Nothing like watching $1,000 disappear down the toilet with the time span of two weeks. Have you been there? I know I have when I first got started. In many ways, it’s a rite of passage to watch your own money go “poof” when you first start trading. It does not need to be that way, assuming you take the proper steps, but most people (again, myself included) don’t take the proper steps and experience pain. Fellow community member Diego shares with us his initial impressions of the market and how he thought it was all gambling. The mindset lead to headaches up front, but what did Diego do to make changes? How was his journey since pivoted? We talk about that and much more thanks to the honesty and bluntness Diego is willing to provide. Notes: Today we speak with community member Diego. His introduction to the market was fairly recently. He thought that putting money in the market was the equivalent to gambling until he started to do some research. He funded a $1,000 account with the idea that if he were to lose it all it was no big deal. That account had a short life span of about 2 weeks. He attributes this to the large commissions that his offshore broker was charging. Diego opened another account with more capital with a slower growth strategy. Unfortunately that sneaky voice of greed in our heads led him to think that this slow growth was not fast enough. Trading was meant to be the bridge between the money he had currently and the money required to invest in real estate where he lived. While everything was on target it was just not at the speed he wanted. After investing in his education and learning more about options trading, he thought this might be a better use of capital. Ambition cuts both ways. Since Diego wanted to fast track his progress he was consuming massive amounts of education in a very short period of time. He gave himself 6 months to get ‘educated’ but only made it 3 weeks before live trading again. Clay and Chezz suggest that Diego focus on advanced options because it sounds like it would suit his personality the best. Quotes: I didn’t know what made the prices go up or go down. I just heard the horror stories of people losing a lot of money. All the videos I watched were successful videos… they showed you what happens when you win and I thought I could duplicate that. Those greedy voices in my head told me that I could be growing my account faster if I was past the pattern day trader rule. I’ve alwys been the guy to wing it. Do some research and I’ll be able to pick it up after a little bit. Looking back, that’s not the right approach to the market. As soon as I got into a trade I’d basically forget everything I learned and ride the high…