Currently sitting at Starbucks with the lady friend enjoying my French Vanilla Sugar-Free Iced Coffee. Doesn't taste amazing. Does anyone know how much milk and what kind I'm supposed to add? Why can't they be like McDonalds and just do it for me?! Anyway, Apple has moved my schedule to 6pm-3am, meaning I'll only get 3 hours of sleep a night. Being someone who tries to see only the blessings of every situation, this only  means that I now get 2.5 hours to review my trading after the Close. I need the extra time to review my trading and find holes to fill. I haven't felt like I've achieved my trading potential at all. Still making silly mistakes here and there although I'm much quicker to admit wrong when it does happen. Step 1: admittance.

     On April 30th, I'll be moving into my new Apartment on Parmer/Lamar so I'll be a little closer to Kershner (only 4 miles). The extra 10 minutes every morning can either be used on sleep or extra preparation. This also means that I can run home for a quick nap in the afternoon to avoid the midday chop. I also plan to build a setup at home so I can trade any midday ideas that may arise should I be doing something at home. I wanted to spend some more time away from my computer midday and use the time to either catch up on errands, reading, and working out. As my work hours are now stretched even more, I need to take care of my health so I can be more alert and focused intraday. How about we aim for 6-8 lbs in a month. I'll weigh myself tomorrow and we'll make it official.

     And now, onto my trading post. For Week 14, my trading goals/checklist are:

• Arrive in the office by 7:30am CST each morning and get a good hour of preparation,
• Journal after each Close about my trading and scan the market,
• After Wednesday's Close, post a midweek recap and make the necessary adjustments, and
• Evaluate the week's trading on Saturday to see if I hit my goal of netting 5 winning trades (+$3000).

How do you measure your performance each day?
     This question has been something that I've been trying to answer for a very long time. I can't control the market and what happens with the trades that I execute. I have realized however that a trade is not worth it if it doesn't have the potential* to yield me 3 units of reward for every unit of risk. In addition, does the stock look ready to even go? Is it In-Play? Regardless of the trading environment, I don't remember any day this year that hasn't presented at least one opportunity to make money. I've become much more disciplined in choosing my trades. The one biggest truth I have learned in the market is this: It only takes one trade to make your day. At my current risk level, that's $600 a day with a goal of $3000 a week. Pretty decent living if I can keep this up and expand.
     To push myself everyday, I want to evaluate my trading at the end of the day. What were the risk/reward setups for the trades I executed? Were they In-Play? Did the tape/charts give me hints on when to peel off? Was there an opportunity to get my heaviest size in the trade? I don't blame myself for not being successful. Up to this point, I still haven't gave it 110%. Anything less than that isn't enough. No excuses.