Let me be direct about something: your process comes before your P&L. Regardless of how well we think we're trading, regardless of how much money we are making, P&L is always a lagging indicator and money made out of luck is never held on to long term.
So we need to make sure that the objectives we've been building are compounding and creating real consistency — not just lucky streaks.
Your Job Is to Collect Data
If we philosophically understand that being a winning trader isn't about placing trades — it's about studying decisions, reviewing the market, reviewing behaviors, reviewing executions — then we can understand that the quality of the data we collect fundamentally creates the lessons and feedback we need.
That means you have to actually enjoy the review process. You have to find your routine that allows you to collect those variables, study them, track them, and learn from them. If you don't create that routine for yourself, you're never going to be able to say you're actually a process-based trader.
The Three-Question Framework
For myself personally, I like to view this as a three-question problem:
- What's one thing I did well?
- What's one thing I need to improve?
- What's one thing I need to focus on tomorrow?
This allows me to clear my head after each trading day. It gives me something technical to focus on with each session. And it allows me to evaluate each trade on a case-by-case basis — no mass generalizations.
I'm not sitting there saying "today I did well because I made money." That's the wrong thing to focus on. Why did I make money? Because I closed as my P&L was increasing. Because I ignored my greed. Because I followed my trading plan and executed it effectively.
Or maybe I left a lot of money on the table. Maybe I ignored a rule. Maybe I oversized my position to generate that P&L. Now I know what to focus on improving.
Watch Your Answers Change Over Time
By focusing on answering those three daily questions for each trade, I put myself in scenarios where I can notice my patterns much easier. The improvement becomes more validating because I can see how the answers change.
I can see myself not making the same take-profit mistakes. I can see myself not having the same risk management mistakes or execution mistakes or impulse mistakes. And I can start to validate my confidence by seeing my skill actually improve. I reinforce those behaviors by being more in control of them and more aware of them.
Not Every Day Is a Trading Day
There are going to be days where we lose money. Days where we make mistakes. A million things can slow you down. If you have that P&L brain — if you're P&L obsessed — you're not going to view a red day as an opportunity to learn. You're going to view it as an opportunity to feel like shit.
We navigate that by gamifying quality of processes and gamifying techniques so that we can turn each day into a learning opportunity. That means choosing to find the positive out of each trading session — something as simple as choosing how you're going to behave the next time, or highlighting something you did well and should be proud of.
Grounding yourself in the belief that you are improving will make it a lot easier to embrace the process-based mindset and fall in love with learning something new every single day.
Knowledge Compounds Faster Than P&L
I can learn something new every day — something new about myself, about the market, about my behaviors, about the execution platform. Even if the market is closed, I can still learn something new.
But that's not the reality with P&L. It's going to be $500 one day, $1,000 the next, minus $750 the third, and then up another $1,000 the day after. If I judge myself on the number on the screen, I'm never going to be happy. I'm never going to be satisfied. I'm never going to feel in control.
P&L is a lagging indicator. As I answer my three questions, fix the quality of my decisions, improve my technique, and improve my awareness of psychological triggers — my P&L will have no reason not to catch up. Because I've stopped making the mistakes that consistently cost me money.
The 100-Day Challenge
Here's the challenge I'd give you: Ask yourself those three questions for the next 100 trading days. On every single trade you take, write down what's one thing you did well, what's one thing you can improve, what's one thing you're going to focus on tomorrow.
Give yourself that list of questions. Review them at the start of each trading day. After 100 days, I guarantee you that your trading will be completely transformed. You will be a new person. You will have a completely different, elite, redefined vision of how you actually trade. And you're going to be building your decisions off of facts, not feelings.
Be Your Own Harshest Critic
The more accountable and the more honest you can be with yourself in this process, the faster it'll go. The more improvements you will see, the larger your P&L will be.
Everyone has a different journey because those problems are our own — influenced by our own backgrounds, histories, strengths, and weaknesses. There are no magic words I can tell you. I would only encourage you that you should do this. It has completely changed my trading and my life.
If you want to be free, if you want whatever money you want in your life, if you want to not have to respond to your boss's emails, if you want complete control over your time — then you have to be your own harshest critic. You have to fall in love with the quality of the process.
Put Your Process to the Test
Ready to prove your process works? Get funded with DayTrader Funding for $249. One-time fee. No subscription. Trade with real capital and keep up to 80% of your profits. Your process is the edge — now give it the capital it deserves.