I came into this challenge 11 months ago (joined August 2020) ready to learn and get knowledge to become a self-sufficient trader.  I jumped in right away and started the 30-day Bootcamp, and then moved on to some DVDs, all while following the market daily, making small trades, and watching the live webinars and daily video lessons provided by Tim, Mark, and eventually frequent video lessons by Matt, Kyle, Jack, Mariana, and other millionaire trading mentors.  

When I started, I was working from home 100% of the time. Though I had to concentrate on and get my hours in for work, I still was able to devote a significant amount of time to the market and to my studying and learning.  That eventually dwindled when, just over 2 months after beginning my challenge journey, my lead at work unexpectantly gave his notice and that required more of my time as a senior engineer to spent on work matters.  I was no longer at home 100% of the time and had to keep a lot more focus on my day job.  I knew going into this challenge that it would likely be a long time before I could devote myself to being a trader full-time, so I was not surprised that this was occurring. 

In March 2021, I opted to become a lifetime challenge member, as even though I had and still continue to learn every day, my days are busier with more work responsibilities and more time actually in the office.

As I write this nearing the end of July 2021, I am on the verge of going back to the office 100% of the time, which makes watching the market nearly impossible since I live and work on the east coast.  I am still actively keeping my eyes open for new work opportunities that would allow me to telework about 50% of the time, which then would allow me to spend part-time in the market and trade when the right setups present themselves.  I have learned not to chase, and if the setup isn't right, not to get into the trade.  I'm very cautious, probably too cautious, though that is my nature and it is important as a relatively new trader to not lose my shit and totally bankrupt my account.

Though I have had some successful trades, and every day I feel like I should have been making bank in this market, I am probably one of the few who has not.  Some days I was tempted to trade differently than I'm being taught.  I might have made money, or I might not have.  But either way, I would have been not following Tim's rules and I'm looking to retire early and travel and donate freely (while I'm still alive), and not learning the rules would have taken me away from becoming self-sufficient, which is my ultimate goal.

I knew coming into this that I wouldn't be able to study full-time, watch the market full-time, and trade full-time because of my day job responsibilities.  I make a pretty good living in the field I've worked in for 26 years, but I'm looking to have a life like Tim's, especially for my retirement.  As I mentioned during my challenge interview, divorce took a chunk off the top and I'm looking to put that chunk back into my retirement accounts and then some.  I knew it would take longer than others and now that I'm heading back to work and have much less time to watch the market, I am significantly going back to growing my knowledge account and less time with my brokerage account.  I will watch the market and the patterns and setups when I can, and continue to listen (and watch) the videos through my Profit.ly account while I am at work and keep my eyes on the chat room when I can.  I'm very limited to what I can legitimately do at the office as big brother is always watching us. 

When the setups present themselves, I will walk outside to get my phone and make a trade that way. 

It is definitely hard sometimes seeing the long-term aspect of learning to get where you want to be and not knowing when you will get there or how you will focus while working full-time days.

But if you are as driven a person as I am, you will get there. I know if my heart that I can do this, I just lack time. But I make sure I put in at least an hour a day doing something to learn this profession even while working full-time. 

So I plan to keep doing what I have been doing, and trying to not compare myself with others as we are all in this journey together, though just at different stages of our lives and journeys.  I think we all have the same common goal, but that is where the similarities end. I am happy for my fellow traders when they follow the rules and make bank, but I try to tamper that not knowing when they started their journey or how much time they can spend learning and watching the market.  Though I am sometimes jealous of those who can watch the market day in, and day out, as they have a significant advantage to me at this juncture. When you can't watch the market, no matter how much learning you do there is a disadvantage as you aren't able to watch the patterns as they develop in real-time.

I wonder how many people will read this and actually get to the end!  This is more of accountability and where I am blog post so that I keep myself moving forward.

I will get there, I've been down this road in the past where people bet against me and I came out on top and I truly believe this is just another one of those cases.