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Trading Psychology

What Will You Sacrifice to Make $1 Million?

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 12/2/2021 12 min read

What Will You Sacrifice to Make $1 Million: Key Takeaways

  • Top traders have three traits in common. (If you ever got caught dreaming, you’ll LOVE #3.)
  • The true cost of first-class seats is a tale of two accounts.
  • Why trading beats medicine when it comes to a million-dollar dream.

This Proprietary “Detector” Has Helped Me Score 26% In Under 10 Minutes!

SO many people come to me saying, “I’m gonna be your next millionaire student. Can’t wait to meet up with you like your other top students.”

I appreciate self-belief. And I want to see you gain your freedom. It would make me proud to see you fly first class and treat friends and family. But understand that it’s a grind.

Here’s my question for you…

What Will You Sacrifice to Make $1 Million?

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Before you say, “I’d do anything.” Consider this…

Most people — even those who DM me with “I’m your next millionaire student” — don’t make a million. They talk about it but never do it.

Are you willing to invest in your education? What about investing in experience?

If you knew ahead of time that you’d blow up a $1,500 account not once, but twice, would you do it?

What if you found yourself down $4,349 after 11 months? What if it took another six months of grinding to get back to zero?

Now imagine what it would be like to build your knowledge base, focus only on the process (not the money) and trade small until you get it…

Would you do it?

Study, Grind, and Be Patient

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This is about the life you could have if you study hard enough, grind enough, and if you’re patient enough.

It’s not gonna happen in one week, one month, or even one year. And if you don’t focus on the process it’s not likely to ever happen. You’ll just end up another trading statistic.

How do you avoid being a statistic? (90% of traders lose.)

Sacrifice…

The Necessary Sacrifices

You have to sacrifice time and hanging out with friends or family. You have to give up doing some fun stuff to sit your butt down and study. And you have to increase your knowledge.

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A Tale of Two Accounts

You have to grow your knowledge account first. You need enough knowledge so you can utilize it to increase your monetary account. Pay attention … You will NOT grow your monetary account without knowledge. Sorry, it doesn’t work like that.

If you grow your monetary account without knowledge, guess what? You got lucky. Which means you’re probably gonna lose it. SO many traders who started in 2020 and 2021 thought they were expert traders. Some of them still don’t know it was a bubble market that helped them.

Again, what will you sacrifice?

Trading vs. Medicine

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Doctors in the U.S. complete a four-year undergraduate program. Then they go to medical school — typically another four years. Next, they do a residency — another two years. And then, if they want to specialize, they complete a fellowship. So we’re talking 10+ years of school.

In 2021, the average salary for a physician in the U.S. is $237,908. That’s a pretty good living. So it will take a physician a little over four years (assuming the average salary) to make $1 million.

Of course, there’s the cost of education. The average cost for medical school is $54,698 per year. And time … Most doctors start at a lower salary.

That’s quite an investment. But the payoff is solid — there’s no denying it.

What about trading? What will you sacrifice? Would you give 10+ years and invest well over $200,000 to be able to earn $250,000 per year?

You’ve probably heard this before…

The First Million Is the Most Difficult

You don’t know what to do. And you don’t have enough time or money to get it done.

THAT means you have to focus on what you CAN do and the resources you DO have.

There was an article on CNBC’s website a few years ago about how to turn $100 into $1 million, according to nine self-made millionaires. Each of the millionaires had a good answer based on their area of expertise.

They also had something in common. All the ways to get to $1 million required time and knowledge.

Yes, the first million is the most difficult. And there are a lot of ways to do it. But to me, there aren’t many that are more satisfying than becoming a self-sufficient, profitable trader.

Living the Dream

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I’m fortunate. Coming from small-town Orange, CT, I now get to travel the world. But it’s not easy to get here.

I’m 20+ years into my journey. For more than a decade, my focus has been teaching new traders how to start with a small account and grow it over time.

I’ve created trading guides and hosted conferences. And I’ve invested in tools like StocksToTrade and Profit.ly. Every week I create new video lessons and give webinars.

Through it all, I’ve come to realize this…

Again, what will you sacrifice to make $1 million?

This isn’t about whether there’s opportunity in the stock market. (There is.) It’s not even about the strategies I and the other mentors teach…

What It Really Takes to Get Financial Freedom

I made this video around the time I tweeted about first-class seats. It’s all about perspective. Watch it twice…

Now let’s get into the details…

3 Traits Top Traders Have In Common

The process isn’t fun. There are three BIG things you need to do…

Top Traders Are Patient

You have to learn patience, which means two things…

Patience to Learn

First, you have to have the patience to build your knowledge account over time. You have to see different markets, different times of year, and different sectors. There’s no shortcut.

Most people simply aren’t willing to put in the time. Or they come up with excuses.

Patience to Gain Experience

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Second, it requires patience to build real trading experience. You can’t just study all the DVDs, webinars, and video lessons but never take a trade. You MUST gain real-life experience actually trading.

How many trades are you willing to take — and review — to get consistent?

That’s an important question.

Too many people try to do too many things in trading. They want to go short before they know how to go long. They want to trade morning panics, breakouts, first green days, and short squeezes all at once. From the beginning.

Are you willing to sacrifice your ego to focus on one or two patterns in the beginning? Will you test a bunch of patterns at first to find the one or two that you’re good at?

Are you willing to put years into gaining experience?

Top Traders Study Obsessively

You have to have a willingness to put in the effort. That doesn’t mean studying one hour a day for a month and then wondering why you’re not profitable. It means studying as much and as long as necessary to learn what you need to learn. And you have NO idea how long that’s gonna be.

Do you know why Roland Wolf was able to put in 17-hour days in the beginning? Because he made a decision to do so.

I’m not suggesting you study that much — especially if you have other commitments like a job. What I’m saying is that the sooner you decide to focus on studying, the sooner you’ll gain the necessary knowledge.

Top Traders Have Big Goals

This isn’t about being a gunslinger. This is about having a big enough goal to motivate you to make the necessary sacrifices.

Aim big. Figure out which strategy can make you a million. If you fall short, at least you have the potential to make a significant amount. Make a big goal and aim for years from now. Then invest your time wisely. Invest in classes.

You MUST have the right dedication, patience, and perspective.

The Villain Is In Your Mind

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Too many people expect to be a millionaire in year one. They want hot picks. At first you’re going to have to spend a lot of time following directions. (NOT following alerts. NEVER follow any other traders’ alerts — including mine — to get into a trade.)

Others are willing to invest money in their education but don’t study. We can see who watched the video lessons, webinars, and trading guides. It’s sad how many people simply don’t study enough.

Some study but make the same mistakes again and again. Or they just ignore the rules thinking, “One big trade is all I need to get rich!” Sorry, it doesn’t work like that.

Want to know how the top Trading Challenge students got there? They watched EVERY video lesson, EVERY guide, and EVERY webinar. They took notes. And they showed up EVERY day ready to learn.

Your Future Awaits — What Will You Sacrifice to Make $1 Million?

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Start studying. Today. If you don’t have any money, you have free time. Study all the free and no-cost resources we offer.

If you only have a little money, start with the 30-Day Bootcamp.

If you have money set aside for education and trading, apply for the Trading Challenge today.

No matter where you are — come at this with the right mindset and perspective. I don’t want to teach you if you have the wrong mindset or think you’ll get rich quick.

I want to teach you and be the mentor to you that I never had. But fair warning, I’ll be the toughest teacher you ever had. 

What are you willing to sacrifice?

I want to hear from YOU. What are you willing to sacrifice to make $1 million? Comment below!


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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. Read More

* 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”