Let’s say everything got wiped. No strategies, no indicators, no old habits. Just me, a computer, and a chart. What would I do?
This post is a reflection — not a step-by-step guide, not a sales pitch, and definitely not trading advice. It’s for the trader who’s been here before. Maybe you tried trading and quit. Maybe you’re stuck in the cycle of bouncing between ideas. Or maybe you’re brand new and already overwhelmed.
It’s written with a focus on futures trading, especially the ES (S&P 500) and NQ (Nasdaq-100), because that’s where I live now. But more than anything, this post is about learning to trade the right way — with patience, focus, and a bit of humility.
I made a lot of mistakes the first time around. Most traders do. But if I had the chance to start over, this is what I’d do — and more importantly, what I’d avoid.
🏗️ Step 1: Rebuild Your Foundation
Before you start chasing trades, indicators, or passing evals, you need to slow down and actually understand what you’re dealing with. If I could go back, I’d stop trying to “trade” and start learning how the market actually works first.
📘 What is futures trading?
Futures are leveraged contracts. You’re not buying a stock — you’re trading a contract tied to a price moving up or down. And that leverage cuts both ways.
Why it matters: If you don’t understand margin, tick size, expiration, and rollover, you’re going to make bad decisions — especially under pressure.
🛠️ Learn your tools (pick one platform and master it)
I use NinjaTrader and I’d choose it again. It’s powerful, programmable, and built for futures. You can chart, code, test, and trade — all in one place.
Why it matters: Tool-hopping is just another form of procrastination. Learn one platform well and save yourself months (or years) of spinning your wheels.
⚔️ Know the trading styles
Scalping, swing trading, trend-following — they each require different time commitments, personalities, and expectations. I focus on scalping and short-term trend trades during specific times of day.
Why it matters: If your style doesn’t match your personality or schedule, you’ll never find consistency. Find a style that fits you, not just what someone on YouTube is hyping.
🔍 Understand common indicators — but don’t worship them
Everyone starts with moving averages, MACD, RSI… and that’s fine. But they’re tools, not answers.
Why it matters: Indicators are lagging. If you don’t know how they’re calculated or why they exist, you’ll trust them blindly — and probably lose money because of it.
🕯️ Learn to read candlesticks
Every chart is a candlestick chart. Learning what the wicks and bodies are telling you — in context — is a superpower.
Why it matters: Price action is the rawest, realest data. Candlesticks tell a story about momentum, indecision, aggression — all in a single bar. You don’t need a new indicator. You need to read the chart.
🧱 Study market structure
Highs and lows. Range breaks. Consolidation. Reversals. I spent way too long chasing complex theories when I could’ve just learned to watch price flow.
Why it matters: Price moves in patterns. Recognizing structure helps you understand what the market might do next — and more importantly, when to stay out.
🤝 Watch the ES and NQ together
I trade the NQ, but I always watch the ES too. When they move in sync, I have confidence. When they diverge, I wait.
Why it matters: These markets are correlated — not identical, but related. Trading with confirmation from both gives you an edge most people ignore.
This is the stuff I skipped or barely touched when I first got started. I wanted to trade fast. Make money faster. Instead, I wasted time and burned accounts.
If you’re learning (or re-learning) to trade, start here. Everything else builds on this.
📚 Step 2: Study Smart, Code Smarter
While I’d be rebuilding my foundation, I wouldn’t just sit back and wait for things to “click.” I’d start layering in real tools and knowledge — stuff that helps you actually test, build, and think like a trader (not just a chart clicker).
📖 Read the right books (Demark, Ehlers, Kaufman)
I got tired of the same recycled advice — RSI this, MACD that. When I found authors like Demark, Ehlers, and Kaufman, it completely shifted how I viewed the market. They taught me to think differently and quantitatively.
Why it matters: These books go beyond beginner content and show you how real traders analyze price, build systems, and challenge mainstream ideas. Reading them early would’ve helped me skip years of noisy nonsense.
💻 Learn to code: C# and NinjaScript
Most traders avoid this because it sounds hard. But learning to write even basic NinjaScript opens the door to testing your setups, automating your logic, and building indicators tailored to your strategy.
