Who do you want to become as a trader? Build a picture of your ideal trading self
Goals like “make $10,000 a month” don’t tell you what to do tomorrow. A clear picture of the trader you want to become does. Here’s how to write one.
Ask most traders what they want and they'll give you a number: a payout, a monthly income, a funded account size. Numbers are fine, but you can't control them. What you can control is how you behave every day. The question that leads somewhere is: who would I have to become to reach that number?
Outcome goals vs. identity
| Outcome goal | The trader who gets there… |
|---|---|
| Pass my evaluation | Takes only planned trades and stops at the daily limit, every day |
| Get my first payout | Trades the same small size on good days and bad days |
| Make trading my income | Reviews every day, tracks every cost, and fixes one habit at a time |
You don't rise to your goals. You fall to your habits. So decide who you want your habits to make you.
Write your ideal trader in one page
- Before the open: what does this trader do? (For example: reads the plan, checks the news calendar, sets the daily loss limit in the platform.)
- During the session: how do they act after a loss? After a big win? When nothing sets up?
- After the close: what do they review, and for how long?
- What they never do: move a stop, trade through a major report, trade on tilt.
- How they feel: calm, patient, unbothered by missing a move.
Write it in the present tense, as if it's already you: “I take only trades from my playbook.” Keep it to one page. In Market Matrix, the Goals page has a space for your vision, so you see it every time you check your goals.
Find the gap
Now compare that page with your last 30 days of trades. Where is the biggest difference between the trader on the page and the trader in your journal? Your numbers will usually point to it: a time of day, a habit after losses, oversizing. See find your biggest money leak.
Turn the gap into a roadmap
- Pick the one behavior that would close the biggest gap.
- Write it as a rule you can check every day. See turn a bad habit into a rule.
- Work on it for a month, then pick the next one.
Read your one page in Morning prep. Over time, the gap between the page and the journal gets smaller, and the numbers tend to follow. Next in this series: trading habits to build and to break.
This article is for education only and isn't financial advice. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss.