The Road to Freedom: Part 1
It all begins with a decision. A decision to no longer tolerate the things in your life that hold you back. Join Professional Day Trader and Coach, Pat Mitchell, in this intimate three part conversation about trading, life, the choices we make, and how to get to the place most will only dream of: true freedom, and lasting happiness.
If you're ready to start building this from the ground up — the strategy and the mindset that goes with it — that's exactly what Day Trading Bootcamp is built to teach.
This is the day trading mindset story behind Trick Trades: before any of this — the property, the freedom, the ability to do what he wants when he wants — Pat Mitchell blew up two trading accounts. On his third, he was down to his last $5,000, whittled to $2,600, before he had the conversation with himself that changed everything: it was time to get serious. This is that story, and the mindset it built.
Rock Bottom Wasn't the Problem — Chasing Money Was
Pat didn't get into trading because he loved charts. He got in because he was a contract welder, constantly away from his family, working hard and never getting to enjoy what it earned. He made the leap — and immediately did what most traders do: he chased money. Two blown accounts later, sitting on his last $2,600, he learned the lesson the hard way: trading for money is exactly what blows accounts up. The traders who last aren't chasing dollar signs — they're chasing mastery, and the money follows.
The Ant Colony
There's a leaf-cutter ant colony on Pat's property that took years to build — and collapsed the moment it got too big for itself. He uses it as a trading metaphor for a reason: it's exactly what happens to traders who get a little consistency, get a little greedy, and let ego push their size past what discipline can support. Slow, steady growth holds. Overreach collapses.
Student, Professional, Master
Pat breaks trading development into three stages. The student has to submit and actually listen — not just hear a strategy, but do the work of applying it consistently, even when it's uncomfortable. The professional has built real consistency — which is exactly when ego becomes the biggest threat, pushing size up too fast off a short track record. The master does what needs to be done regardless of how he feels about it in the moment — discipline and risk management first, every time, no exceptions. Skipping stages doesn't work. Neither does deciding you've graduated the moment things start going well.
Risk First, Always
The biggest mistakes traders make come from thinking about the reward before the risk. A setup can look perfect — the right level, the right timing — but if you don't respect what the actual downside looks like before you size in, that's where the real damage happens. Discipline isn't about trading scared. It's about never letting a good setup make you forget to check the risk first.
What Freedom Actually Looks Like
Pat doesn't post rented Lamborghinis or staged watch photos. Everything he owns was paid for in cash — no debt, nothing that can be repossessed, nothing borrowed to look the part. That's a deliberate choice, not a flex: real freedom isn't about what you can show people, it's about what nobody can take away from you.
faq
Chasing money directly instead of mastery. Trading to make money is what blows accounts up — consistency and discipline come first, and profit follows from that.
Student (submit and listen), professional (has consistency, but ego becomes the biggest risk), and master (does what discipline requires regardless of how it feels in the moment).
Everything he owns is paid for in cash, not financed or rented for a photo. He's explicit that real freedom is about what can't be taken from you, not what can be shown off.