People who wish to perfect their craft, whether it’s trading or anything else, don’t do it alone. They build a team; peers, supporters, and mentors. Each has its place in a trader’s network.

Peers are fellow traders roughly at the same level of skill / experience as yourself. Attending workshops, meetups, and internet forums are good places to look. Your peer group acts as a support network for one another to bounce ideas off of, talk strategy, and commiserate on the otherwise lonely activity of trading.

Supporters are folks such as your contact at your broker, people working in a particular industry, and the like. Good for assistance in running your trading business, whether through information or improving your capacity to trade in some fashion.

Mentors are experts that help you improve your trading based on their own trading knowledge and experience. That may sound like a slightly different peer, but mentors will be more skilled than you, and take an *interest* in helping you improve.

Working with a mentor is a two-way street; while the mentor is taking time to assist you, you need to meet the mentor halfway. Put in the effort to study trading (particularly anything the mentor themselves has recommended specifically), practice your trading through paper trades, and LISTEN.

Particularly when first starting out, many of the concepts thrown out by mentors may be confusing. Keep your head down and listen. Practice the specific patterns & strategies shown. That’s not to say you can’t ask questions, but mentors in the industry generally know what they’re talking about, so being contrary for discussion’s sake can be counter productive and take up time that could be spent learning.

In this episode of the Trading Justice podcast, Tim and guest Tyler Craig get into what it’s like to find and join up with a mentor both from the student and mentor sides.

September’s book is Market Wizards, by Jack D. Schwager (July 2012 edition). You can find it on Amazon right here, or check your local library.

We’ll be doing a live audience podcast on September 29 at 7 PM ET to discuss the book. You’ll be able to join us right here: Podcast Room

For your free 15 day Tackle Trading Pro trial membership, follow this link (https://tackletrading.com/join-pro/) and fill out the form with the coupon code being: theta

Also, we’ll be giving away a free month of Tackle Trading Pro membership to the best, most interesting review left for the podcast on iTunes! You can leave a review right here.

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