason Bond Picks and Weekly Windfalls strategies).

(Fish hooks and rockets are all you need!)

(Weekly Windfalls trades have been rocking too)

And while I’m more than thrilled that I have added another strategy to my arsenal. I am trying to find an edge in other areas… for example, eating better.  

I was actually watching The Game Changers — a documentary talking about the advantages of a plant-based diet and how some world-renowned athletes are thriving from it — and it got me thinking… 

If guys like Lewis Hamilton — 5-time Formula One Champion and Formula One driver for Mercedes — follows a vegan diet…it raises some eyebrows.

Why?

Because the decisions he makes on the track have to be fast and accurate. The choices he makes are as serious as life and death… so his body and brain must be operating at optimal levels. 

So here I am… giving the vegan diet a shot…to see if it can enhance my trading performance.. 

I went out and got me some $BYND burgers…

… and so far so good — and I’ll tell you one thing, I’m seeing the market with a clear head right now.

No, this isn’t a pitch for you to become vegan… you can eat whatever you’d like. 

As traders, we have to keep an open mind as we search for ways to get an edge over the competition…

… and today, I want to show a couple of more “weird” ways for you to level up your trading game. No, these aren’t diet tips… just hard-nosed strategies that can make a difference.

If you haven’t been doing so… use these techniques to get an edge

The mental game — something that’s often ignored, but plays a huge role when we’re in the heat of the moment. 

That’s what I’ve been focused on recently. 

I already have my two strategies — Jason Bond Picks and Weekly Windfalls — which have been performing extremely well so far this year… and I knew I needed to be on point for the rest of the year. 

You heard about the first weird technique I used, changing my diet…

… but another thing that I’ve actually been religiously doing is going over my trade setups.

Visualize and Review Your Trades

Just like any great basketball player as their sweet spot… any great trader has a strategy they always go to when they want to make money.

For me, that’s been my fish hook pattern recently… and I wouldn’t have realized that if I wasn’t reviewing and visualizing my trades.

Basically, what has been helping me is going through my trades — and talking about my trades to my clients… it’s my form of journaling.

So last week, I was actively fishing for trades… using my trusty fish hook pattern of course… and I spotted a few winners.

So I spotted two trades in Overstock.com Inc. (OSTK) with just this one simple setup.

I visualized the trade… and you know what, the pattern wasn’t quite right… and I’ve traded this pattern a countless number of times.

I already pulled in ~$13K on the stock already…

… but I knew it had more room, and my mental game remained sharp… so I got in the trade again…

Guess what happened?

In just 1 trading day, the stock did exactly what I expected to happen because I reviewed my pattern and knew OSTK had more room to run.

That left me with a nice monster to feast on…

Talk through your trades

It’s always helpful to talk to someone about your thoughts and ideas. This will really help you separate your good ideas from your bad ones.

Heck, just writing out your ideas can help you weed out the bad ones.

For example, let’s say you normally use a strategy that works well when the market is trending…

… you write down a few trade ideas and the overall market conditions, and realize stocks are bouncing all over the place… so you toss those trade ideas and save yourself some pain.

A few simple questions to answer before you get into a trade include:

• Do you have a definable edge in the trade? 
• Are you following your rules?
• Do you have a trading plan?
• Is this the best trade setup you see?
• What’s your target and stop-loss?

Avoid chronic stress

When your brain is bombarded with constant stress… a hormone known as cortisol is released. In the short-term, it helps us make decisions in dire situations… but over an extended period, it could lead to a dull memory.

So that means if you’re constantly taking trades and not making money… it’s okay to take a deep breath, step back… and get back to the drawing board. 

Some things to help you be at the top of your mental game and trade stress-free include:

• Eating healthy
• Having an active lifestyle (just a little bit of exercise a day can help)
• Getting enough sleep
• Journaling your trades

Focus on just a few things at a time

I know we live in a world where multitasking is one of those skills that help you get things done in the nick of time.

However, it turns out… we’re actually pretty bad at it.

Trying to be a Jack of all trades and juggling multiple tasks all at the same time can hurt us more than it can help us.

For the most part, my trading strategies are really simple… and I only focus on a handful of setups. You’ve already seen how my fish hook pattern works.

So if you’re struggling with managing a bunch of trades at the same time… it’s okay to cut down on the number of trades because chances are, it could actually maximize your performance.

Stay the course

Enhancing your trading performance isn’t something that will happen overnight… heck, it took me quite a while to get my mind to the tip-top shape it’s in today, but I’m still looking for ways to boost my mental game.

Heck, even world-renowned athletes know in order to level up… you always have to look for new ways to get an edge.

For traders, that means you might look to up your mental game… or introduce additional strategies to your toolkit.

If you’re struggling to accomplish your trading goals… or have a hard time, that’s okay. We’ve all been there before, and ultimately, looking for ways to improve your performance is the first step into evolving as a trader.