If you've been taught how to trade—maybe a course, a mentor, a book, YouTube, a Discord—and whoever taught you actually knows what they're doing (they make money, the method works, you've seen proof)...

But when YOU go to take the trade?

You freeze. You hesitate. You override your rules. You move your stop loss away from price "just this once." You exit too early. You enter too late. You take the mediocre setup and miss the perfect one.

And you probably have LOTS of ideas why. The problem? If you're anything like me, those ideas aren't true.

Most of us are lied to by our subconscious mind and our emotions on a regular basis. In trading, this causes a wide variety of challenges that are difficult to spot the true source of... because you always have somebody else to blame in partial truth.

You blame the market. The strategy. The exchange. Your teacher. Your understanding. Your execution. And each one IS partially responsible. Every trade carries with it the responsibility of multiple parties: the exchange, the market itself, the teacher of the strategy, your understanding of the strategy, your skill in implementation.

We tackle much of this in the book, as we untangle the one thing we can control: ourselves.

If that's not your situation, this book won't help you yet. If you haven't been trained, go get trained first. If your teacher doesn't actually make money, find a better teacher. If the method doesn't work, find a method that does.

But if you have solid training and still can't execute?

Keep reading.

Why You Should (or Shouldn't) Listen to Me

The biggest lie in trading education: "The coach you learn from must have the thing you want before you follow their advice."

This isn't true. Some of the best coaches in the world can't do the thing they coach. Some of the best performers can't teach what they do.

In trading? You want to learn strategy from somebody who has proven the strategy works. That's valid.

But here's where it gets messy:

I have friends who call me, show me a chart, ask what I think. I tell them. They take the trade. They make money—a lot of money. I don't.

I'm better at calling trades than taking them. Better at teaching than executing. Better at coding systems than risking capital.

So if you think you need to learn from somebody who makes a lot of money trading before they can teach you something...

I turned 13k into 400k in 5 months. Listen to me. I lost it all in 4 hours on a Saturday. Don't listen to me. Then I figured out why. Listen to me.

Here's the real question: Do my results have anything to do with yours? No.

The strategies I learned are provably correct. You can backtest them. You can watch others profit from them. The math works.

We all must learn to execute them ourselves. That's what this book is about. If my track record is the reason you won't keep reading, that's on you. It has nothing to do with the validity of what I'm teaching.

You'll notice the trading strategy sections in this book are light. That's intentional. I'm not saying you should learn to trade from me. Learn a strategy that works—from someone who proves it works.

Use this book to prove to yourself that it will work for you.

This book is about the one thing that determines whether you can execute what you've learned:

Getting out of your own way and playing in The Sandbox. Let's play.

The Secret (It's in Chapter 1)

There's an Author's Note in Chapter 1. It's short. Maybe 500 words. It's the most important thing in this entire book.

It's a simple technique for naming emotions in real-time. That's it. When you feel confused, stuck, or like you "can't think clearly," you name what you're feeling.

"I feel fear." "I feel stupid." "I feel hesitant."

I didn't learn this from trading. I learned it the hard way—stuffing anger for 10 years, controlling it for 5. In that process, I NOTICED: when I notice it (name it), it goes away. The science says it "subsides and reduces." Name to tame.

Nobody told me this. Not my parents. Not school. Not the government. Not my doctors. Not my trading teacher (though she mentioned the year-long timeline, she didn't connect it to this).

I had to discover it myself. And when you do that? Your mind clears. You can think again. You can execute.

This is the secret.

Not the 1% risk framework (though that's critical). Not the strategies (though they work). Not discipline or willpower or "just doing it."

It's the ability to get your mind out of the way long enough to execute what you already know.

For the Skeptics

Think this "naming emotions" thing is woo-woo nonsense? Jump to Chapter 8 right now. I wrote it for you. It's the neuroscience—the actual brain research showing WHY this technique works. Affect labeling. Cognitive defusion. Distanced self-talk.

This isn't mindset fluff. This is how your brain actually functions. Read Chapter 8 if you need proof, then come back here and keep reading.

What This Book Actually Is

This book documents a proven methodology (thank you to my teacher) and adds the execution psychology that makes it possible.

Here's the framework:

• Sandbox 1: Replay Mode (TradingView) — Prove the strategy works. Take 13-20 trades (100 is better) in replay mode at 0.1% risk—so small it's literally the cost of a cup of coffee. Zero pressure. Pure proof.
• Sandbox 2: Live Trading at 1% Risk — Execute with real money, but at a level so safe you can stay here forever. You don't "graduate" from 1%—you just buy more tickets as your account grows.
• The Mind-Taming (Author's Note + Chapter 8) — The technique that clears confusion so you can actually execute.

Why I Wrote This

Because I've helped dozens of traders who had the same problem I did. They learned from someone good. The method works. But they can't execute it.

And when I teach them the "slider thingy" for calculating 1% risk? When I show them how to name their emotions in real-time? They can suddenly execute.

Not because they learned something new about trading. Because they learned how to get out of their own way.

We're Assuming You:

• Have been taught by someone (course, mentor, book, YouTube, Discord—doesn't matter)
• Believe the method works (you've seen proof, backtested it, watched others profit)
• Can identify setups (you know what to look for)
• Know the rules (entry, exit, stop loss—even if you can't follow them)
• Have tried "discipline" and "just do it" and it didn't work
• Are tired of overriding your rules and not understanding why

If that's not you, this book probably won't help yet. Go get trained first.

What You'll Learn:

• Chapter 1: The "Grown-Up Trader Scam" and why the Author's Note is the secret
• Chapter 2: The 1% sandbox framework that removes fear
• Chapter 3: How to read tides, sweeps, and rainbows (simplified methodology)
• Chapter 4: Why FOMO is just forgetting you have infinite sand
• Chapter 5: How to use a study group without falling into groupthink
• Chapter 6: Why curiosity beats conviction every time
• Chapter 7: How to build a sustainable trading lifestyle
• Chapter 8 (Bonus): The neuroscience proving why all of this actually works

One More Thing

This book assumes you already have some training. If you don't, go get it. But if you've been trained and still can't execute?

Welcome to the sandbox. Let's get you out of your own way. 🏖️