18 months ago, I started a newsletter. I’ve now hit 5,000 subscribers. Here are 15 lessons I’ve learnt: *** 1. Focus on what’s within your control Expect nothing. But look for minimal downside with untold upside. Whether we’re talking stocks or life. *** 2. Success follows commitment. Not vice versa. You’ll get results after you commit. *** 3. For fulfilling work, learn to love practice When you love practice, you want to practise as much as you can. Which means you’ll put in the reps. And get good as a result. *** 4. You need quantity to get to quality Reps aside, you never know how the market reacts. Follow a system. Be consistent. Because it’s impossible to know how individual trades (or posts) play out. *** 5. Your commitment will be challenged It’s easy to show up when you feel like it. Also performing on tough days separates the best from the rest. *** 6. The price of success is loneliness Rise above the crowd, and you become ‘weird’. Many people won’t understand what you’re doing. Which can make for a lonely journey. The flip side is that you’ll bond deeply with those who do get it. And platforms like 𝕏 make it easier than ever to find like-minded people. *** 7. Give without expectation. The world will give back. If you only connect with people when it suits you, that’ll come back to bite you. I personally experienced people change around me as I started seeing ‘success’. Consequently, the people I trust the most are the people who treat me the same before and after they became aware of my ‘success’. Especially if they helped me when I had little I could give back. But once I could, I repaid those favours, and then some. Where you reasonably can, do people a favour. They’ll remember. And want to do something in return later. Give, and the world gives back. *** 8. Just get started You may never feel ‘ready’. Which is why you’re generally better off just getting started. Somewhere. Anywhere. Often, the hard part is building momentum. And all momentum starts with action, however small. You can then refine your craft as you go along. *** 9. Listen to feedback Actively seek out feedback and implement it. That’s how you improve. And shorten your feedback loop, so you can iterate quicker. *** 10. Discomfort is a prerequisite to growth If you don’t get uncomfortable, you won’t give your brain (or body) a reason to change. Consistently doing the ‘boring’ work that doesn’t make the spotlight puts you ahead of most people. That’s how you achieve success. But to get to mastery, you must constantly seek out the next level. What’s the next challenge that’ll enable you to grow? Everyone has problems. But if your current problems are different from your previous problems, you’re growing. Adopting a problem-solving mindset will serve you well, too. ❌ Stop thinking: “I can’t do that.” ✅ Start thinking: “How can I do that?” This simple shift in mindset — thinking in questions, not statements — will enable you to achieve so much more. *** 11. Taking accountability is a superpower Failure is a prerequisite for success — because it makes you resilient. Because it teaches you the lessons you need to become successful. But failure doesn’t guarantee success. Many fail, then look for someone or something else to blame, rather than admit they acted suboptimally and figure out how to do better next time. But if you focus on what’s within your control, you won’t just solve problems — it makes for a happier life. You can often do more than you think. *** 12. When someone says you can’t do something, they mean that they can’t do it Regardless of your dream, don’t let others discourage you. The most successful people are optimists. A bias for action and self-efficacy belief go a long way. *** 13. Constraint inspires creativity When you’re constrained by time (or anything else), that’s when you get creative. You’ll come up with process efficiencies. You’ll be more focused. Use constraint to your advantage. *** 14. When you find your ikigai, pursue it Your ikigai — Japanese for ‘a reason for being’ — is a way of finding your dream job. It’s where 4 qualities overlap: 1⃣ What you love 2⃣ What you’re good at 3⃣ What the world needs 4⃣ What you can be paid for Find your ikigai, and you find fulfilling work. *** 15. The world is full of unwritten knowledge My ikigai is technical ghostwriting. Over the past year, I’ve talked to lots of experts, often in a technical area. This gave me a deep appreciation for how much unwritten knowledge exists across a multitude of industries. A myriad of valuable insight only ‘lives’ in people’s heads — because the people actually doing the things that gives them those insights are too busy to write. Yet the upside of writing online is enormous. It’s key to building a personal brand — and with it, win people’s trust and open new opportunities.

