Everything is about focus. If you feel stuck its might because you are just consuming trade ideas on the Trading view, scrolling Trading Instagram or watching another YouTube trading videos. It feels good like working on yourself but it’s not real self-development.
When I need to improve in something. I’m using extreme Monk Mode to fully focus on project. Trading is mine and I hope also your lifetime project. As a trader you must master multiple aspects and elements in this area to succeed.
To have a proper schedule is a most for a disciplined trader. This is for those who already made it and are full time traders.
Today I’m going to give you tips how to go extreme to acquire new skills or exit 9 – 5 slavery.
⁉️ What Monk Mode Actually Means
You don’t need to wear a robe, incense, or sitting in silence for hours. Monk mode is less people, more focus. You are not running away from the world. You are simply closing the doors for a while so you can build in peace. Isolation helps you to focus only on that project and yourself. It’s a bit extreme and you can do it only for some period of the time but you will come back unrecognized.
📌 I would describe it as:
• A temporary period of extreme simplicity
• Removing everything not aligned with your goals
• Working on ONE main mission. Not three. ONE !
• Mastering your mind through fewer choices and fewer distractions
📌 How long you isolate yourself and focus decides how you improve
• 30 days → reset
• 60–90 days → transformation
• 6 months → new identity
📌 Always tie it to a goal:
• Finish and Deeply understand One Trading strategy
• Pass Specific Prop Challenge
• Improve my Risk to reward ratio
• Backtest strategy on 500 trades
📌 Come Out from Monk Mode When:
• Your mission is complete
• Your routines click
• Your discipline feels natural
• Your system is built
Then you return to normal life. Celebrate a bit. Spend time with people you love.
Take a break, but keep the strongest 50–70% of the habits, thats how you permanently update.
You will might not be perfect on first time, that’s normal no one is. But you will see such improvements, you will start thinking about next round. But don’t go extreme, social life is important always take breaks between monk modes.
🧪 Running Monk Mode has 2 phases
• Cutting distractions and cheap dopamine
• Adding a traction and increasion focus (obsession on project)
1️⃣ Lets Cut Distraction’s
❌ 1. Adjust your phone – Social media and set Do not disturb permanently
Delete the apps or block them during your work window. I know it can feel hard, but harder it feels; more you need it. Social media and short term content is distraction loop. During the monk mode I’m cutting it completely.
In normal life ( I have 30 minutes planned window) Social media are not bad if you visit them with intention. Just for curiosity put phone usage timer on your main desktop you will see how much time you waste daily if its more then 90 minutes, you got it. Thats whats holding you back.
❌ 2. Reduce Social Activity
When I am in Monk mode, I say no to most social stuff for a short period of time. No parties, Bar meetings and Alcohol. Not even meeting for coffee. As I am father then family duties must stay. That is non negotiable. But outside of that, I shrink my interactions down to almost zero unless the meeting clearly helps my Monk mode goal.
Example
If I am focused on passing a prop challenge or back testing some element I want to add to my strategy and someone invites me to a weekend full of drinking and late nights, it is a hard “NO”, which is not something even I do often since any time i have is primary for my family and learning. But it is nice to have a moderate social life.
If a trader that also trades same strategy invites me to a serious work session to review data or refine something, I accept. Just because that supports the mission.
❌ 3. Cut junk dopamine completely.
This is the uncomfortable part almost nobody wants to talk about, but it matters. If you are constantly stimulating yourself with random adult content, your brain is fried with dopamine. Your focus span goes to zero. Your discipline collapses.
• No porn
• No “thirst trap” scrolling
• No mindless sexual content
• No dating apps
This should not be only for a monk mode. It is cancer for your focus cut it out from your life completely. After a few days without this junk, your energy levels change. You wake up more driven. You sit at the charts and you actually want to work. You start feeling like a hunter again, not a zombie.
❌ 4) Cancel Netflix and stop Watching news
Netflix is waste of time. Same is for the news. It doesn’t matter knowing what orange mans says or how some sport results ended. You need to focus on your project.
2️⃣ Lets put some Traction
✅ 1. One Project — Your Core Mission 🎯
This is your main quest, for traders, Monk Mode is powerful, because it removes decision fatigue. It could be:
• Back testing 500+ trades of one model
• Building your strategy framework properly
• Creating your full trading plan
• Passing a prop challenge with discipline
• Fixing your routine and sticking to it
Rules:
• Choose ONE project / Mission
• Work on it daily
• Don’t switch
• Clear finish line
✅2. One book📖
School didn’t prepare you for trading. You have to learn the parts nobody teaches:
• Mindset
• Psychology
• Discipline
• Focus
• Execution
• Stoicism
• Peak performance
30 minutes a day is enough.
Books give you depth. Unlike social media gives you shallow noise of social feeds. I suggest you Atomic Habits – from James clear if never read it. Also FLOW from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
✅ 3.One meditation – to reset your mind🧘♂️
Monk mode without meditation is like a gym without weights. I keep it simple. Twenty minutes every day, but you can start with 10 minutes if you didn’t meditate ever.
You can find some guided meditations on YouTube. But, dont let yourself catch in to a trap by scrolling and finding meditation. Prepare one in advance and put It to the playlist or just:
• Sit down
• Close your eyes
• Focus on your breath
• Let thoughts pass without judging or chasing them
Meditation help you regain control over your attention, and if you like you can read about “Mindful Living”.
✅ 4.One workout💪
You can do either gym or calisthenic training. But not hard cardio, rather resistance training that builds strength. Instead of cardio you got walks. When I’m in the monk mode I do Powerlifters training. Its simple, it increases your strength and I do not have to think about training complexity to much. I just come to the gym and finish my session in 45 minutes or I can train simple at home as well.
Measure your max weights and add 10%. Then start with 60% of the weight and add 5% every week. You can do more complex weight progression after 4 weeks but that would be for whole article. Search for Stefan Corte Powerlifting training. But don’t overthink it. In Monk mode you want stupid repetitive routine.
Squats 6 x 6 – 60% – 65% – 70% – 75%
Bench 6 x 6 – 60% – 65% – 70% – 75%
Deadlift 6 x 6 – 60% – 65% – 70% – 75%
👉 Train hard 3 times a week – Mo / We / FR .. take a break on the weekends.
👉 Other 3 days focus on mobility training and stretching
👉 Take a break one day
Don’t forget for 10 minutes warmup.
Do proper stretching after the training session.
✅ 5. Long walks (No phone , No music) 🚶♂️🌲
Long walks for clarity and aha moments. I go out for around 30 to 60 minutes, ideally in nature, with no phone and no music. Just walking, being present and thinking on my project.
TIP – if you go for walk on the mornings and fasted, your body will take energy from fats.
As you are in the mode when focusing on project. Ideas begin to connect. You’ll start seeing patterns, solutions, better rules. Many parts of my strategies, my routines, even my lifestyle changes, were born on these walks.
✅ 6. Eat like an athlete, not a garbage bin 🥦
Food is another big lever. In Monk mode I prefer to work in a light, fasted state during the main focus hours. I have my first real meal after I finish my most important work for the day. Before that I of course drink water, but nothing that spikes blood sugar. Because when you are full, heavy and bloated, your brain slows down. That is the last thing you want when you need to do deep work.
Keep it simple
1. Protein
2. Good carbs
3. Healthy fats
4. Minimal junk
Obviously in normal life I sometimes eat in Mc Donald or have Popcorn when taking daughter to the cinema. But No pizza and chips, No such a things in Monk mode. You are trying to become sharp, not sleepy.
🎯 Thats all easy said but how to do it if I got 9 – 5 job?
Simple you need to adjust your schedule, when you remove Netflix, Social media and contacts you gain new time, but you will have to put it somewhere in a day. I highly suggest to make it on the morning because after work you will be tired and your focus will not be so sharp.
📅 Plan for people those who has 9 – 5 job
Every days start with good sleep so go sleep early and always at the same time. If you start practicing walks without distracting your brain with phone, you will sleep better.
⏰ Wake at 4:00 win the morning
Always follow your morning routine – Meditation, Back testing, Book, Workout.
Do this every days even on weekends. Don’t overtrain have 2 types of training heavy one and one lighter focused on mobility and stretching. These 4 hours is how you win the day. