With young kids its rare to find something we all enjoy on TV. I love it when we gather around the sofa with our favorite snacks and blanket and watch movies or shows together. About four years ago This Is Us premiered on NBC and surprisingly enough the kids and I were hooked. They’ve since lost interest but I have remained a true fan. This week’s episode revolved on the main characters of the show digging up a time capsule their parents made them bury when they were kids with the intention of digging it up in 5 years. For the promotion of the show, the actors took to social media to answer a question posed to them… “if you could go back to day 1 of This Is Us, what would you tell yourself?”

The show goes back in time so the audience can see the process each character went through to pick their time capsule item. Of the three siblings, one knew exactly what they wanted to put in the time capsule, the other was overthinking their every move and the other was pouring their heart into it. Mom was going down a checklist to make a final decision and dad was dreaming big. 

It got me thinking about our journey as traders; what if there was a time capsule for traders? If we could pick stocks to buy then bury them and then eventually dig them up in 5 years, what would we pick? What process would each of us take to get to our final picks? Think of the characters from the show, which one do you relate to the most? In addition to picking stocks for a time capsule, what would we tell ourselves if we could go back to day 1 of our trading journey? Well, last month was my 5th anniversary of when I found myself making the decision to trade for a living. My picks and what I would tell myself day 1, in summary, is this:

Well, if this was Avengers End Game, I could gather all the infinity stones, take myself back in 2015 place those trades, and come back to 2020 and spend the rest of my days on Tik Tok. 

Sadly it’s not and after many failed dance attempts with my kids who find it hilarious to post them, I’m glad I’m not into Tik Tok. 

However, there are lessons to be learned from the characters of the show. The items in the time capsule represented things such as finding love, dreaming big, believing in others, etc. Upon digging up the time capsule decades later, some didn’t have what they’d hoped for, others discovered deep-rooted issues they had about themselves, some dreams were met and others weren’t. Others sort out to now finish what one had started and so on and so forth. The same can be said about our trading journey. Maybe the goals you had set for yourself haven’t been met yet. Perhaps you thought you’d be so much further in your education yet you are still struggling with concepts. Maybe you still have a fear of losing money and have yet to go live trading and you’ve been stuck paper trading. Maybe you went for it and lost money or made money. The thing is we are all going to experience trading in a different manner and its okay. 

The other part I loved about this wonderful show was the question posed to the actors for the promotion of the episode. These actors were about to embark on a journey of a new TV show and they had no idea whether or not the audience would love it or hate it. They had no idea how many seasons they’d end up shooting for or what the writers would do to their characters over time. I gathered some of their responses and added my two cents as it relates to trading. 

Stop and appreciate every single moment

Seriously stop and appreciate every single moment! Regardless of where you are in your journey, think of where you were when you first discovered trading to where you are now. It could be that you are brand new and all you’ve done so far is open a brokerage account. Celebrate that moment and know that there are many other people who would want to trade yet aren’t able to even open an account. 

You are going to make the best friends of your entire life

Prepare to meet people along the way. Some will be fellow students on the same level, others a bit advanced, coaches and mentors. You will like trading styles of others and others you won’t. They will pour their knowledge to the one willing to put the time in. However, if all you do is gather information just to make money and nothing else then you’ve missed the point entirely. The wise words of Bob Marley say “Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end” Yes, set goals to make money but if the idea is to be with like-minded people then why not make friends along the way. Many have heard me say it time and time again. If I didn’t have this community I would not be trading today. If I didn’t have a mentor to identify my mistakes or a trading partner to hold me accountable or other students to share the good, the bad, and the ugly with, you would not be reading this blog. I’ve had some of the most memorable experiences outside of trading with friends I’ve made in the last 5 years. I’m talking vacations, concerts, just random adventures, pranks and those all but needed laugh till you cry, cry till you laugh moments. We’ve practically become family and it keeps growing. So I encourage you to meet new people and get to know each other. 

You are about to go on a wonderful ride and you got the perfect partner to do it with

The actor was referring to his co-star but the partner I’m referring to is yourself. Why, because you and the partner that is your mindset will go on many rides. That space between your ears has room for a lot of roller coaster rides but there will times when you also ride the teacups as well. Embrace the ride no matter how fast or slow it is. You are also going to discover many things about yourself that you otherwise may not have discovered. 

Prepare to have your face mauled

The actress was referring to different ages her character would play. In one episode she could be her younger version, her current age, and her older version. Prepare to evolve as a trader. What you once were will change over time. You might go from being a day trader to position trader, you might prefer options today but next year stocks might be your vehicle of choice or futures. 

I was hired for a reason; trust the process even though it’s going to be imperfect

Ha! Trust the process? Where have I heard that before? Oh yes, its what many of our coaches here tell us all the time isn’t it? We are all here for a reason we so let’s trust the process of why we chose to become traders in the first place. It’s not going to be easy or perfect but then again what in life is. As coach Tim would say c’est la vie!

Keep your hands up

The actor was referring to a bruise on his face. Clearly, he got punched in the face and wasn’t prepared for it. The beat down will happen. You will not see it coming so hopefully having your hands up, in our case a stop loss will ease the pain of what the market will dish out either by your own mistakes or from the unexpected. 

I didn’t know that I would keep so many secrets

Come on admit it! You’ve been somewhere and someone asks what you do for a living and you lied about it. It’s certainly not easy to explain what we actually do at times. We lie to avoid the negativity and we also lie because we don’t want that one person at the party asking you for a great investment tip. I’ve been on countless social media groups and I see so many people misinforming other people about trading. I used to go back and forth but now all I do is plug the link to Tackle Trading and keep it moving. have fun doing it!

Drink more water

Even if you don’t trade please drink water. Having a daily trading routine should include eventually shutting the computer down I hope! Take time to care for your well-being. Get out and ger some fresh air too! If you must drink an afternoon cup of coffee take your laptop and walk to Starbucks and drink your coffee there. 

Time flies so fast

Time will indeed fly and even if I could go back and do it all over again, I don’t know which version would put me to a better path like the one I’m on now. So don’t waste time comparing your trading journey with others or what you woulda, coulda, shoulda. Your path is your path. It’s been 5 years and I’m sure I’ll be writing about year 10 in no time so I better make the best of it so I can something to write about. Don’t forget to have fun!!!

Until next time Traders!

Yours truly,
Coach Em

Emily Muiruri

Emily Muiruri was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya before her family moved to the US and settled in Maryland, Emily began her trading journey in January 2015 after 17 years of Property Management in the Self-Storage Industry. Like many new traders, Emily started off with directional trading strategies such as long calls, long puts and very little in cash flow strategies. Over time that has changed and now her core trading strategies are cash flow based such as are Covered Calls, Naked Puts, and Iron Condors. Though she is still a student learning and enhancing her trading skills, she has a strong desire to teach women to take control of their finances and become traders. Writing blogs is one of the ways she’s is looking to spread the word and get more women involved. Emily knows that with the right education and trading system women can be successful traders.

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