seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:01]Hi guys. Um, I hope you guys are well.

[00:00:03]It's been a minute since I've come on here and I've yet and updated you guys on my journey and I think you guys will kind of respect why um, once I get into it which I'll quickly skim over and then I'll tell you guys about a little bit of my update. It's been a really good week for me. I haven't passed anybody, I haven't got a pay, I haven't done anything crazy like that, but it's been a really good week for me in terms of actual progress which is really what matters in my trading. Um, don't mind that. That is all clean clothes, but it's my massive hoodie set and I didn't really have anywhere else to put it. Um, just give me 1 second, guys.

[00:00:37]Okay.

[00:00:39]So, the reason why I haven't been vlogging, I haven't been posting as much is not because I've stopped trading. I feel like it was a little bit too perfect timing being like with my last trading diaries episode being like, I'm I'm feel like quitting or like I feel like I'm failing. I can't remember what the exact title was, but it was along the lines of like, I'm totally I'm so done with this. Like I feel like I'm going to like I was having doubts and I was having um, I I wasn't having doubts. Like I wasn't having doubts like that like I was going to quit, but it was like it was like, oh my god, like this is like never ending.

[00:01:14]Like it's just not getting better. I wasn't seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. So, I took a step back and I reevaluated myself, I reevaluated my life and I was like, cuz it's a little bit of a tricky time for me because obviously as you guys know I don't have a job.

[00:01:30]I'm not making income and I'm trying to trade and I have I have other things that I need to do like I need to be able to pay for things like I need money, basically. So, I was a little bit stressed, um, I think at that time. So, what I've kind of started doing now is I've started really away from trading, by the way.

[00:01:52]I've I've started like learning more and getting more into that like business space and I'm honestly really passionate about business.

[00:02:00]Um doesn't mean like I'm not trying to say that I'm, you know, giving up on trading at all. Please don't take it this way, but I was just like, "Okay, well, I need to have a plan. Like I need to have like an active plan that I can work towards rather than being like trading, trading, trading." Because my goals are trading, trading, trading.

[00:02:18]Like every single time I write out my goals, trading is always my number one income provider. Trading is always my number one income thing. I'm my number one focus, okay? Like it's genuinely what I want to do for the rest of my life. However, it's not something you can force. Like you cannot force trading to work at a time that it's not going to work. For me, I've had to step back and I've had to slow down in order to see any progress because I was trying to go fast, fast, fast. Last week it it bit me. Like last week on I think it was a Thursday, I lost $400 on my eval. And that was because I was like, "Yeah, okay, cool. I've dealt with my with with my hesitation. I'm just going to enter in um full size, not full size, but like, you know, uh decently high size for a 25k account and I'm just going to I'm just going to do it. I'm just going to make it work." And I did not make it work. It The trade lost and the thing is I had also hesitated on a few setups earlier in that trading session, I believe. So, my hesitation was, I guess, not 100% there. And then the day after, I was just not seeing anything and I was just a little bit hesitant. So, I re- I rewatched the day after that on the Friday while I was doing my cleaning job, I rewatched the founder Trade Seller. He did a podcast with Words of Wisdom where he was um it was almost like an advice, I don't know. It was almost like a What's a webinar when it's not online? Like a conference type of thing. Not even a conference, it's like a round table. I don't know, it was like him versus like 15 unprofitable traders and he was giving advice. And one of the advices that I heard was size down when you're dealing with psychological problems.

[00:04:06]And for me, obviously you guys know, it's been hesitation. It's been hesitation for the longest time. So, I've sized down and I've held that size and I'm telling myself I have to hold this size and I have to continue trading on this size until I see progress, until I see um that I'm actually getting better at my executions because the problem is my executions are wrong. And it's making me risk higher, it's making me It's just It's messing me up. So, anyway, this week I just I took a step back and I decided to MNQ on a two? Yeah, two MNQ?

[00:04:41]Yeah.

[00:04:47]I'm tired.

[00:04:48]I decided two MNQ, I'm pretty sure, on my 25k account, which eventually led to like I think a $120 risk. Um I'm finally getting to that point where I need to be cuz my setups are good, my read on the market is okay, but it's just executing on those trades. Like I will hesitate three trades in a row and take the fourth. I'll hesitate and I'll take a late entry. What was supposed to be a one-to-one setup is now a 0.5R setup and it's like it's it's constantly like affecting my trading, this hesitation.

