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The Importance of Finding Your Trading Style

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Written by Timothy Sykes Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs
Updated 5/1/2026 6 min read
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If you truly want to gain freedom through trading…

THIS might be the single most important step you can take.

I know that sounds bold (it is).

But I’ve seen too many traders walk away just at the point where it starts to make sense.

Because even though they finally “get it” they think they have to do everything.

So, they learn…

  • New patterns
  • New setups
  • And new strategies…

I’m not saying you shouldn’t keep learning.

To succeed, you’ll have to adapt as the market changes (and you’ll have to keep testing).

But this has very little to do with a specific pattern, indicator, or setup.

It has almost nothing to do with the mechanical side of trading.

And even though it requires a certain mindset…

It’s more specific to you as an individual.

It’s also one of those concepts that SHOULD be obvious but rarely is.

At least until you’re deep into the process…

The Setup

When you first start trading, it’s like there’s a huge buffet available.

You can try everything…

Penny stocks, options, day trading, swing trading…

The list goes on, right?

And each new style or strategy looks incredible when you first learn about it.

For a lot of people, it leads to confusion and frustration…

Worse, new traders fall into a pattern of chasing shiny new objects hoping “this is the strategy that’s finally gonna work for me.”

It’s true that you will have to test different strategies.

But the sooner you can zero in on what works for you (AND your lifestyle), the better.

Because one of the rules of successful trading is to find what works, master it, then rinse and repeat.

For me, I’ve adapted my trading style to three or four patterns that fit my travel schedule and charity work

That doesn’t mean you can’t learn new strategies later.

But true freedom comes from your bread and butter setups.

Humans Are Hardwired for New

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It’s also important that you realize we are hard-wired to seek new information.

Image created by Google Gemini
Image created by Google Gemini

That’s why it’s so easy to…

  • Doomscroll on your phone (even when you should be watching your trade)
  • Endlessly click the remote to change the channel
  • Or even start to watch one of my video lessons on YouTube and get distracted by one of the “suggested” videos off to the side

Trading already has enough moving parts to focus on WITHOUT getting distracted.

Whether it’s your education or an actual trade, you MUST get locked in.

Otherwise, you’ll end up missing out on opportunities (and wasting a TON of time).

Life is too short for that.

The biggest lesson here is you have to find a style that works for you and optimize that.

For example, Mari and Jack are both millionaire traders but they have very different styles…

Millionaire Moves

Mari and Jack met at my conference in Orlando in 2019 (Jack was one of the speakers).

So, I like to take credit for getting them together.

Now they’re engaged and live together. That sounds like an ideal situation, right?

But because they have such different trading styles, they’ve had to make adjustments.

Pay attention to what Mari says about emotions in trading (this is SUPER important)…

We’re Both Day Traders, Here’s What Nobody Tells You

https://content.timothysykes.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FAxWLTumK-_8%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg

I love what Mari has to say about staying disciplined, consistent, and keeping her risk the same every single day.

And I also admire Jack for using different and more complex strategies (and putting in long hours).

Both Mari and Jack have found their individual trading style and made it fit their lifestyle.

More Breaking News

On My Radar

Can you believe we’re one-third of the way through 2026? I hope you’re doing everything you can to make this your BEST YEAR EVER!

Here’s a little inspiration…

Remember, it’s the work that you put in NOW that leads to achieving your dreams in the future.

Key Takeaway

I found what works for me and I’m proud to share it with you.

Maybe you’re not in Bali opening new schools, or trading from the other side of the world.

But you still have to find your trading style and embrace it, rather than fight against it.

Cheers,

– Tim Sykes

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Timothy Sykes

Tim Sykes is a penny stock trader and teacher who became a self-made millionaire by the age of 22 by trading $12,415 of bar mitzvah money. After becoming disenchanted with the hedge fund world, he established the Tim Sykes Trading Challenge to teach aspiring traders how to follow his trading strategies. He’s been featured in a variety of media outlets including CNN, Larry King, Steve Harvey, Forbes, Men’s Journal, and more. He’s also an active philanthropist and environmental activist, a co-founder of Karmagawa, and has donated millions of dollars to charity.
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* Results are not typical and will vary from person to person. Making money trading stocks takes time, dedication, and hard work. There are inherent risks involved with investing in the stock market, including the loss of your investment. Past performance in the market is not indicative of future results. Any investment is at your own risk. See Terms of Service here

The available research on day trading suggests that most active traders lose money. Fees and overtrading are major contributors to these losses.

A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

A 2014 paper (revised 2019) titled “Learning Fast or Slow?” analyzed the complete transaction history of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1992 and 2006. It looked at the ongoing performance of day traders in this sample, and found that 97% of day traders can expect to lose money from trading, and more than 90% of all day trading volume can be traced to investors who predictably lose money. Additionally, it tied the behavior of gamblers and drivers who get more speeding tickets to overtrading, and cited studies showing that legalized gambling has an inverse effect on trading volume.

A 2019 research study (revised 2020) called “Day Trading for a Living?” observed 19,646 Brazilian futures contract traders who started day trading from 2013 to 2015, and recorded two years of their trading activity. The study authors found that 97% of traders with more than 300 days actively trading lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage ($16 USD per day). They hypothesized that the greater returns shown in previous studies did not differentiate between frequent day traders and those who traded rarely, and that more frequent trading activity decreases the chance of profitability.

These studies show the wide variance of the available data on day trading profitability. One thing that seems clear from the research is that most day traders lose money .

Millionaire Media 66 W Flagler St. Ste. 900 Miami, FL 33130 United States (888) 878-3621 This is for information purposes only as Millionaire Media LLC nor Timothy Sykes is registered as a securities broker-dealer or an investment adviser. No information herein is intended as securities brokerage, investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security or fund. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes cannot and does not assess, verify or guarantee the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, the suitability or profitability of any particular investment, or the potential value of any investment or informational source. The reader bears responsibility for his/her own investment research and decisions, should seek the advice of a qualified securities professional before making any investment, and investigate and fully understand any and all risks before investing. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes in no way warrants the solvency, financial condition, or investment advisability of any of the securities mentioned in communications or websites. In addition, Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes accepts no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this information. This information is not intended to be used as the sole basis of any investment decision, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the investment needs of any particular investor. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns.

Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”