Are you trading your plan and planning your trades? In this Instagram Live Replay, I break down what that means and WHY having a game plan for your trades is vital.

The market has been crazy lately! It has been up, down, and sideways one day to the next. The people getting torn up the most are people who do not know how to trade options. Now that the market is down, they do not know what to do.

I know what it feels like to not have a game plan when the market is down or to feel defeated and losing money.

What I found is when I was losing money, I started to realize that I wasn’t trading my plans and I wasn’t planning my trades.

Are you trading your plan, and planning your trades?

When you think about your trading plan, you need to ask yourself: “Why are YOU doing this? Why are you trading and investing?” In all seriousness, I want to know. Comment below the reasons why.

My initial reason in getting into this was because I didn’t want to work Saturdays at Sprint. My whole game plan was literally to make $50/week so I didn’t have to. I made sure my game plan was in alignment with that.

So I started with $500 and I needed the stock to make 50 cents so I could make that 50 bucks.

When I stuck to this game plan, all my actions followed it. I wasn’t looking to trade the big boys (Amazon, Apple, etc) because I knew I couldn’t afford it and it didn’t match my game plan.

So what is YOUR game plan?

Some people start in this industry without any education or plan, or what to do with the money they make.

If you don’t have a plan, you trade with no plans. All your actions roll without a plan. If you ask people why they want to trade, most people say just because they want to make some money.

And that used to be me! I gave Chase bank 2K to invest for me. That was it for my game plan. But then they lost $1,300 of it, I spent $200. And now I had my $500. But that is when my game plan became SPECIFIC. I needed to make $50/week to not work weekends. Then I started only looking for stocks in my price range.

What is your game plan? And WHY?

What will it take to accomplish your goal? How do you even know what stocks and strategies to be in if you do not know any specifics of what you want?

I have had the experience where I have lost all of my money, had to move back home with my mom, and get a job at Verizon. I share this with you because now I know my goals are bigger than not having to work the weekends – I never want to go back to work. I only work for trades that compliments that.

I never place trades just to make $300K. I add up my living expenses, how much to never go back to work, and then my trades align with that. I will not allow one trade to take me out of the game.

I don’t trade as much as people think. Sometimes I will just place one or two trades a month. Knowing my game plan and how much I need allows me to not do anything too crazy or risky.

If you do not have a plan, then you cannot trade your plan. And you can’t plan your trades, if you do not know WHY you are doing this. 

Sometimes people may not have their priorities straight with this. If you have a ton of credit card debt, and can’t put yourself in a position to take financial risk, you are doomed from the start.

When I used to work at Verizon, I was still trading and people were shocked by it. But that is because I based my lifestyle off of my hourly and commission at Verizon.

What are you paying for that has you living up to financial red line where you can’t take calculated risk? Because that is most people. And then you start making decisions based on fear. And that is the worst place to make decisions from.

Fear + no game plan = catastrophe 

The moment you need something, you already are at your red line and any risks are from a being scared place.

Remember why you are doing this! When I lost everything, never for a second did I think I would no longer be investing. I knew I would be back.

When are you going to start taking action? Have a garage sale? Put money away each month? Do whatever it is you got to do to get in the game. And do not get in the game ignorant, get the education so you know how to trade.

A smart person will learn from someone else’s mistakes and be coached with a community. Respect that you can learn something from each and every person to shorten the window of progress.

“Too bad that failures don’t give seminars” -Jim Rohn

You can always learn from people of what NOT to do.

If getting wealthy was easy, everyone would do it. Do not let going to work be your ONLY strategy to gaining money. Trade your plan, and plan your trade. Get the education you need, and the community to help support you as you attain your financial goals.