I grew up in a small coastal town called Mallacoota on Victoria’s far East Coast.  I moved to WA in 2007 in search of work, surf and new adventures.  I currently work in Perth for BHP doing what is best described as Air Traffic Control for trucks for a few mine sites in the Pilbara.  My favourite activities are surfing, diving and fishing and I love going to remote places where you don’t see anyone for days, searching for new places to surf.  This was what drew me to trading, the dream of freedom, to go where and whenever you like; complete independence.  But as I go further down the track of trading, I’ve found it’s given me such a great sense of direction and purpose, which I had never had before.

I found studying the Safety in the Market course such an extremely exciting endeavour, and now, just scratching the surface of the Master Forecasting Course is just mind-blowing!  I still pinch myself about how lucky I was to have stumbled across Safety in the Market, and now I actually own my very own copy of the Master Forecasting Course!  My hand drawn charts are becoming pieces of artwork and are something that I would never have dreamt about a few years ago!

What got me interested in trading:

I had never owned a share or had any interest in shares previously, I had always been encouraged to get a good job, but I knew in the long-term it wasn’t for me.  My stroke of fortune came while I was living in Margaret River.  I drove to Freemantle to attend a Safety in the Market seminar and a Property Seminar.  The Safety in the Market seminar was first and I liked what the presenter was saying so much that I signed up there and then for the Smarter Starter Pack and the Number One Trading Plan (Active Trader Program) as I knew it was exactly what I was looking for (I never made it to the property seminar!)  Since then it’s been a roller coaster of triumphs and disasters but all of which has been great lessons in life and trading.

My favourite trade:

My absolute favourite trade to this day was a trade I took on Oil last year. It was the first time I made a large return to risk.  I bought after the double bottoms in June 2017 and held on for the entire run, which gave me a return of 22 times my risk! It was a real changing point for me as everything I had learnt from the Smarter Starter Pack to the Ultimate Gann Course really started to come together.  However, I had also participated in Mat’s Price Forecasting Webinar and Ultimate Gann Course Coaching, which really made a huge difference to my trading. I started getting results when I based my analysis on high probability setups rather than trading off emotions. It was from this boost in confidence that lead me to the Master Forecasting Course.  I’m 4 months into a year’s intensive study of the Master Forecasting Course and have found it incredible! I can only imagine where it will take me over the years to come.

Advice for new starters:

I couldn’t understate the value of doing all the exercises in the course material and recreating all the charts to really understand what David is saying! Go over the course material many times and if you get stuck, ask Andrew at Trading Tutors plenty of questions as that is such a great resource for support when you need help!

For me, the study has always been a challenge and lots of hard work. I found that some days I could study all day and other days I could barely do an hour.  However, a technique for more effective study that I use without fail now is called the ‘Pomodoro technique’. The aim is to use a timer to do 20 minutes of completely focused work, uninterrupted, followed by a short break.  When I get on a roll, I will often do 40-minute blocks followed by 5-minute breaks. Every 100 minutes I have a longer break, but you record how many focused blocks you do.  Over time you can get a lot of great work done!

More recently something that has helped me was a TED talk by Stephen Duneier, How to Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals.  He explains his idea of ‘Marginal Improvements’ a very interesting listen!

But when I’m really struggling I just remember my absolute favourite quote from Jay Z who said, “the genius thing we did was we didn’t give up.”  I think this is just the best thing I’ve heard! So I just keep recreating the charts and keep pushing forward and it pays off!

I’ve never felt more free and excited about the future, so I hope you continue on your trading journey! I must also say thanks to the SITM team, especially Mat and Di for their absolute dedication, hard work and so much help along the way, it’s made such a massive difference to my life!

I’m looking forward to finally hanging up the work boots and living that life I only dreamt of a few years ago. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it took a while to realise that trading was more about consistency than 1 big trade.

Cheers!

Gus

 

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