[00:05:21]So, it's something that I've had to deal with and I think this week I've actually dealt with it really, really well and I think you can see the the progress is evident. Like it is so clear.

[00:05:33]I'm trying to I'm trying to take a step back. Where are we at in this conversation because I kind of just skipped to trading. I think I just skimmed over the business side of things. I'll get back to that point, okay? I'll get back to it. Um it's not something you guys going to be like super stressed about, but I'll get back to it, I promise. Um but now I'm lost.

[00:05:52]This is how you know that I don't have AI writing me a script, okay?

[00:05:56]>> [laughter] >> This is like this is purely from the chest, from my brain, from my heart. So, anyway, this week um I didn't trade Monday, but Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I traded all three of those days. All three of those day those days were a winning setup. I'm not going to trade tomorrow because I'm already on three wins for the week. I'm just going to like call it a week and >> [clears throat] >> take my wins and yeah, move into next week and just yeah, paper trade forward test and my win rate for my live trading has gone to a 70% now, which is honestly really, really, really happy I'm really happy about that. Um it will definitely ebb and flow between like 60 and 70, but I'm happy that it's at that 70% now because if you guys don't know my strategy, I'm supposed to have like at least an 85% win rate.

[00:06:44]But, I've been struggling.

[00:06:45]>> [laughter and gasps] >> I have been struggling. So, it's not quite at that point yet, but we're getting there, which is like the key part. Oh, look a massive pimple there. I didn't even realize until I started filming.

[00:06:56]Anyway, >> [laughter] >> um okay, my brain.

[00:07:01]Sorry, guys. I haven't even finished my first coffee. I woke up this morning and I was so blessed that my mom was making breakfast, so she made me some breakfast and then I had my breakfast and I had my I did my workout while I was thinking about all the things I needed to do today and then I went into my um Notion board, my planner, which AI is planning for me now and I yeah, I did that and then I started watching the lecture and I was like, wait, I need to tell my community about this week that I've had cuz it's been crazy. So, anyway, >> [sighs and gasps] >> Okay.

[00:07:40]Let's bring it back.

[00:07:41]What were we talking So, we're talking about this week and yeah, the hesitation. So, basically at the start of the week I got a $60 trade. And then the next trade was like a $30 trade. And the executions like okay, the $30 trade that one I'm psychologically messed up on. I don't even know what I did. I do know what I did, but like I don't know what was going through my head basically. So, I had a trade and my original setup it would have played out. Um but I hesitated but I hesitated and then I entered and then I seen I could potentially get more out of this trade like I can TP 30 points from this point. But usually my rule with myself is if I hesitate on a trade, I'm putting it at my original TP level no matter what the risk to reward ratio is.

[00:08:25]>> [clears throat and cough] >> I do this because it reaffirms to me that my setup that I'm doing is working.

[00:08:29]The setup that I'm aiming for is working. It doesn't have me be greedy and it just keeps me with a process oriented mindset. But then what I did yesterday was I went oh, I'm I can get 30 points out of this trade. And then I was thinking about it. I was thinking about the money. I was thinking about the fact that I could have a 30 point trade and I just moved the TP to 30 points once it hit my actual target which should have I should have had that hit and then got out of the markets. But then I moved my stop loss to break even and I had my target at 30 points and then it stopped me out. Um Well, no. I I moved my T I moved my stop loss into profit underneath like a fair value gap or whatever. I didn't really give my trade any breathing room. And then I just got stopped out at like had it at 0.2R or something. But the reason why I'm saying like I'm still seeing improvements is because that was my trade management. That's something I can bite in the butt really really quickly because it's just it's something that I've had I've been okay with this whole time. Like trade management I'm totally fine with. It was just that psychological thing. Um so, that's something I nipped in the bud pretty quick and I don't think that's going to be a huge issue for me. I'm just going to hold myself accountable with it. Um but I don't know what I would know what I would was I What was I going to?

[00:09:42]Um but what actually happened was my execution was a lot better on that trade. My execution, it was not too late. Um it wasn't perfect. It wasn't too late.

[00:09:50]Yesterday, however, my execution was on point. I executed exactly where I needed to execute. No hesitation. I saw my setup. I was like, "Yep, this is good.

[00:09:59]I'm entering." And the candle was barely even green. Like I was I'm very proud of myself for entering at the correct time.

