There may be times of reevaluating, raising capital, obtaining more resources, networking to obtain more information all for the purpose  to make a new attempt. The key is that everyday something is done to support the ultimate outcome. That is how success is achieved. 

In order to have consistency there must be focus. There is a saying that someone can "have it all". And that is debatable and out of scope for this discussion the point being you can't have it all at the same time. There are parameters of attention and focus and there is a limited capacity for such things. So decisions must be made and they can be tough decisions but they must be made.

Priorities must be made and it should be written in a plan that all the important people in your life understand. Because it is less disappointing to know that you will not show up for every school event when the children know that you are working for a goal that needs your attention right now. Or vice versa, a work colleague will learn not to reach out to you after 5 PM because that is the time you are doing homework with your kids and having a family dinner. Laying out expectations for yourself and others makes for a smoother ride.

The important part is not to multitask. Like the driver who is texting on the road, they think they are doing great and they absolutely are not. Because things take thoughtful attention to do well. To be in the moment managing it as it unfolds, taking in all of the information the environment is giving at the time requires focus in order to manage the situation well. We can't do it all. Pick what you want to focus on and give it all that you've got to give in the moment. 

Slow and steady wins the race is an old lesson. Small consistent wins add up to something meaningful over time. But inconsistency can blow up a big pile of wins in an alarmingly short period of time. 

Show up, do the work, reap the rewards, and call it a day. Get up and do it again tomorrow until the job is done. That is the way to success in any endeavor.  ​

The best thing to do when a plan fails is to recognize it. Fail fast. Fail well. Make adjustments and move on with a newly adapted plan for what the environment is showing you. 

You can't know what you know until you know it. That is the most frustrating part about the success journey. You can't know if something is right for you if you don't know anything about it and never try it. So there is inherent risk in the process. You can put a lot into something and it doesn't pay off. Sometimes it's because the task at hand is not compatible with your personality or previous obligations like being a caregiver to someone at home. Sometimes it's because of market environments that present themselves at the time that are out of your control. And sometimes it is because your lack of information about a project caused you to not fully understand what was needed to complete it. Perhaps it was something that put success in that project out of reach for you. These are all very real things that happen in life while trying to find a path to success. 

Financial disaster can be a hard thing to get up from. It's overwhelming. Everything costs money and not many are in the mood to hear about why you don't have it no matter how noble the cause. It is a tough place to find yourself in. Where to go now? How to trust yourself to be able to do what is necessary? How to mentally not crumble under the pressure? How to not drown in stories to tell yourself about luck and other ways to put the ability to make things better outside of your ability or control? It can be very challenging. Especially in a world where so many are struggling or overwhelmed in their own ways and don't seem to have the capacity to take on someone else's struggle as well. 

The best way to fail is to fail fast. Learn what didn't work and what you became better at during that particular time or project. Find an expert if you can to offer smart, fact and experience based advice. Stay away from those who would enable you too much or punish you too much for the mistake. You don't want someone telling you it's not your fault and that everything is great because that is not true and it will keep you from doing the work that you need to do to correct course and not find yourself in the same situation in the future. On the other hand, you don't need someone making you feel more horrible than you already do with nowhere to place that energy. I got some great wisdom from a member of my investor group, Luke, who said "The market has already punished you, you don't need to punish yourself. Learn the difference between discipline and punishment." Discipline is focusing your behavior in a direction of success. It may mean picking yourself up and rewarding yourself after a mistake to give you the positive outlook and energy to make corrections instead of berating yourself, denying yourself, and weakening yourself further. Find strength, make corrections, find the joy in the moment, and move forward. 

Don't be afraid to ask for help. I think this may be one of the most difficult things. In order to ask for help, you have to admit you have gone as far as you can go by yourself. You have to admit that it did not work out. You have to admit to yourself in that moment that you can't do it, at least not with the current conditions in reality and you have to let others in to see your mess so that you can get help cleaning it up. That can take some courage. Facing fears of rejection and embarrassment that things got this far out of hand. I for one wanted to believe I could force success to happen, I could fix anything with time on my own. But that is not always the case. You need others with more knowledge, experience, and resources than one person has alone. And stepping out to ask for help can be very intimidating. But without further knowledge and resources, a person will be perpetually stuck. It's best to stay stuck for the shortest period of time. To go a new way it's likely help is needed. 

