Turboandi

@Pongjrb Good job bro, I've done the same... It's just a quick escape, but nothing that lasts

@fotmandre Dropping video games helped me. Spending hours every day "escaping" from reality. Only to be put right back into it after turning off the PC...

"How do you do it? Where does that discipline come from?" Someone asked me this at a party a few years ago when I was still in university. This question came up because I’ve been lifting weights consistently for around 12 years (at that time), treating my training as an absolute non-negotiable, and people looked at me as if I was some freak when we were talking about that... My honest answer back then? "I don't even think about it." But giving that kinda reaction or telling someone to "just do it" is actually terrible advice. Most people won't just do it, because relying on raw willpower every single day is a losing game. Why? Because your willpower tank will eventually just deplete. Ever thought why you grave XYZ at the end of a hard day and you gave in even though you stayed "disciplined" the whole day? There you have it... Anyways.. I don't even remember why, but lately I've been thinking about that party incident frequently and was wondering how it became an "I don't think about it" activity for me. People always believe discipline is a mystical gift you were given when you were born. They think you either are disciplined or you are not. I believe that's bullshit. You don't force yourself to do hard things. You engineer your life and your routine so that you don't have to think about it anymore. James Clear nailed it in Atomic Habits. To rate a habit, he likes to use questions like “Does this behavior help me become the type of person I wish to be? Does this habit cast a vote for or against my desired entity?” Discipline is nothing but the repetition of habits. If you struggle to start, use Habit Stacking: tie the new action to a habit you already do every single day. But even deeper than that, true behavior change is identity change. To build those habits in the first place, you need to actually know your priorities. If something is truly important to you, you don't make excuses. You simply make the time. What is your purpose? Have you ever thought deeply about that question? I did and I advise you to do the same… Therefore over a year ago, I decided to become a trader. At first, I thought: "Cool, I'll just do a little bit of this after work." A few weeks in, reality hit me. Trading is not just a hobby and I realized if I really wanted to use it as a vehicle to become independent, I gotta make more time to study and to trade. It’s one of the most rigorous educations in the world. As a software engineer, I know exactly how many years you have to study and grind to reach a certain maturity in your field of focus. Why the hell should trading be any different? Especially in a profession where the financial ceiling is practically unlimited? So, I had to adjust my routine and bring trading into my life in a sustainable way. Quick side bramble: People try diet X or diet Y and basically restrict themselves for a few weeks and obviously lose weight. But what happens after those 10 kilos dropped? You wanna go back to your old lifestyle? Good luck with that. Those 10 kilos will be back in no time. Anyways... back to the topic.... So to incorporate trading into my existing lifestyle, I started waking up around 2.5 hours earlier every day to study/chart before work. Was it hard in the beginning? Absolutely. But I wanted to become a trader. So I had to do the things that forge a trader. You're probably asking: "How do you manage to squeeze a few extra hours out of your day? A day only has 24 hrs, how is it possible to extend it?" To answer those questions truthfully, I gotta tell you the hard truth nobody likes to hear: You can't have it all at the same time... And also read "The 5AM club" by Robin Sharma. If you want to integrate a massive new goal into your life, you have to make room somewhere else. I call it the law of equivalent exchange. For example, I made room by seeing my friends less often; I also scaled down my sacred gym routine from 5x to 3x a week. And you know what? That’s okay. If your life is packed and you're thinking, "I can't handle all of this", you don't have to do everything perfectly. You just have to shift your priorities. By the way... I'm assuming you're not mindlessly playing video games or scrolling on TikTok, because dropping those... would give you plenty of hours back each day. It’s completely fine to downshift a gear in one area, you're still putting in the reps and consistency. You will still progressively overload in those downshifted areas of life. It might just take a little longer. Every sacrifice you make, it all shapes you. Just know your purpose, and that way you know what to sacrifice. Everything you do to fulfill your purpose, makes you a better person. -- Andi

Oil Alert set at 110.889 for potential shorts.

This is where the long trail got stopped. Unlucky we didn't get the tight long entry, but it is what it is. Learnt something from it and that is the most important part.

Forgot to update, but we got the long opportunity. I trailed along and got stopped out over night for a 1.6RR trade, while I also opened a hedge short to potentially long a M2 accumulation on the higher TF (at that time), which is either a M1 or nothing now. As you can see that long was quite wide. I was eyeing for a tighter entry, which I missed as I was afk, and the alarm was at the 5m BB which was NOT hit on the BTCUSDT.P chart, but it was hit on the BTCUSD.P chart (something to note down for future cases).

POIs I'm watching. POIs are nice and all, but trading every POI blindly is no bueno. Know what you want to see, where you want to see it and when you want to see it. Getting distribution vibes at red levels/above CMP? Short. Getting accumulation vibes at green levels/below CMP? Long. I personally prefer shorts as we are in premium of the latest HTF swing, but there is nice POIs to long right below the 0.5.