[00:10:07]Um yes, it wasn't full size. Yes, I still have some somewhere to go, but I think everyone's trading journey looks different and I need to remind myself of that because I'm looking at myself and I'm like, "Why can't I take big risk trades like everyone in the Discord does?" Like in the Discord mentorship that I'm in. "Why Why am I different and I can't execute like everyone else can? Like why can't I have a FOMO problem? Why can't I have a revenge trading problem? Why can't I have a Like why can't I have a problem Why am I Why is my problem hesitation? Because I just want to be able to get in. Like I want to be able to get in and then after that I can tweak it, you know? I don't mind being having a greed problem.

[00:10:45]That's something I can fix, but hesitation is so frustrating because it's like I'm seeing everyone make this crazy progress and I'm too hesitant to make the mistakes to make the progress myself. And it's been a huge thing that I've needed to self-reflect on. It's been a huge thing that's been psychologically holding me back and giving me impostor syndrome as well. And yeah, it's not been the easiest thing in the world. But I've made it some somewhat. Like I've made it at >> [laughter] >> I can't really say that I've made it because I need to I have a rule with myself cuz I come from like an acrobatics background. I used to do like um aerial silks and like you circus acrobatics, okay? Like I used to do that type of stuff. I don't want to get too far into it. But I used to do that and one of the things because we used to do drops off of these silks, one of the things that we had to do was we had to have our teacher watch us do the drop three times to make sure we've got it right. After the third time, we can do it unsupervised because it's like we've essentially got it. We've essentially got it right when you do it three times in a row. So, that's my thing. I need to be able to do this perfect execution three times in a row before I can say that I've got it and I can repeat this over and over and over again without having it be my sole focus. So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to focus on getting that execution times in a row and then I'm just going to progressively size up one M and Q.

[00:12:05]And it's going to be slow. It might take a month to get to the risk that I'm supposed to be trading at. However, I can see the improvements. And if I had done high risk this whole week, I doubt I would have even taken a trade. So, the fact that I can see the improvements is it's really it's it's allowing me to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And honestly, like I just want you guys to take this as your sign that do not compare yourself to other people. Not influencers, not just influencers cuz I know that people like to be like, "Don't compare yourself to influencers." Like yes, don't compare yourself to influencers, but also don't compare yourself to other people on Discords.

[00:12:40]Like just because you're in a Discord and they might have had certain results, doesn't mean you're going to be the same. Humble yourself and look inwards at yourself and just focus on your own process progress.

[00:12:54]I don't know. What's a hard but just focus on yourself and your own progress. And instead of trying to chase an invisible standard at an imaginary standard that, you know, you might have an assumption over. Instead of trying to chase that standard, just chase pushing that standard for yourself higher. So, my standard this last month has been I have really bad hesitation. I'm slowly moving that standard higher as I humble myself and I go, "How can I do the best thing for me?" And I would highly highly highly recommend that you guys watch that Words of Wisdom episode. I'm actually going to bring it up on YouTube.

[00:13:30]One thing about me with these videos is I don't edit them.

[00:13:32]>> [laughter] >> I don't like editing.

[00:13:34]Um I like editing the vlogs, but I don't like editing my speaking because then it feels like performative. I like to be able to like be like super natural with you guys. And I feel like it's something that's like Guys, I cuz I'll tell you guys about the business thing in a second, but my gosh, so many people just use AI for like their content. It's crazy. Okay.

[00:13:55]This video right here. Look, hold on.

[00:13:57]Let me This video right here.

[00:14:03]So, $30 million verified trader versus 15 unprofitable traders, and that's the founder of Trade Zilla. And it is a It's a really really good um video. It's like 2 hours long. I've rewatched it twice. Um 2 hours and 50 minutes. I've rewatched it twice. It's so good. It's so valuable for all different ski- all different problems that people are having in trading.

[00:14:27]>> [cough and clears throat] >> Okay.

[00:14:30]Now, I'll tell you guys about this whole like business thing that I've been working on, this thing that I've been doing on the side. I actually think it has been benefiting my trading. I've been somewhat putting work into trading still, but my main focus has been on the charts actively when market opens. Um and then obviously keeping up with the lectures, studying, and things like that. My emphasis hasn't been hugely on back testing, but I definitely do want to get more into back testing cuz I think it does help. But like you guys have picked up on and like I pretty much picked up on, back testing is not going to solve all of my problems. I need to hold myself accountable in the markets.

[00:15:01]Um Yeah. So, I'm actually going to see an improvement from that, and I haven't actually been back testing, but I have been studying, and I think I'm just going to continue studying and watching the content and working on the other things that I'm working on on the side.

