Thoughts for 2026
This is a Guest Post by Dan Fitzpatrick of StockMarketMentor.com
As we enter the new year, I want to share a simple thought that has been on my mind—especially after spending time with family, stepping away from screens for a bit, and observing how traders tend to behave when the calendar turns.
Most people enter a new year with a focus on setting goals. Numbers. Targets. Percentages.
- “I want to double my account.”
- “I want to hit X by year-end.”
- “I want this year to finally be the year.”
There’s nothing wrong with ambition. But in trading, chasing numbers is often the fastest way to do something you’ll regret.
The market doesn’t care about our goals. It doesn’t know what they are, and it certainly doesn’t reward us for wanting something badly enough. It is not the market’s job to help you make money.
The market doesn’t have a job, so it’s not going to respond to your commands. What it does respond to—over time—is skill, discipline, and consistency.
That’s why I don’t define success by a number anymore. I define it by behavior.
Success, to me, looks like:
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- Trading with a plan.
- Managing risk before thinking about reward.
- Following rules even when I feel like doing something else.
- Staying in the game long enough to let good decisions compound.
When you trade well, money tends to follow. When you trade poorly, volatility shows up first—and the bill usually comes later.
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the years is this: making money in the market is not the goal—it’s the byproduct of consistent trading. The goal is execution. The goal is the process. The goal is to become the kind of trader who can succeed in any market environment, not just the easy ones.
And if you’re still early in your journey—or if you’re making some changes in your trading approach—give yourself permission to be imperfect.
Every real skill starts with being bad at it. Infants don’t just start walking one day. They fall a thousand times before they get the hang of it. They don’t magically start talking in complete sentences one morning at breakfast. They say “goo-goo ga-ga” and point in a weird way before they say “Please pass the milk.”
Trading is really no different. Making consistent money in the market is incredibly hard. It’s not impossible, of course. But it’s really hard. If it weren’t, then everyone would do it.
Most people quit before they get past the goo-goo ga-ga stage. They decide that trading is not for them, that the market is rigged, or that no one can succeed as a trader.
None of that is true. What they miss is that sucking at trading is where everyone starts.
The key is to keep the risk small while you’re learning, so mistakes become lessons instead of exits from the game. With time and consistent application of sound trading principles, the Suck will become a thing of the past. And before you know it, your trading results improve.
As we move into 2026, my hope for you is simple:
- Define what success looks like to you!
- Be gentle with yourself because you will make mistakes.
- Focus on refining a particular trading process.
- Repeat your process without deviation because you can only improve what you practice.
- Random trades, by definition, deviate from your process. Avoid them at all costs!
- Trade with intention, not boredom.
- Don’t look for excitement in trading. Good trading is boring. But it’s also profitable.
- And aim to finish the year not just with more money, but as a better trader than you are right now.
Real trading success is not the destination. It is the journey.
Here’s to a smart, disciplined, and profitable 2026.
—Dan Fitzpatrick
You can follow Dan Fitzpatrick on X (Formerly Twitter), watch him on YouTube, or get his “Fitz In Five” Daily Trading Video at StockMarketMentor.com.
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