And here is the current short I'm trailing along tightly and I want to open a hedge long on any signs of accumulation. We hit the GP + 3D block. Below (target of short) is a nice 3x hidden 4h block inside the bigger 3D block.

@Pongjrb Thank you! Knowing these insights help makes the documentation worth it.

@fotmandre Thank you Andi. Always appreciate your insight.

The Open Cage: How Having an Anti-Vision, a Vision, and Clear Goals Secures My Freedom This week I finalized a career transition that most people think is impossible: I secured a significant salary increase while simultaneously reducing my working hours. I moved into a deep-tech role where I actually learn skills for my own long-term vision (more on how to create that vision later), all while getting paid more to do it. But here is the secret: The money and the time aren't the primary wins. They are merely byproducts of a superior mental framework I’ve been building for months. The "Light Switch" Moment The win didn't happen in the negotiation room. It happened at 5:00 AM that morning. While everyone is still sleeping, I sat alone and read through my Anti-Vision, my Vision, and my 1-3-10 year goals. It was like a light switch flipped in my brain. The inner fire didn't just flicker, it roared. Looking at that plan created a level of certainty so high that anxiety had no room to exist. Later that day at work, I didn't go into that meeting to ask. I went in there to execute a decision that had already been made in my mind, a decision that was based on what works best for me and my future self, derived from my goals. The Sovereignty Shift After being in the corporate world for a few years I’ve changed the way I view my role: It is no longer a job, it is a high-intensity lab for Mental Mastery. I stopped being a "Yay-sayer" and started practicing the art of the "No". Remember: Nobody gives you anything. You have to take it. I learnt it the hard way, you don't have to. In the end, you are the only person who can help you. You are your own most important asset. If you don't act, nobody will act for you. For me, every boundary set and every negotiation became a Daily Quest designed to build the psychological backbone needed not only for the markets, but for the quest to becoming a better man. I envisioned myself being the character I've played in World of Warcraft for many years, but now that character I level up is myself, myself in real life. Here is how I prepared: 1. Weaponizing the Anti-Vision. Inspired by @thedankoe and his great thread x.com/thedankoe/stat…, I spent that morning before negotiation staring at my Anti-Vision. I visualized the "stagnant soldier" (as I've described him), the man who spends 45 years renting out his mind for a mission he doesn't believe in, too tired at the end of the day to build his own dreams. That disgust fueled my resolve. When you are running away from a nightmare, you don't ask for a change. You architect a new reality because the alternative is death to your soul. 2. Trading Hours for Mental Capacity. The goal was never just a higher paycheck. The goal was Resources. By securing more income in fewer hours, I’ve reclaimed my most valuable assets: Time and Mental Capacity. In the markets, you need absolute focus. If 90% of your energy is drained by some (corporate) bullshit and 40+ hours of "busy work" (this is the worst, you really need to reduce cognitive entropy and find clarity), you have nothing left for execution. BUT NOW, I’ve effectively cleared my cache. I now have the mental quietude to build my personal brand, hit my trading targets with surgical precision, and document my journey to profitability on X. 3. The Spiritual Goal of the "No". Negotiation is weightlifting for the spirit, every rep is a rep closer to mental mastery. To walk into a room full of sharks and state your terms, knowing you are ready to walk away if your vision isn't met, is how you show your "Shadow Child" that you are good enough (The Child In You: The Breakthrough Method for Bringing Out Your Authentic Self - great book btw). You prove to yourself that you are worth fighting for. Confrontation is good, and running away isn't. Fight for youself. I am no longer a part of their system, they are an investor in mine. My job provides the steady cash flow while trading provides the infinite ceiling. The Lesson we can learn: The cage was never actually locked. Most people are just too busy polishing the bars to notice the door is ajar. Your ideal future can seem out of reach, which causes hesitation due to uncertainty, which then invokes anxiety. A plan creates clarity, and clarity creates action as Dan Koe states in his book The Art of Focus, so here are some steps you can undertake to create your clarity and to find meaning and purpose. Trust me it helps tremendously, and if you read this far, you know it does. 1. Define what you refuse to accept/what you despise becoming/who you don't want to be (Anti-Vision) 2. Define who you want to become (Vision) ‼️ 3. Derive Goals: Categorize them (Wealth, Health, Spirituality, Relationships) and set your timelines (1, 3, 10 years) 4. Build the skills to negotiate your freedom 5. Reclaim your time to build your empire Execution is everything. Start now. — Andi

@ItsJainSaab Happy it's inspiring!

@fotmandre Incredible stuff man! Really inspiring!