[00:15:14]So, when it comes to like the business side of things that I've been working on, I've been working on You guys will see it. My BuildWithZahra personal brand it's more about business because you guys know I've mentioned it to you guys I'm starting an Airbnb management business with my friend and that is something that we've been working on. If you guys see my face on Instagram talking about Airbnb that's what that is for.

[00:15:36]But um Yeah, so I've been documenting I haven't been documenting that as such but I started this BuildWithZahra brand to start documenting that business side of what I'm doing because I think it's really valuable and I think I just I love business. I genuinely do. I love business and systems. So I've kind of figured out like my little pocket in entrepreneurship that I love which is like systems and you guys will be able to tell with the Notion templates that I build and all that stuff that I I just I obsess with that is all because I I love systems and it's kind of like what I've niched myself in like when I have me and my business partner I'm studying systems she's studying like things like interior design and stuff.

[00:16:18]So my emphasis has been on systems I've been learning how to use Claude and I've paid for the software and stuff like that. So I've been learning how to use that and I've been Oh, my intention with that brand is to kind of document my journey learning how to use Claude using Claude and I've kind of got a brand that I'm working on on the side where I think I'm going to No, I think I'm going to be um essentially like selling these systems to other people um to help them out and it's just systems that I use. So I'm going to tag like the systems that I use with my BuildWithZahra brand or systems that I use in general like I use like a scheduling planning system that I built.

[00:16:57]So I'll be sharing that specifically the ones that I use and then I'll be doing a separate brand where it's like these are just all the systems that I make because one thing about me I don't think that if you have a personal brand you should be selling anything that you do not use.

[00:17:09]This is why you guys don't see crazy links in my description. I'm not going to sell you guys something that I don't use. Okay, the I use even though I have Notion, I still use TradeZella for for my backtesting and my journaling. I just think it's the most cost-effective um because you get the journaling and the backtesting and you get the prop firm sync and all that. And Trade TradingView is in the my description. Like, I genuinely only want to promote things that I use. So, even with my business personal brand, it's going to be the same thing. I'm only going to be sharing the things that I use and then that's when I'll have that separate brand where I'm show where I'm just building systems for the sake of building systems to help people. Systems that I may not need and may not use, but I'm still selling it to help people.

[00:17:51]Um so, that's kind of what I've been doing and it's kind of been capitalizing on the skills that I already have and it's been really, really fun learning about systems, learning about AI because obviously it's taking over the world and yeah.

[00:18:02]>> [laughter and gasps] >> So, I've been yeah, learning about AI and all of that on the side and yeah, it's definitely it's taken my mind away from trading and it's allowed me to have that 1 hour a day of where I just for it's not like an hour a day. Like, I do do studying on the side, but it's just not as much cuz before it was like every single day, every single second was just trading, but now it's like I'm focusing on being really disciplined. So, like, I don't know, you guys can't tell, but this is my workout top. I've been working out more at home. I've been eating a lot more healthier. I started eating meat now. I used to not eat meat.

[00:18:37]So, I started eating meat, so I have a lot more energy. Um So, yeah, it's it's been it's been great and I've been focused on not being a lot more disciplined in my outside life and then that carries into trading. I've been a lot more disciplined with my trading in a way and yeah.

[00:18:54]Um so, that has been that's been my my update in my life. Um yeah, it's been a journey. So, anyway, I'm going to finish my coffee. I'm going to finish planning this content operating system that I'm going to be building while I watch my lecture for my mentorship for trading and I'll upload this video for you guys, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. If you guys have any questions about anything, please let me know. Obviously, you guys are my OGs.

[00:19:19]Like, I'm always super super super transparent. So, if you guys are like a little bit concerned, like, "What do you mean you're doing this business thing on the side? Are you going to turn into like some sales person and start promoting on this page?" No, I will not.

[00:19:30]Like, you don't have to stress. Like, it's all good. We are like We're just on FaceTime. This is not like a sales pitch. I promise you. But, anyway, if you have any questions or any concerns, let me know in the comments. And if you have any advice for me, let me know in the comments. And any video requests, please let me know that as well. And yeah, I'm super excited to start being more active because now I can kind of step back from this like crazy chaos of like, "Oh my god, I'm not making any progress."

[00:19:56]to now being like, "Okay, it's okay.

[00:19:58]We're moving forward. Now I can like vlog." But, anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll speak to you guys probably later this week, if not tomorrow.

[00:20:06]Bye.