Why it matters: Coding lets you stop guessing and start verifying. It’s how I backtest trades, automate alerts, and even build custom filters to stay out of bad trades. It’s also the skill that separates traders from strategy creators.
🚫 Avoid order flow, volume profile, and shiny distractions
I’ve spent thousands chasing the next tool that would “solve” trading. Fancy footprint charts. Colorful volume bubbles. You name it.
Why it matters: Most of these tools just make your screen more complicated. They don’t teach discipline. They don’t create edge. Unless you already have a working strategy, throwing more tools at the chart just makes it harder to focus.
This step is where you lay the groundwork to actually test ideas, automate routines, and develop confidence through proof — not just hope.
Without it, I wasted years stuck in the “indicator search” loop. Once I learned to test, code, and build my own approach, everything started to shift.
📈 Step 3: Define the Trend and Stick With It
Once I had the foundation down and started building tools to test my ideas, the next step would be this: stop trying to catch tops and bottoms — and start learning how to ride the wave.
🔁 Learn to define trend between ES and NQ
I used to trade NQ in a vacuum, but now I always watch ES alongside it. If they’re both trending up, I’m looking for longs. If they’re both choppy or diverging, I sit it out.
Why it matters: When both markets are in sync, that’s confirmation. When one is lagging or pushing the other, that’s useful information. Learning to read this relationship keeps you out of weak trades and forces you to trade with momentum, not against it.
🕒 Focus on time of day: 9:30 – 10:30 AM ET
The first hour of the US market open is the most active — and often the cleanest. There’s volume, structure, and clear reactions. It’s also when most of my profitable setups happen.
Why it matters: Markets have personalities. Trading all day burns you out. Focusing on one session — when things are moving cleanly — increases your odds and reduces overtrading. You only need one good window.
🧪 Step 4: Build, Test, Prove
This is the part most traders skip — and it’s why most traders stay stuck.
If I had to do it all over again, I’d force myself to stop guessing and start validating. A setup isn’t a strategy until it’s been tested, tweaked, and proven. That’s how you trade with confidence instead of hoping for the best.
🛠️ Define a setup with real rules
After I’ve identified a clean trend (ES and NQ aligned, strong price action, solid session timing), I’d define a simple setup:
- Time: 9:30 – 10:30 AM ET
- Trend confirmed on 5-minute
- Entry trigger on 1-minute (e.g., pullback, breakout, wick rejection)
- Specific stop and target logic
Why it matters: If you can’t describe your setup in a sentence or two, it’s not a setup. It’s a vibe. And vibes don’t pass evals.
📝 Backtest at least 180 days
Manually or with code — doesn’t matter. The point is: track it. I’d log every potential trade my setup would’ve triggered and record:
- Entry time
- Stop/target
- Whether it worked
- Notes on the context
Why it matters: Backtesting forces you to get honest. It reveals when a setup really works — and when it only works in your imagination. It also shows you the drawdowns and win rate you should expect, so you don’t panic when they show up live.
🤖 Automate it (even just alerts)
I’d use NinjaScript to write a version of the setup that draws arrows, plots signals, or even just fires an alert.
Why it matters: Automation removes bias. It either triggers or it doesn’t. You don’t sit there convincing yourself it’s “close enough.” It keeps you honest — and keeps you from taking garbage trades out of boredom.
Backtesting changed everything for me. Not just because it helped me find better setups, but because it made me stop trading impulsively. It taught me patience, rules, and consistency — three things I had none of when I started.
You wouldn’t build a house without testing the materials. Why trade live without knowing your system actually works?
🚀 Step 5: Start Small and Stay Focused
Once I’ve built something that actually works — something I’ve defined, tested, and trust — then (and only then) would I move into live testing. And even then, I’d keep it tight.
This is where past me absolutely blew it.
🧯 Start with ONE prop account
Not five. Not ten. One.
Back in the day, I’d max out the number of accounts allowed — 10, 20, whatever the firm let me buy. I was convinced more accounts meant more chances. In reality, it meant more pressure, more overtrading, and more fees.
Why it matters: One account forces discipline. It makes you trade only the highest-quality setups, and it teaches you how to deal with risk, drawdown, and pressure without shortcuts. If you can pass one cleanly, you’re ready to scale.
