A Trader's Personal Journey
​My journey began with the realization that government superannuation may not be there for the tail end of the baby boomer generation. It became clear to us: if we wanted a comfortable retirement, we had to create it ourselves.
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I started investing in passive funds early on. Where are they now? That’s a painful lesson. It didn’t take long to realize that passive investments seemed more about enriching the people running them than the investors themselves.
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So I turned to self-education—devouring everything I could about the share market: what to buy, how to analyze, technicals, fundamentals. But eventually, I found myself back listening to advice from my broker. I knew how foolish that was at the time... but still, I hoped, “Maybe it’ll be different this time.”
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I had just enough success to stay interested, but was deeply frustrated. Watching trades take off right after I exited, or sink the moment I entered. I'd never heard of position sizing or mandated stop losses. Why isn't this taught in Economics 101? These are life lessons too—like: take small steps until it feels right, and get out of a bad situation quickly.
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My "aha" moment came when I discovered Van Tharp’s book, The Matrix. Could it really be that simple? Was the problem... me? The answer was yes - and yes.
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That book led me to the Home Study Course, the Swing Study course, and then the Advanced Swing and Day Trading courses. After all the books and market guru forecasts I’d consumed, I was amazed to see trading boiled down to systems that actually worked. And not just one—five!
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With position sizing and stop losses, trading moved from being a constant worry about the economy to something structured, manageable, and defined. The greatest gift I received was understanding that trading will be there tomorrow. There's no rush. I only need to take the trades my system tells me to. Wash, rinse, repeat.
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"It’s all about becoming a master craftsman and finding the joy in making the next brick."
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Expectancy. Or as I now call it, Expecttunity. Realizing that success has little to do with brilliance and everything to do with process was humbling. I no longer engage in market chatter. It’s not that I don't care. I just know there’s a better way, even if others can’t see it.
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What makes Owl Group Trading exceptional isn’t just the systems. It’s the way we are encouraged to adapt them—to study, test, and make them our own. You don’t hand us a solution. We earn it. The case studies, workshops, and peer presentations are a goldmine of inspiration. If they can do it, so can I.
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My real breakthrough came after watching Catherine’s 2017 workshop presentation on Pinch/Swing. My first thought was: “Wow, what a lot of work.” But reflecting on that reaction made me realize—this was Ken's message all along: “If you want to be good at this, you have to do the work.”
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So I stopped trading. I committed to learning Excel, rebuilt the 551W system to my taste, and backtested ten years of trades. Two months in, it was a grind. I made excuses to do other things. But once the data started making sense, it felt like submitting that first accepted uni dissertation. Relief. Joy. Momentum.
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Now, every night, I have to set a timer to stop myself from working too long. The patterns began to emerge. I could see which of the 60+ OEX/SPDR stocks consistently outperformed. Even just improving the expectancy slightly adds up significantly.
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