@_MaxO22_ Here's how it helped me achieve +5 skill level up irl this week: x.com/fotmandre/stat…

"You can only arrive where you want to be if you know exactly who you are." This is a golden nugget that most people skim over without truly dissecting.. I've always known what I wanted, I've had this picturesque "something" in my head, a vision of freedom. But after working for a few years those colors kinda faded into a light gray. Luckily, the rebel in me never fully retired. He was just waiting for a better map. This rebel is what eventually drove me to go inward, basically to get surgical with the exercise you described. Looking deep into what I refuse to become gave me the initial fuel, but defining the vision, basically the "Who I want to become", is what provided the direction. Writing them both down and deriving goals that can be mapped to a short, mid and long term path, transforms a vague, fading dream into something tangible. Having the physical map on paper creates a level of clarity that makes the "No" to the wrong things easy and the "Yes" to the right actions inevitable. So, guys do your weekend task! I can personally testify: Having a precise map is the difference between drifting actually architecting your life.

A golden nugget of advice from the famous "Max Gladwell.” One of my mentees, sent over this AI-generated summary of one of the most important topics we’ve covered over the past weeks. In this video, you’ll find my entire framework for goal-setting: The Why, the How, and the Which. It’s the process of turning vague dreams into clear visions, and finally, into a concrete plan of action. I hammer this into my mentees constantly: You can only arrive where you want to be if you know exactly who you are. It sounds simple, but 9 out of 10 people are just drifting. Some have vague dreams with no plan. But if you study any successful person in history, they didn't just hope for the best or dream vague: They had a precise map. Your Weekend Assignment: Let this video guide you through the process of defining your goals and purpose for the years to come. Use this weekend to reflect, go inward, and find what you are truly capable of. It’s amazing what AI can do to distill compressed knowledge even further. Magic work as always @barnc0re

That sport analogy is pure gold! I've found that distinguishing between muscle burn and joint pain applies to every area of my life, from weightlifting and nutrition to now trading. I feel like it's the ultimate filter for long term mastery and ensuring consistency over decades, which I can proudly say I have achieved for the weightlifting and nutrition part. Trading is the next! I'm a huge advocate of the 80/20 rule myself, but I'm currently navigating a demanding professional role shift that I've turned into a lab for Mental Mastery. I treat every high stakes challenge as a daily quest (thank you World of Warcraft) to level up my discipline and boundaries. Because I'm investing so much energy into this "mental game" work right now, my 80% isn't always available for the charts. That's exactly where my scalable routine comes in handy. When life/job load is high, this routine acts as my "Minimum Effective Volume" (MEV). It's the bridge that keeps my execution clean and disciplined and prevents it from turning into joint pain caused by not listening to your body. It allows me to stay in the game without compromising the quality of my process of my mental health. Question for you if you want to answer: When you hit a wall of "valid suffering", do you prefer an immediate hard stop to reset, or do you have a specific MEV mode to keep your "pulse" on the market?

Nice write-up and very valuable, in my view. Because you asked, the way I handle my "40-60%" is simply with the 80/20 rule: 80% productive work and 20% leisure time. This ensures I don't lose interest or burn out, giving my mind and body the necessary time to recover. As a sportsman, you know the difference between positive and negative pain. If a joint hurts while performing an exercise, it is rarely a good sign. Stopping or adjusting is highly recommended. However, if the muscles or lungs are burning, quitting is simply quitting. It might take a beginner some time to distinguish between the two, but eventually, everyone learns. If you are honest with yourself, it becomes obvious what is truly helpful and what is not. In trading, this translates perfectly: "Artificial unhelpful Pain": "I don't want to take this trade because I'm scared to lose." This is a mental barrier that one should strive to overcome. "Valid helpful Suffering": "I am struggling because trading requires more attention than I can give right now due to my family situation." This second situation requires your full attention to be resolved first. Trying to juggle too many high-stakes responsibilities at once will hurt the outcome of both. In that case, nothing is gained and nothing is protected by pushing through that kind of mental suffering.

I know the exact feeling when life gets loud and the charts suddenly feel like an anchor dragging you down. I’ve felt that suffocating pressure when life suddenly demands 100% of your energy, and the markets feel like a burden instead of an opportunity. The instinct is to quit entirely. But you don't have to choose between burning out or walking away. There are far superior ways to operate that keep you in the game without hitting that wall of total exhaustion. Here is my personal system for navigating high-stress periods while maintaining absolute clarity and staying in control. 👇

Stay in the loop, but scale your effort to match your current life phase. The best traders aren't those who stare at the screen the longest, they are those who manage their mental resources the smartest. How do you handle days when life takes over? Do you push through the "40%" or switch to a mechanical minimum mode?

From what I've seen, elite traders focus on mental mastery because they know the game is won in the mind before it ever hits the charts. As Mark Douglas teaches in "Trading in the Zone," success is about mental state management and thinking in probabilities. I’ve learned to be extremely protective of my mental energy. Obsession plays a role in greatness, but I refuse to let trading become my new cage. If life is turbulent, I scale down to protect my passion and my edge. To me, true sovereignty is the power to say "No" to a setup when the conditions aren't right. It’s the strength to stay on the sidelines and protect your mental capital. Refusing to be rushed by the market or your own ego is the ultimate edge.