If you don’t know where you’re going wrong, how are you going to course correct? All top traders have a proactive attitude towards feedback. 3 examples: @dryan310 famously sliced his account in half, spent a weekend studying his trades from that year, and realised he was chasing stocks. Seeing he’d made all his money on one type of setup, he told himself he was going to be extremely disciplined and only trade that setup — not chase the breakout — and went on to win 3 USICs in a row. @markminervini religiously cut his losses after performing a loss adjustment exercise on his journal, and discovering that his hypothetical compounded return changed from -12.05% to 79.89%, over just 20 trades, by simply cutting all losers at an arbitrary -10%. @CFlanders7 performed a similar loss adjustment exercise, studying what would happen to his results if he never lost more than -5% in a month, and had his lightbulb moment: “No matter how much I made during good periods, large losing months would kill my ability to compound.” After that, he dramatically cut size once his trades stop working, and returned >400% in USIC 2024. My new blog for @stockbasereport: The Universal Key to Improvement: Seeking and Implementing Feedback 🔗

@TTbotter01 @khyymd Glad to hear you found it helpful!

RT @KayKlingson: Now live 🙂 Big thanks again to @khyymd! Lots of interesting insights and food for thought here. Let us know what you thi…

I definitely think there are lessons in here for discretionary traders, like testing your strategy, and the benefits of quantifying what you can. Very probably, the absolute best performance lies in a blend of clear rules and intuition. Working with you was a lot of fun too, Kohei, and yes @Clement_Ang17, thank you for the tip!

RT @khyymd: @KayKlingson @USICOfficial I hope this article will help some traders get an idea to find a trading method that works for them.…

Now live 🙂 Big thanks again to @khyymd! Lots of interesting insights and food for thought here. Let us know what you think!

One of my most memorable requests to date was along the lines of: “You’re my favourite writer. JUNO is my most cherished trader. Any chance we can make my dream collab happen?” Who can say ‘no’ to that? But I’m so grateful to @stockbasereport for connecting us. I learnt a lot from studying @pwrdbyJUNO’s posts (as part of my prep), and then again from interviewing him. In particular, I love this quote: “I’m not looking for a trade to go to the moon, I want my system to go to the moon” This holds true in many fields. We’re so focused on that home run. On moments of brilliance. When in reality, being consistently reliable is worth way more than being occasionally exceptional. That said, showing up consistently over a long enough period gets remarkable results. *** Seeking Consistency: An Interview with JUNO 🔗

RT @KayKlingson: What if you could simply turn on your bot at the start of each week, then go to bed and let your automated system trade fo…

@chintanbhaidani @khyymd @USICOfficial Thanks, Chintan :)

RT @khyymd: My guest post on Kyna’s Stack will be a great summary of what I’ve been sharing on X about my approach to trading and my views…

@khyymd Really enjoyed working with you, too, Kohei! 😄

RT @KayKlingson: NEW Q&A We’ve all heard @Qullamaggie say it: You want to identify and get into the hottest themes. That’s how you maximi…

@Vicky5lands @khyymd @USICOfficial Glad to hear it, Vicky! But this article wouldn’t exist without Kohei :)

@RomanBreakouts @khyymd @USICOfficial I really enjoyed it! Lots of new information for me :)

Preview for this Saturday in a TTRH first: Guest post from a systematic trader. He’ll be explaining: • His strategy (trading system) • How to develop a strategy via backtesting • Pros and cons of systematic vs discretionary trading

RT @KayKlingson: Market cycles with @DolanVKent, and adding nuance to my EP @Qullamaggie stream notes. The trouble with indices is that th…

RT @KayKlingson: 3 Key Elements to Dan Zanger’s System Going beyond chart patterns 🔗 One of my most popular stacks…

@chintanbhaidani @ashwinp3 @markminervini 🗒️🖋️

@ColinHartl @markminervini Yep. Depth creates edge, as Pradeep likes to say. And thanks so much, Colin! 🙏