🎯 Stay focused on the process, not the payout
Once you’ve proven a setup works, the next test is you. Can you execute it consistently? Can you follow the rules even when it feels slow or boring?
Why it matters: Most traders don’t fail because their setup is bad. They fail because they abandon it too early or try to force it on bad days. Focus on executing the same way every day. The results will take care of themselves.
🔄 Review and refine — slowly
Every 30 days or so, I’d review:
- What setups worked best?
- What rules got bent (and why)?
- What mistakes were repeated?
Why it matters: You don’t need to reinvent your system every week. But you do need to reflect. Most improvement in trading happens off the charts — in journaling, reviewing, and tweaking your process little by little.
This stage is where a lot of traders self-sabotage. They get a little momentum, feel invincible, and start doing too much. Too many accounts. Too many trades. Too many “adjustments.”
Start small. Stay sharp. And let consistency be the proof.
❌ Mistakes I’ll Never Repeat
This is the stuff I wish I could go back and drill into my own head. The money lost hurt. The time lost hurt more. And the emotional toll? That’s something I’m still repairing.
If you’re thinking about trading — or trying to rebuild your approach — these are the mistakes I guarantee will set you back if you don’t catch them early.
🚫 Chasing too many strategies
I used to see someone post a winning chart online and immediately try to reverse engineer it. Next day? New idea. New setup.
Why it hurt: I never gave anything time to work. I was constantly starting over. Momentum isn’t built from good ideas — it’s built from sticking with one and seeing it through.
💸 Overleveraging and blowing accounts
I’d size up too fast, risking way more than I should — convinced I could “make it back” on the next trade.
Why it hurt: Every blown account set me back emotionally. The fear of losing again caused hesitation and bad decision-making for weeks.
📅 Ignoring time of day, news, and seasonality
Trading the wrong time (like mid-day chop), or ignoring CPI/Fed announcements — I paid for it in real money.
Why it hurt: These things completely change how the market behaves. I kept getting caught off guard, thinking my strategy “stopped working” when it was just the context changing.
🔁 Repeating patterns that weren’t real
I’d convince myself something “always happens” after X — but never tracked it.
Why it hurt: I was reinforcing fake patterns. Once I started logging setups and outcomes, I realized half the stuff I believed didn’t hold up at all.
🧠 Letting emotions run the show
Getting frustrated, trying to force trades, thinking I “deserved” a win after a losing streak.
Why it hurt: Emotional trading spirals fast. I now try to treat every day like a fresh puzzle — not a revenge mission.
👨👩👧👦 Sacrificing real life for the charts
I missed family moments, lost sleep, skipped breaks… all for charts that didn’t care about me.
Why it hurt: Trading took over my identity. And when I wasn’t performing, I felt like a failure — even outside the market. That mindset is toxic.
🛠️ Spending too much on flashy tools
I bought systems, indicators, and dashboard-style overlays that promised “instant improvement.”
Why it hurt: None of it gave me an edge. If you need a tool to stop you from overtrading, you’re skipping the real work: building discipline and clarity.
🪫 Not resting my brain
I’d stare at charts all day — even after the trades were done. Constant screen time made me irritable, anxious, and emotionally exhausted.
Why it hurt: You can’t trade well if your nervous system is fried. Now I log off once my session ends. No rewatching candles. No overanalysis. Let it go.
💢 The biggest lesson?
This game will take everything from you if you let it. Your time, your money, your identity. If you don’t put boundaries around your trading, you won’t have anything left when the session’s over.
💬 Final Thoughts
If you’re serious about learning to trade again — or learning the right way for the first time — here’s the hard truth:
Most people fail.
Not because they’re dumb. Not because they don’t “want it” bad enough. But because they never slow down long enough to build something that actually works. They chase, overtrade, overleverage, and emotionally spiral until they tap out.
I’ve been there. More than once.
If I had to do it all over again, I’d build a slow, steady process — focused on real setups, tested ideas, and emotional balance. Not dopamine hits. Not fantasy equity curves.
Trading can be rewarding. But it’ll take more from you than you expect if you’re not careful.
So be careful.
Study price. Define your edge. Respect the time of day. Automate where you can. Trade small. Think bigger. And always remember: this isn’t just about charts — it’s about how you show up for yourself.
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