Reckless or relentless? Which describes you as a trader? Chances are you are one of them. But which?

No doubt every aspiring trader sees themselves as relentless. Working their tail-bones off, putting in the hours - making it happen! 

But are they?

Are they REALLY making it happen? 

I'm not here to claim anyone's not working hard and putting in long hours - that's a given. Few and far between are these that don't become immersed in trading. Addicted would be a more appropriate description for many. We all bust our asses when we start trading.

Trading isn’t your typical ‘get rich quick’ scheme. There's something there and you know it. The mechanics of a winning live trade instantly impacting your account balance is undeniable.

But at some point, every trader has to ask: Am I moving forward, or just treading water?

Breaking Free from the Trading Trap

Trading is a journey from point A to point B. Hopefully, point B is not “moving in with my girlfriend after I lost my house”. Point B is the state of being a profitable trader. 

There’s a thin line between recklessly approaching trading and being relentless in your pursuit. Or maybe it’s better to say you can be relentless OR you can be relentless AND reckless. Take your pick. 

Now, nobody thinks they are being reckless. If they did, this article would be pointless. The point is that being reckless in your approach feels like hard work and IS hard work - that it feels no different from taking an approach with a higher chance of success. The truth is that straying and staying off the path is normal and it’s subtle and nuanced. 

Trading Without a Compass: The Price of Blind Relentlessness

Many traders wear their relentless work ethic like a badge of honor, convinced that sheer determination will eventually lead to success. The problem is, hard work without direction isn’t a strategy—it’s a gamble. Imagine barreling down a winding road at full speed in the pitch black, headlights off. Will pressing the gas pedal harder help you navigate? Of course not. In trading, as in driving, relentless effort without clarity leads to burnout, inconsistency, and frustration.

This is exactly why we created the TTM Manifesto - to help traders navigate with clarity instead of charging ahead blindly. 

Blind relentlessness often feels productive—after all, you’re putting in the hours—but the hidden costs can cripple your progress. Trading without a plan means you’re chasing outcomes instead of controlling them, leaving your emotional and financial health hanging by a thread. Success in trading doesn’t come from endless effort; it comes from focused, intentional work.

The Path to Trading Mastery

When you first start out in trading, you have nothing. You probably don’t realize that puts you ahead of many traders in terms of you having ZERO junk in your head.

Trading is a big problem you have to solve. Like many big problems, it can be split into smaller problems/milestones you can solve individually. 

1. Choosing market(s) to trade. If you are a meat packer - trade meats. If you work for Kellogs, trade grains. Choose a market you “get”. Choosing a market based on a volatility profile (trade similar ones) isn’t a bad idea.
   
2. Learn what events move that market. This will NOT all be in the charts - not even close. You need to know what moves your markets - sure, some of that will be in the charts. Much of it you won’t trade - but you MUST know. Some events will become setups.
3. Hone in on the events you want to use as “setups”. Now - this is important. Your events/setups don’t have to work all the time OR most of the time. Go back and look at past events - let’s say it’s Employment Numbers hitting the market. Many times employment numbers hit and the market does not react. That might be 70% of the time - but that doesn’t mean “70% failure rate”. You would not trade those 70% “fails” - you WILL focus on the remaining 30%. You need to see VOLUME coming in after the event. If you see that frequently, the event occurs, volume increases and market moves - you have something tradable.
4. Figure out how to confirm your trades. Sticking with 100 events, 70 irrelevant, 30 relevant - you need to figure out how to identify the 30 “working” events with order flow. Basically - you look for a significant increase of activity in the order flow.
5. Trade Management. There may be swing highs/lows around the entry where you can put stops and targets. It may be that a move created by the event typically runs 100 ticks. You might trail stops. Too much management can be bad. In fact, research has shown passive management beats active management. Anyway - you need a stop and target(s) and these can move during the trade.
6. Volatility Adjustment. Do the above perfectly - and it’ll stop working within months. Not necessarily a complete fail - but maybe your R:R becomes less attractive. Your win rate changes. If volatility increases, your opportunity increases but so does your risk - and you need to adjust to it. It’s not a problem unless you don’t do it. 

These are ingredients that can be thrown together in a system. That’s what most people do - they read up online and find that everyone trades S&P500, they then cobble together a system of components that are untested, expecting them to work in unison to “solve the trading big problem”. 

The relentless? They break the trading problem into the above component parts. Yes - figure out what to trade. Spend time on it. Yes - focus on trade entries without worrying too much about how you manage the trades, find solid entry points that are backed up by increases in volume. Test those entry points to validate them - once they are solid - go to management. 

The Power of Professional Tools

At Jigsaw Trading, we understand these challenges intimately. That's why we created tools like our Depth & Sales platform to simplify order flow analysis, and Journalytix to track your trading journey. When combined with the framework laid out in our TTM Manifesto, you have everything needed to trade with precision and purpose.

