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Trade Scared So Trading Isn’t Scary

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Written by Timothy Sykes Reviewed by Jack Kellogg Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs
Updated 6/12/2026 6 min read
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I probably say this at least a dozen times a week.

It sounds negative, but hear me out.

Your #1 job as a trader is to survive the learning curve to reach profitability.

You will NEVER get there unless you…

  1. Get a feel for how fast some of these big percent gainers can move and…
  2. Take trades (even when it seems scary)

The key is to face the reality that at first, you’re going to feel a lot of emotions…

More than likely you’ll feel a rush of adrenaline (especially when you win).

You’ll feel fear when you enter a trade and it goes against you.

You might even feel a little anxious right before you take your first 100-200+ trades.

If you can accept that, then you can focus on using this idea…

Trading Isn’t Scary As Long as You Trade Scared

If you do that, you can gain valuable experience and develop risk management.

Image created by Google Gemini
Image created by Google Gemini

THAT is how all my millionaire students and I went from tiny wins and losses to sizing up over time.

If you truly want to survive and thrive in this market, you must…

Find a Way To Remove the Fear of Losing

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So many new students wait…

… and wait…

… and wait…

Before they take their first trade.

I respect that. I would MUCH rather you wait until you understand a pattern and the basics before you jump in.

But there comes a point where you have to get practice.

And that ONLY comes from trading.

Here’s the cool thing…

You Can Start With Little or No Risk

You don’t need to risk much (or anything) to start getting practice.

You can trade small or even paper trade.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

In fact, I encourage you to do both because the more you practice, the more you’ll understand the scared feeling.

You don’t have to be scared if you’re paper trading or trading with small size.

If you’re willing to cut losses quickly, then you can trade enough of the big spikers we’re seeing to refine your process.

And if you refine your process you’ll learn which ones are good (and which ones aren’t)

If you keep doing that, you will win more than you lose. And because you trade scared and you’ve traded small (or paper traded) you’ll survive.

We have the most amazing market right now. Trade scared so trading isn’t scary and TAKE ADVANTAGE of it.

Trillionaire Moves

I couldn’t let Friday’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SPCX) IPO go without giving props to Elon Musk.

SPCX 6/12/26, classic IPO day pop, successful IPO, Elon Musk world’s first trillionaire
SPCX 6/12/26, classic IPO day pop, successful IPO, Elon Musk world’s first trillionaire

He was only declared a billionaire when Tesla, Inc.(NASDAQ: TSLA) went public in 2021.

Now, he’s the world’s first trillionaire.

That number is almost unfathomable. It turns out that most people have no idea how much a trillion dollars really is.

Wherever you are in your journey, take inspiration. I know a lot of people love to hate on Elon Musk. That’s a waste of energy.

Focus on what YOU can do today to start building your knowledge account so that you can grow your trading account.

And that includes trading scared so trading isn’t scary.

It also includes getting as much education as possible.

Which is why I’m doing another… 

FREE Millionaire Formula Conference June 26th -27th

This time Jack Kellogg and Bryce Tuohey will be joining me as we reveal…

The battle tested trading formula that ALL my 50+ millionaire students used to make 1M+ profits.*

Show Me How To Crush the Market

On My Radar

Get inspired. There’s a beautiful world out there for you.

Yes, you’ll have to trade scared. But you don’t have to reach Elon Musk level wealth to have a great life.

In fact, as much as I respect Elon Musk, I’d MUCH rather be doing this…

Key Takeaway/ Conclusion/ Outro/ Study HARD!

There’s SO much opportunity in this market. But if you’re sitting on the sidelines it’s tough to get anything out of it.

Yes, I often say you should watch and learn.

But if you can overcome the fear, even if it means trading one share, you can start to refine.

The longer you wait, the more opportunities pass you by.

And if you are already trading, then focus on cutting losses quickly and trading with a plan.

See you at the Millionaire Formula Conference.

Cheers,

 

– Tim Sykes

 

*Past performance is not indicative of future results

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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”