Ever wondered what winning traders have in common? 

Well, today I’ve got the answer for you…

The best traders I know all have one thing in common … they study constantly.

And this doesn’t only apply to traders. The best practitioners in any field or career study their craft incessantly (even after achieving professional success). 

On the other hand, those who can’t find the motivation to bury their head in their work generally dwindle away into mediocrity. 

Bottom line: If you aren’t willing to study hard, you’ll be quickly outpaced by those who are. 

That said, I know studying isn’t as fun as trading. (Practice is never as exciting as the big game, but it’s critical to victory.)

I might sound like your parents telling you to eat your vegetables. (You may not like broccoli as much as pizza, but you know it’s good for you.)

Bottom line: Winners do the hard work that losers aren’t willing to do!

With that in mind, keep reading and I’ll show you how to start studying like a pro…

How I Learned to Study Like a Pro

Before we get into the specifics of study habits, I’d like to talk about how I learned the finer points myself.

I’ll be honest … I was lucky when I was first starting as a trader. 

I found Tim Sykes’ Trading Challenge within my first few months of researching the stock market — and it completely changed my life.

Sykes’ approach to studying is unique. He was the first trading mentor I found with an entire 7-Step Pennystocking Framework specifically designed for his students to study. 

I applied the 7-Step Framework to the options market, which reminds me of the best part about Sykes’ lessons — they can potentially apply to any kind of trading… 

And if you follow Sykes, you’ll notice that he emphasizes few things more than the importance of studying. 

There’s a good reason for this…

You can’t get lazy or complacent as a trader. If you do, you’ll inevitably start losing to traders who study harder than you…

3 Study Tips I Wish I Knew Years Ago

Now, let’s break down three simple study tips every Evolver should consider using…

Study Tip #1: Build Your Watchlist

As many of you know, I send a weekly watchlist out to my students every Monday morning. 

While I’m happy to help point Evolvers toward setups that intrigue me, my watchlist can’t replace one that you build on your own.

WARNING: I can’t tell you what (or how) to trade. You’ve gotta trade the setups that work for you.

So, at the beginning of each week, take some time to build a killer watchlist. 

Keep it short and simple — reserve your weekly watchlist for the best setups only.

That way, if one of the stocks you’re watching starts to make a big move today … you won’t have to go searching through a massive list of tickers. 

Instead, your five-star setup will be right there — waiting for you to pull the trigger.

Study Tip #2: Identify Key Price Levels

If you read my watchlists or watch my webinars, you’ve probably noticed that I always talk about the importance of key price levels.

This is because key price levels have helped me more than any other technical indicator throughout my trading career.

I use these levels as goalposts for my trading as they tend to map out areas of support and resistance.

If a stock regularly bounces at a certain price on the way down — that’s support.

If a stock gets continually rejected at a certain price on the way up — that’s resistance.

After 10+ years of experience in the stock market, I’ve noticed another consistent trend around key price levels … They tend to correspond with big round numbers.

Traders have a psychological sensitivity to round numbers like $10, $50, $100, $500, etc. 

Time and time again, you’ll see stocks bounce (or fail) near these critical levels. This isn’t a coincidence — it’s psychological resistance.

Bottom line: If you can get a grasp of how to identify key price levels, you’ll give yourself a superpower in the stock market. 

Study Tip #3: Make a Game Plan

All of the studying in the world will be entirely useless if you don’t form an airtight game plan for every possible outcome of your trades.

After all, the stock market is like life — wildly unpredictable. 

You could be exactly right on a trade thesis, only for some shocking headline to completely shake market sentiment out of nowhere … and ruin your entire play.

What will you do if your options contracts open down 50%? Will you cut your losses immediately (I hope so) — or hold a little while longer?

What if they open up over 100%?! Will you sell them all right away — or keep some contracts on the table for a potential home run?

These are the types of questions I constantly ask myself. And so should you.

Planning my trades carefully has helped me reach the level I’m at today — and allowed me to put nearly $4 million in the bank.

Final Thoughts

I approach my trading by spending countless hours studying and it’s paid off enormously.

So, today, I want to urge YOU to do the same. 

By employing these study habits regularly, you can potentially get a leg up on lazy “traders” who don’t put in the work!