Let’s have our food and our game plan ready before the day begins.

Marques Johnson

Today I’m going to discuss how my routine in fitness is just as important with my routine in trading. This is great for those of you who are getting prepared for the beach life arriving or you’re already fitness oriented like me then you can relate to this.

Every night I prepare my food for the following morning so that when my alarm clock goes off at 3:45 am, all I need to do is brush my teeth, throw on my clothes for the day and I’m out the door. I firmly believe that if you walk out the door before your way to work for the day and you don’t know what you’re eating, you’ve already messed up. It’s very easy when you’re hungry and you want something to eat fast, the smell of that deep fryer up the road persuades you with ease to take a quick trip to Five Guys with your co-workers for lunch. Think about it, it’s difficult to still eat out if you already have a few meals to keep you disciplined to your goals that you have for yourself. You can probably see how this relates to trading.

If you already are aware of where your exit and entry points need to be it takes the guessing game out of what you should decide to do in these decision-making situations. Not everyone has the ability or free time throughout the day as some traders may have to make adjustments or hedging at will. So when that alert goes off that XYZ stock has hit it its trigger, the decision should be thoughtless and move on with your day.

I’ll use myself as an example, since I’m constantly on the go with my lifestyle with training clients, if I do not know where my entry and exit plans are for my positions, or new opportunities the week presents, I’ve already messed up. I can admit this has happened to me on several occasions and I’ve reaped the consequences for it. Having a structured routine and plan also saves time because when you’re unsure about what needs to be done, time is wasted and then as a domino effect you can begin to make irrational decisions. Same thing in the gym, the average person typically cannot put together a workout off the top of their head effectively and once they leave, they’ve spent an hour and a half aiming to find something decent together with no true results. Versus if they knew exactly what needed to be done prior to stepping foot inside, that hour and a half could be as short as 30 minutes! That’s what I like to call efficiency.

It is vital for all of us as traders, especially new beginners that you know what your plan is before each trading day begins because we all know unexpected things pop up in life and we need to able to handle those situations with a clear mind and emotions in check. Think about the last time you made a bad decision and ask yourself what was your state of mind and were you prepared at that certain place in time. More than likely the odds are that you probably weren’t. When you’re prepared, the feeling of anxiety, nervousness, and uncertainty tend to fade away. The day to day discipline that fitness has taught me to keep myself in check with my goals has made it easier for me to understand that it’s no different what needs to take place in my trading, because discipline will keep you out of trouble when it comes to making losses small ones and letting our winners run so we can always have another day to trade.

Let’s have our food and our game plan ready before the day begins.

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Marques Johnson. Full-time Trader.

I’m from Virginia and I grew up in a military home where I was raised by two parents who provided me the best of both worlds from how to be a good person and how to be self-sufficient in life. I’ve been trading for three years now and each year there’s always something significant I learn because the markets are changing all the time. I particularly focus on trading stock and futures options but trading isn’t the only thing I’m passionate about. Fitness is a significant aspect of my life and personal training is what I do throughout the day, so the balance of trading and fitness is a great mix for me mentally and physically which keeps me motivated every day.

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