Relentless Effort vs. Reckless Action: Knowing the Difference

There’s a thin line between relentless effort and reckless action. The relentless trader is purposeful—every action serves a goal, whether it’s refining a strategy, deepening market understanding, or evaluating performance. The reckless trader, on the other hand, confuses activity with progress. They overtrade, jump between strategies, and chase the market without a plan. The key difference is self-awareness. Are you making calculated decisions, or are you simply reacting? Take a moment to evaluate your habits honestly. True relentlessness means knowing when to stop and assess, not just pushing forward blindly.

Document or Disintegrate: The Power of a Written Plan

Memory is a fickle thing, especially when stress is involved. Without a written record of your trading strategies, experiments, and outcomes, you’re bound to repeat the same mistakes. We started Jigsaw because we KNEW the human mind had trouble reading market depth and time & sales at the same time - hence the “Depth & Sales”. We also know that to move forwards as a trader - you need to know 2 things all the time:

1. What I tried that worked (and when it worked).
2. What I tried that didn’t work.

Obvious right? Yet when I speak to a trader, it’s really common for them to say “I tried everything” - and at the same time they are not able to provide any detail on what they tried.

Documentation isn’t just about keeping notes; it’s about creating a blueprint for growth. Write down every approach you’ve tried, even the failed ones, to ensure you don’t revisit dead ends. Track what works, what doesn’t, and why. A written plan transforms trading from guesswork into a deliberate, structured process.

The Market Moves for Reasons: Do You Know Them?

Markets aren’t random—they move for specific reasons. But do you understand them? Many traders focus solely on price charts, ignoring the deeper factors driving market behavior. Whether it’s economic data, order flow, or institutional activity, identifying these forces is crucial for smart trading. This knowledge allows you to anticipate moves rather than react to them, turning you from a passive observer into an informed participant. Without it, you’re just guessing, and guessing doesn’t build a sustainable edge.

Frameworks Over Feelings: The Key to Consistent Progress

Trading is an emotional rollercoaster, and without a framework to ground you, emotions can easily take over. How many times have you made a rash decision in the heat of the moment, only to regret it later? A trading framework—like a set of rules or a structured plan—acts as a stabilizer, helping you stay disciplined even under pressure. It’s not about removing emotions entirely; it’s about ensuring your decisions are driven by logic and strategy, not fear or greed. Frameworks turn chaos into clarity.

The Danger of Chasing Shadows: Recognizing Real Market Signals

Not all trading signals are created equal, and chasing the wrong ones is a recipe for disaster. Many traders waste time and money on superficial indicators or flashy tools that promise easy profits but deliver little substance. The real edge comes from understanding market dynamics—what the data is telling you and how it aligns with your strategy. By filtering out the noise and focusing on reliable signals, you can stop reacting impulsively and start trading with intention. Of course - tools like Journalytix automate and make this part of trading a breeze.

Relentless Smart: How to Stay Persistent Without Self-Sabotage

Relentlessness doesn’t mean endless hustle at the expense of your mental and physical well-being. Smart traders know when to push forward and when to step back. Take regular breaks to recharge, review your progress, and recalibrate your strategies. Relentlessness is about persistence with purpose—not overworking yourself into a cycle of stress and poor decisions. The goal is to channel your drive into productive, deliberate action that leads to sustainable success, not self-sabotage.

Recklessness - it’s not more work, it’s less fun - but only initially. If you follow a more sane, methodical approach, it’ll be a bit dull initially. Nowhere near as fun as strapping on your trading lifejacket and diving a live market and blowing your account. Trading IS fun and trading IS more fun that front-end research. BUT - the methodical approach is a slower start - but soon rewards you with advancement. It’s like being on a diet and stepping on the scales and seeing a kilogram has gone! It’s an amazing feeling - it’s one where you KNOW you improved and have something to build on. 

The reckless - they never get this - they just think they are having more fun!

But there's a better way forward. Just as we've explored the difference between reckless action and relentless progress, the TTM Manifesto provides your blueprint for breaking free from destructive trading habits.

Break Free: Your Next Step

Most traders spend years chasing strategies, hoping the next one will work. But success comes from breaking free of bad habits and mastering what actually works.
The Manifesto is your guide to doing just that.
Download it today and learn:

• The professional trader's framework for reading real market moves - not just indicators and chart patterns
• Why most trading strategies fail (and how to build one that actually works)
• The exact process prop trading firms use to train consistently profitable traders
• How to develop real market insights that give you an edge over retail traders
• The secret to cutting through market noise and seeing what actually drives price movement

It’s time to stop trading blind. Let the manifesto be your guide.