It's time for us to move into the next phase of group therapy - where we will look at specific trader's issues. If you remember, earlier this year we said that we don't want to be a part of the narrative that "trading is an endless quest for knowledge" or "I just need that one last thing".  Teaching more and more is unhelpful if you already have enough and the answer is to get good at that. After, all - it was REFUSING to sell more education to this guy  that was his turning point. 

When we first mentioned this a few months ago, we were looking for people with one of a range of issues and we ended up with a few people that had all of them. One of those we'll talk to on the 29th at 12pm EST.

I'd like to make this 100% open and transparent - but for the first session, I have decided to keep the trader anonymous. To sign up for this Jigsaw event click here.

Part of the reason is that in my experience, this sort of discussion has a couple of potential outcomes that might seem a bit odd. For example, you might explain why an issue exists and how traders typically overcome it and the trader responds by never talking to you again. Not because of how you said it but because they find the stuff you mentioned a bit distasteful. A bit too much like hard work.

So - I'd like the trader to be able to say "forget that, I'm quitting" or "I'm not going to do that - I don't want any more advice" without feeling obligated to do otherwise because of peer pressure or embarrassment.

I have not spoken to the trader yet - mostly because I am lazy and don't do the same thing twice unless the 2nd time is automated but also because it feels more genuine to NOT have a practice. Mostly it's laziness. 

I do know him though - he's been a customer for a while - and we've traded emails. I chose him based on the fact his name was instantly recognizable and the fact he's been a customer the longest. So a bit of ego at play too on my part in wanting to get him where he needs to be, providing he has the aptitude. 

In terms of his story - here's what he sent. He has been very clear that he is fine having his identity revealed - but I will edit to keep his name private. For meeting one - he'll be Chuck Berry. Same initials;-)

"This is my eleventh year as a full-time day trader. I trade every day from 7:30 am to 11:30 am EST. I sold my successful xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxon April 29, 2010 to pursue trading as a career. I’ve sacrificed everything in pursuit of this profession including all my savings and a fiancé who didn’t believe I could do it. Throughout my life I’ve never failed at anything.

I’ve studied every video you’ve made and been to all of your webinar’s multiple times. I even taught trading seminars for another trading coach for several years before I met you and John Grady. I traded typical chart-based equities for the first five years and have been trading treasuries with Jigsaw / John Grady for the last 6 years.

I’ve never made a profit and have slowly lost a significant amount of money. I’ve kept continuous trade journals my entire career as well as videos, logs and spreadsheets. The behaviors and plans I observe and trade are recorded in my journals.

Could you work with me and help me to become profitable?"

He is in the states, I already called Joe Biden about getting his wife the Congressional Medal of Honor for services above and beyond the call of duty. No answer yet but I did tell him what year it was, so we had rapport. Fingers crossed.

So - here's how we'll do it for session 1.

• Send in comments/questions please
• Kick off - look at what he did prior to selling his business
• Look at the impact of selling the business
• Understand external pressures he has
• Find out what he did so far that didn't work
• Find out what "working" means to him 
• Figure out the next steps for him

And you know what -  we may say "just stop". That's pretty rare for a first meeting but sometimes it's the right answer.

I did work with one very intelligent woman in London. She was a delight to talk to, she was clearly extremely intelligent, she was funny (OK - I am not flirting) but she could not stop taking off-plan trades. We never figured it out & it bugs me to this day.

My gut feel is that quitting his business painted him into a corner - made trading too much of a battle, put too much at stake. But let's see.

To sign up for this Jigsaw event click here.