Sure you may need some time to step back heal and recuperate from a long struggle. You may take some time to be gentle and care for yourself to build back up for another go at it. Rest, regroup, but don't stop taking action. You have to continue to go for it, to do something, even if it isn't perfect and even if it leads to a different way of failing. The sooner you move through the process the sooner you get to something that does work for you. It's the only way really. So many times we want to just pick the perfect way to do things the first time and that would be beautiful. But very few get to success that way. It's not important how you get there. Only that you keep trying things and working with focus towards the goal until you do.  

How do you know if you are in the presence of an energy vampire? 
It can be difficult to place at first. A person wakes up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to go. Then they come in contact with a person or a social environment and they feel drained. Completely drained, not just physical fatigue, it feels like more than that. Like their very lifeforce has been drained. They were in the presence of an energy vampire. 

Reflecting today on the struggle of a successful life. This reel popped up as I was scrolling Instagram that captured it so well. It is a point beyond the crossroads. When the decision has been made already, and steps have been taken, progress is made. Friends lost, love lost, life is completely different all of that has happened. It's the moment before stepping into the future. The moment before becoming the reality that all of the work was for. That moment just before, where every nerve screams to return to what is known, to go home to the comfort of familiarity. Regardless of how toxic or dead that reality has become now. It is the most dangerous part of the journey. It is by far the most difficult. 

The only thing to know is to hold fast. Keep working, persevere. The prize is almost within reach and going back won't be satisfying, because face it if it were satisfying why would you have put in this much work to change it? That space belongs to someone else now. The future exists outside of your comfort zone. Deep inside we know this. Our Higher power will not allow us to settle in and go back to sleep for there is an adventure ahead. It's the only way to long term peace of mind and happiness. Stagnation brings misery over time. No matter how much it may be tempting to lie to oneself for the short term capture of the death throws of a previous place and time. It is so tempting but in the end it's an empty win that doesn't last. Because it isn't real. It's a lie and lies never hold together long term. 

So leap! Deeply. Completely. With all of you. Commit to the risk and the reward. Release the fear and allow the hope of gain to fill you and carry you to the summit, to the prize, to the place where your long term happiness and satisfaction resides. What is the choice? You haven't come all this way to only come this far. Keep going! Taste the champagne. Feel the warm rays of success on your path. You've worked for it, sacrificed for it, disciplined yourself. Now celebrate the last leg of of the journey. Let the next volume of your epic tale begin!

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There's nothing like the morning after a big storm in the Sonoran Desert. The ionized air and the fragrant desert bloom perfume wafting on the light breeze. It is the best. Heaven on Earth. As I took a morning walk the other day it got me thinking about the storms of my life and the mornings after them when I made it through some lessons learned that I want to share today. 

In the moment of the storm it feels like there is nothing to hold onto. Being swept into a cyclone of pain, grief, loss, an unwanted things that happened. Control taken and placed elsewhere in the hands of another, feeling as though there is no power to stop the winds from tearing apart all that was ever known. The thunder and lightning crackling and pounding. Nothing feels safe in these times. That is the turmoil when doubt and fear are main motivators. Wondering if survival is possible or if the flood will come to sweep everything away to oblivion. 

That is the storm. The day after when it is time to assess what happened it seems many things are more clear. Much of the debris of life, things that were not sturdy or strong are carried away. The soil is cleared away. It becomes fertile and ready for new things to be planted. The air is clean and clear and a joy to breathe in and out. A feeling of being even more alive for having survived it. For having weathered something scary, strong, and adversarial. One learns their own strength and faith for making it through.

There are many kinds of plants and trees that need strong winds in order to grow. They wither and die without it. I often think of those plants when times are tough. Thinking these winds make me strong. Bend do not break, rest do not quit. The storms always run out of rain as Maya Angelou said. They pass and the possibilities of new growth takes hold. 

In life we face storms full of devastation and emotion often during times of transition. The old is swept away and for awhile there is nothing as the seeds of future endeavors take root. It can feel as though life is a wasteland during these in between times. It's difficult to have faith and patience enough to allow the process to happen and for new opportunities to grow. But like a field of wildflowers they do grow. And it is a wonder, fragrant, and glorious to behold the rebirth. Focusing on things that can consume is a great way to get through these empty times. Whether it is servicing the community by volunteering for something important. Whether it is learning a new skill or supporting an organization with labor. Doing something that brings purpose and meaning to the day while the parts of transition that are not in one's control form and solidify into existence. Make the most of these moments, doing what is needed or desired in the minutes and hours that build up to the new thing. However that shows up for you. Weather the storm and see what beauty unfolds in your life. It may not be easy but experience always seems to find a way to make it worth it. 

