My First 6 Months as a Day Trader - The Updated Blueprint

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If you don’t have a copy yet, consider downloading my free 6 Month Blueprint. This outlines all the steps I’m taking to become a full-time day trader.

Download the Blueprint here.

Below are 4 steps that took me 6 months to complete.

I worked a few hours during the week and mainly on the weekends.

You might be able to do all 4 steps in 6 weeks… Or it might take you a full year. Everyone’s schedule is different, and everyone’s knowledge base is different. So it doesn’t matter how long it takes you, however, these seem to be the most important steps that beginners should tackle first.

I think most people can get through this material in 6 months. What will differ is the level of understanding. I personally have an “introductory” level of understanding after 6 months. This means I plan on studying more before looking into any specific strategy. If you can dedicate more than a few hours each week, you can learn these concepts more thoroughly, and be better prepared for the next phase of your journey.

I spent the first 2 months studying some stock market basics, and setting up my brokerage account (steps 1 and 2).
Month 3 and 4 were dedicated to options (step 3). This step is optional.
Months 5 and 6 were dedicated to technical analysis (step 4). This step is essential.

All the steps below have links to all my content (articles, videos, podcasts).

Resources I Used

The first 6 months should be a learning and studying phase. Apart from books, you can find most information for free online.

The only resources I bought were textbooks. I have listed them here and I highly recommend them. I also signed up for a free account with TradingView.

TradingView is an excellent charting software for beginners, offering an intuitive and easy-to-use interface. It provides a wide range of charting tools and technical indicators, allowing users to analyze market trends and make informed trading decisions.

This is a great tool to use when you’re learning technical analysis. I personally plan to use this charting software together with my brokerage account for making real trades.

TradingView has a free option which allows you to use their charting tools with some limitations. It’s recommended to sign up for a free account to avoid pop ups while using the software. Sign up for a free account here.

Visit the official website here: https://TradingView.com

Books and Audiobooks

I bought 2 textbooks so far, and a few other audiobooks. These are both highly recommended in the trading world.

Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets – John J. Murphy

This is a great textbook on technical analysis. I personally bought the study guide as well as the audiobook version. A lot of content online uses this textbook as a reference.

Options as a Strategic Investment – Lawrence G. McMillan

This is a detailed textbook on options. If you plan to trade options (I personally do), then this is a great resource. I also bought the study guide.

Trading in the Zone – Mark Douglas

This is a highly recommended book on the mental side of trading. It is recommended by many successful traders. I personally bought the audiobook version.

Audiobooks are a lifesaver in my opinion.

I found the audiobook versions to be very helpful when it comes to this material. Sometimes it took me reading and listening to various concepts for things to really sink in.

Click here to get a free trial of Audible. You won’t regret it.

Software

As mentioned above, TradingView is charting software that you can use for free.

You will want to use this when you’re studying technical analysis. You will need to sign up for a free account to access the charts without annoying advertisements. In the future I plan on upgrading to a paid plan. Sign up for a free account here.

AI Tools

I personally use AI tools like ChatGPT and Grok from X for enhancing my studying. I find them very helpful for asking questions and getting clarifications on various topics. These tools will only get better in the future and can really speed up your learning in my opinion.

Again, during this first “phase” you really don’t need to buy anything other than some optional textbooks and a free account with TradingView. Most of what you need can be found online for free.

Don’t buy a course on a trading strategy. You don’t need that right now. You need to study and build a good foundation of knowledge before looking into any trading strategies.

Find an updated list of resources here.

Step 1: Stock Market Basics

The first step is to get familiar with some stock market basics. Depending on your current knowledge, you might be able to skip this step, or you might want to spend even more time studying here.

Here are the topics I personally reviewed:

Step 2: Choose a Broker

For this step, you will want to open up a brokerage account, and activate a paper trading account for practice without financial risk. It’s crucial your brokerage account allows paper trading (virtual money). I personally opened an account with Interactive Brokers. You will want to get familiar with all stock order types in your brokerage dashboard.

Step 3: Options

Study and learn the basics of options. This step is optional, because not every day trading strategy uses options. However, I personally feel I will be using them, and I’m interested in learning about them.

The first strategy that I plan to study comes from the RealDayTrading Reddit group, and it uses some options trading.

After going through the basics of options, you will probably have a better idea of whether this is something you want to learn more about or not.

Step 4: Technical Analysis

Study the main components of technical analysis. Studying technical analysis is essential. Every day trading strategy incorporates technical analysis.

Here is an additional resource page to reference: Updated resource page for technical analysis.

My Thoughts After Creating This Blueprint

This Blueprint should be used as a roadmap to starting your journey towards becoming a full-time day trader.

There will be concepts where you will need to access more resources to fully understand them. The recommended textbooks are a good place to start.

I have listed more resources that I personally used in our free community on Skool. You can access all the courses for free here.

Various modules in the courses have links to educational websites, slideshows, accounts on X, YouTube videos, other textbooks and so on that I have found useful. Again, our community on Skool is 100% free. You can join here.

Should This Take You 6 Months?

You certainly don’t want to get stuck in analysis paralysis.

You don’t want to get stuck studying every single aspect of technical analysis and the general market before investigating a strategy. So if you have a lot of time to study, you can certainly get through this material in less than 6 months.

But some people won’t be able to master all this information in less than 6 months. Personally, I plan on going through the study guides of both textbooks, and learning the ins and outs of TradingView before entering the next phase of my journey.

Only you will know if you’re ready and comfortable to move on to the next “phase”.

Here is a quote from the founder of the ReadDayTrading Reddit group worth considering. I’m sharing it so you can have some realistic expectations:

“I say this a lot but I’ll keep repeating it –

It takes minimum 2 years of training to get to the point where you can expect to see a consistent profit from trading. For many that is 3-4 yrs as most do not have the time to dedicate the 40+ hours a week you’ll need to spend learning this the RIGHT way.

There are no shortcuts, and anyone who claims otherwise is lying and most likely trying to scam you out of money.

It’s hard – very hard. But it is also a learnable skill. Follow the steps, stick with it, be patient, and remember the goal – financial independence.”

Original post on X.

What’s the Next Phase?

Originally I had planned to set up a trading journal and track trades in my paper trading account. However, I have not done any paper trading in my first 6 months.

What I plan to do over the next 2 months is study both textbooks referenced above, and complete their study guides.

I also plan to master using the charting software from TradingView. I’m currently creating a full walkthrough guide on TradingView you can access here.

Once this is done, I will set up my trading journal. I will have it listed on the resource page here.

Once you have a good knowledge of everything in this Blueprint, it’s time to study a day trading strategy.

To start, I will be reading the WIKI from the RealDayTrading Reddit group.

I also plan to study more Elliott Wave Theory. This is a concept that I found very interesting and one that I think I would like to incorporate into my trading strategy.

You might want to follow the same path, or perhaps there is something else you want to research. Maybe you really like the idea of trading currencies and want to study a Forex trading strategy. Or maybe you want to trade futures. No matter what strategy you focus on, the material in this Blueprint is essential to understand first.

TLDR

Review Some Stock Market Basics
Choose an Online Broker
Set Up a Paper Trading Account
Learn How to Buy and Sell Stocks (All Order Types)
Study Options (Optional)
Study Technical Analysis (Essential)

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