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Went back through my trading journal this past week,
Wasn't looking for anything specific. Just some reflection.
Found something I hadn't noticed before.
Every year I mark when things "clicked."
When the account started compounding instead of bleeding.
2022: March 19th.
2023: April 3rd.
2024: February 28th.
All Q1. All within the same 6-week window.
I started wondering if that was just me.
So I asked around. Checked the timestamps on when students inside my program started posting consistent results.
Similar pattern.
The traders who become profitable in any given year almost always cross that line by April.
Not Because April Is Special
It's math.
By April, you've run a system through 12-16 weeks of live execution.
You've seen it work in ranging markets and trending markets.
You've collected enough data points to know what's noise and what's signal.
You've also failed enough times with the system to trust it.
That part doesn't get talked about.
The trust isn't built by wins. It's built by losses that didn't blow up your account.
Drawdowns you held through. Setups you passed on that would've killed you.
That takes reps. Reps take time.
The traders who start in January don't hit that threshold until May or June.
By then, summer volume kicks in. Markets get choppy.
And they blame the strategy instead of recognizing they're still in the calibration phase.
The traders who start in November hit that threshold in February.
Same system. Different timing. Completely different outcome by year end.
The Uncomfortable Part
If you're reading this on January 1st, you're already behind the curve.
Not fatally. You can still build something that compounds this year.
But the traders who'll be scaling capital in Q1?
They're not setting resolutions right now.
They're eight weeks into execution.
They've already survived their first drawdown with the system.
Already refined their entry criteria based on real data.
They're not asking "what should I focus on this year?"
They already know.
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What This Actually Means
The window for "starting in Q1" isn't January through March.
It's November through January.
The traders who treat January as day one are running a different race than the traders who treated November as day one.
Both will work hard. Both will show up. Both will want it.
One group has a 10-week head start on the reps that build trust.
That's the gap.
Not intelligence. Not talent. Not even strategy.
Timing and reps.
If you're starting now, start today. Not next Monday. Not after you "finish researching."
Today.
And the only thing that determines which side of the line you're on is how many weeks of execution you have behind you when it arrives.
Happy new year, talk soon
Atif
