Yesterday was another solid trading day where I stuck to my pre-market plan and saw good results. Before the market opened, I spent about 30 minutes marking out key support and resistance levels on SPY and QQQ. These blue lines on my chart became my roadmap for the entire session — specific areas for potential entries and exits.
The market opened with some dips, which took price right into my pre-identified support. I took a small long position on SPY there and quickly locked in a $104 profit. It wasn’t a huge winner, but it was clean and according to plan. Later, after another dip that didn’t quite trigger my entry, price pushed back up into my next level. I entered long again with better size and rode it to nearly $2,000 in profits. No short setups triggered that day, but everything stayed within the framework I’d set beforehand.
The total for the day came in around $2,100 positive. With full size, those same setups could have been even stronger. But the real value wasn’t just the profits — it was in how the day reinforced a critical lesson.
The one thing holding so many traders back in the stock market is the lack of a complete, pre-defined trading plan — especially when it comes to exits and profit targets. I see it all the time, both in my own past experiences and with students: people know they need to be more patient or disciplined, but they stop there. They say “I lacked patience” and put a period at the end of that sentence.
What they need is a comma: “I lacked patience, because I didn’t have a clear exit plan.” Without knowing exactly where you’re getting out and at what target before you even enter the trade, how can you possibly sit through the noise and hold for the move? You’re essentially shooting from the hip, reacting emotionally to every tick.
That’s why my routine of planning trades 30 minutes before the open is so powerful. I define the levels, the entries at support, the exits at resistance or specific targets like pre-market lows or highs. When the trade is live, my job is simple: execute the plan. No guessing, no emotions, just following through.
If you’re struggling with consistency, ask yourself if you’re truly preparing with a full plan each day. Not just ideas about direction, but concrete levels for both sides of the trade. This shift from vague intentions to specific, actionable plans has been the game-changer for my trading and for many others. It’s not about being smarter or having better indicators — it’s about having the discipline that comes from preparation.