It can be difficult to embrace, and yet to live with peace of mind one must embrace, the reality that a moment is a moment and it will never exist again. There is a saying that you can't stand in the same river twice because the water is forever moving and causing the river bed to forever shift and change. So many people use large amounts of time and energy trying to live forever in a previously lived moment in time. This often happens because they had a moment of impact in their life and they spend the rest of the time living trying to hold onto it. It is impossible. Like holding mist it will not stay still no matter how hard someone tries to make it do so. 

One of the most significant moments in a person's life is the moment they trust themselves above all else. Not out of a sense of ego or unsubstantiated overconfidence but because in that moment the known variables, experience, vision, and intuition all come together after thousands of hours of doing something to create an a-ha moment when it is evident--
"I have the best answer. I have the best way forward!" 

It is both exhilarating and terrifying when parents, mentors, teachers, people of authority, leadership, and others given power of being the one that knows better, doesn't in fact know better. In that moment of discovery the only thing standing in the way of reaping the rewards of that knowledge is the trust you have in yourself. 

Know where you are. 
The first thing that chasers do is to find the most likely place to find the location of touchdown. There is never a guarantee of certainty however, there are ways of knowing where to look. Often we talk to others in the industry to know the choice spots for what we are looking for. Areas of interest that historically produce the type of volatility we are looking for the Tornado Alley of the market. This is where many competitors fight for the best spot, while the traders compete for the best price, in the end it's an educated guess. But in a game where a couple feet or a couple pennies make a difference, experience, mindfulness, and position, matters a great deal. 

Have the right equipment. 
You don't want to face a twister or a volatile market breaking off the open without the proper tools. You want to be able to scan for trades like scanning the skies for the clouds and formations that produce the events that bring the results you're looking for. The better your equipment and funding, the more storms you get to chase. It is not prudent to go into either of these endeavors overly eager, without proper information, unable to scan what is happening or being undercapitalized so that one mistake takes out your entire season, or in the example of trading your entire account. Panicked minds do not make good decisions. One must be calm, aware, and able to act in the moment with training to manage whatever situation the trader or chaser finds themselves in. 

As a trader the tools are trading platforms with Level II ladders, scanners, and a network of traders with common goals and expertise. These are as vital to our mission as maps, Doppler Radar scans, and ham radio networks are to storm chasers. They are essential for protection and success. 

Know what you are doing. 
The beautiful and dangerous thing about both trading and storm chasing is that there is a relatively small barrier of entry to both endeavors. Technically with a lap top, some software, and a couple hundred dollars a person can technically start trading. The way anyone with a vehicle and a cell phone could start storm chasing. That doesn't mean because you can, you should, or that taking on that kind of high risk adventure should be done without some training and education. Yet many people do it. YouTube is full of them all. Random people walking outside to take a live video of a storm passing their house and various financial gurus with their get rich program to make you rich in 3 days using proven techniques. Some get lucky, and it works for them, however the majority that try it get hurt if not devastated by the results of doing something that requires a high level of information and skill to maneuver properly with no prior planning or effective exit strategy when the storm starts heading in the wrong direction in a hurry! 

Experienced mentors are great, but personal experience must be earned it can't be bought. 

A great place to start chasing your passion is with someone who knows the terrain. Who has been there, who has learned from the storms, and who has learned to come out unscathed on the other side. Sure there may be some scary times, some cracked windshields, some 2X4s embedded in the door. Just like there can be 5R losses if you don't place a stop loss correctly. Things happen  and even the best laid plans can go awry. The storm teaches storm chasers and the market teaches day traders. In order to learn you must show up and interact with it. The more you show up and interact with it the more accustom to stocks patterns you become. The quicker you notice when they change direction and you can either change your position by adjusting your target or stop loss, decide to not go in, or get the hell out when that bad boy is moving against you! Live to chase another day. 

Data, data, and more data!!!

Information is everything! Journal, back test, and review strategies. Where did it happen (which stock)? What time of day? What was the environment like at the time? How did the pattern form? How long did it last? The more data the better. Which can be used for better execution of the plan at a later date when similar conditions consolidate whether in the sky or on a chart. 

​For the love of the chase...
For those who have caught the bug there is a love and a desire to face the beast every day and see what beauty and magic awaits. The wins and the losses over time. The consistency that comes from the chase. But then when that perfect pattern starts to form and the excitement starts to build as the checklist is ticked and we know this has a good chance of being the one and a pattern forms and away we go! That makes the work worth it. Whether it's the cupping clouds that produce the touch down of twin sisters in the middle of a corn field or whether its a buy set up that rips to the moon. Those are the moments that we chase for. That's where our money is made. 

If you would like to learn more about day trading visit www.livetraders.com or follow the
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