I trade alone.

I’ve always preferred it that way. Just me, the chart, and my rules.

But here’s the thing I had to learn the hard way — trading alone doesn’t mean isolating yourself from the world.

In the early years, I went full monk mode. No forums. No chats. Just grind and suffer in silence. I thought that was discipline.

It wasn’t. It was ego dressed up as independence.

The truth is, some of my biggest breakthroughs came not from books or charts, but from conversations. A simple chat with another trader made me realize my risk rule wasn’t as clear as I thought. A blog comment helped me spot a mental leak I didn’t know I had. Sometimes, just saying your trade idea out loud exposes the nonsense.

You don’t need a trading group. You don’t need a signal service. But you do need connection.

A sounding board. A mentor. A fellow struggler.

Trading is already a lonely game — don’t make it harder by shutting the door.

Let people in. Not to trade for you. But to keep your head on straight.

— Gav, with coffee

On a side note, if you’re sorting out your foundation, check out my Back to Basics of Trading series.