I’m training for a marathon:

BY HANNAH SELNER

August 19, 2024

I’m training for a marathon, and to be frank… it’s been a real b****.

The marathon is in Andrew’s neck of the woods: Desert Island, Maine. One of my uncles has run a marathon in every state; 50 marathons, 50 states, in around 10 years of running. He’s crazy, I know. But we were on a hike a few months ago, and I asked him which of the 50 was his favorite. I figured I might as well start at the top.

He said: “Without a doubt, Desert Island Maine.”

So that’s what I signed up for!

I’ve run half marathons before, but never a full 26.2.

Some of my runs I genuinely enjoy, others are a pain in the butt. Today was the latter. Anytime you have to carve 2 hours out of your day (ESPECIALLY on a Monday) to go run in 85 degrees… not so fun.

But there are some things I’ve learned from training, and I think they’re applicable to training to trade as well. Here are my five tips for Option Pit Research Readers.

When you’re out of your depth, there’s nothing better than talking to people who KNOW what you DON’T KNOW

In the same way that I’ve used my uncle as a resource during training, it’s absolutely critical in trading to find a mentor. Hopefully, you’ve done that. Even if you’re not a member of a paid trading strategy here at OP, make sure you’re on our free newsletter lists, especially The Pit Report.

We feature a ticker there every single week, break down the chart and what we’re seeing, and issue free trade alerts.

If you’re a paid member of one of our live trading rooms, get your butt in that room. You’re going to learn SO MUCH MORE in the live trading room than you’ll get solely via email. You’ll get free trade ideas from others, you’ll learn new strategies, and you can ask questions.

Here’s an example from Trading Desk last week:

BTW, if you haven’t checked out our brand new SVIX strategy in Trading Desk, you need to. Use this link to see our live event last week and how you can get on trading the #1 ticker in the entire market.

You can also ALWAYS EMAIL ME. If you have a question, need help, whatever, and I’ll point you in the right direction.

GET TO KNOW YOURSELF

I suck at running at night. I always tell myself I’ll do it, but if I don’t get it done in the morning, it’s likely not going to happen. I’m also not good at going to bed early. These are things I KNOW I’m bad at.

I like taking some nutrition with me on the run. Something that I can eat every few miles, it gives me something to look forward to and makes the run easier. I also have to run with music. I’ve tried the meditative, no-headphones thing, not my jam. I need the tunes. These are things I KNOW will help me.

Same goes for trading. Find out what you’re good at and what you’re bad it. When are you MOST likely to be successful? When are you LEAST likely to be successful? What bad habits do you have in trading… do you put on “just one more” late position? Does that position normally lose or is it worth it? Do you chase trades?

Whatever it is… GET TO KNOW YOURSELF. Write out your strengths and weaknesses, and use those to do #3…

Make a Plan, Execute the Plan

Each Sunday night, I lay out my week of training. Monday’s are normally rest days (I had to move yesterday’s run to today – won’t be doing THAT again, ha!) Tuesday and Wednesday are mid-range, Thursday is a rest day, Friday is always 4 miles, Saturday I try to cross train and swim or bike, and Sunday are my long runs.

That’s my plan. I write it out, I have it on my calendar, and I time block out my runs just like you’d time block out a meeting for work. IF YOU DO NOT PLAN, YOU’RE 10X MORE LIKELY TO FAIL. That is a FACT, JACK.

Same goes for trading. Every time you put on a new position, make a plan. Here’s a cheat sheet from Andrew he uses to walk through his Trade Plans. Here’s the criteria:

1. Identify the conditions (market opinion)
2. Find the edge
3. Set up the position
4. Identify the risks
5. Describe the financing mechanism
6. Trade management strategy from beginning to end, with specific price targets

And here’s an example of his answers of each on a recent trade (Note: EXAMPLE. NOT A TRADE ALERT):

Identify the conditions (market opinion): CPI and FOMC meeting on Jun12 with IV relatively low and the front end of the VIX curve just flat. This is usually an indicator of a larger move in SPY.
Find the edge: Good forward volatility edge even with the holiday next week.
Set up the position: BTO 3 SPY Jun21/Jun14 542 Call Calendars for .60, BTO 1 SPY Jun21 526 put for 1.55; 1.83 + 1.55 = 3.38
Identify the risks: The biggest risk is a short move down and does not continue. A snap move above 542 SPY would make the trade a scratch.
Describe the financing mechanism: Theta positive until Friday.
Trade management strategy from beginning to end, with specific price targets: Just remember to close SPY puts near $3.00. The idea is to hold the SPY calls for a larger rally on the potential upside post FOMC.

Review What You Did Wrong

Your plan is going to fail. We are all human, we make mistakes and miss things. The best thing you can do ISN’T to beat yourself up for it, it’s to break down why it happened and set yourself up for success the next time.

Yesterday, I didn’t want to get up and run. I went to bed late, and I decided to sleep in. AS WE IDENTIFIED… if I don’t run in the morning, I don’t go. That’s why I had to make up my run this morning instead. I made a mistake – I didn’t go to bed early. This morning’s run sucked, so you better bet that next Saturday I’ll be in bed at 9PM sharp so I can get up and crush my long run, so I don’t have to do it on a Monday again.

I made a choice – the consequences sucked. Next time, make a different choice.

Same for trading. Don’t obey your exit rules on a trade? … make it easier for yourself to do it next time. Lose track of a position in your portfolio? … set a limit on the number of positions you have at one time so that you can maximize the return on each trade.

Whatever it is, no matter how painful it is, review your mistakes. Learn from them! I guarantee you’ll be less likely to make them again if you take a few minutes to break it down instead of sweeping it under the rug.

Make a Better Plan for Next Time

I’ll save you a lot of pain with this one…

When you know yourself, when you break down your mistakes, it puts you in a better position for success next time. I already set my alarm for Sunday morning, and I put a reminder on my calendar to get my butt to bed on Saturday.

Maybe that makes me crazy, but I don’t care. I know that I’m 100% more likely to be successful with the reminders. I also know that when it’s the night before the race – or when I’m halfway through the race – I am going to thank myself for making these decisions now.

Good luck with whatever goals you may be working toward right now, trading or otherwise. Hope this helps on your journey – for me, it’s all about knowing you’re not in it alone. Option Pit can absolutely be that community for you when it comes to trading. Any questions you have, any strategies you want to try, or don’t even know where to start, call Ted: 888-872-3301.

He’s not only one of my good friends, but a great resource for you as you figure out the best home for your trading to improve. Give him a call!

Godspeed,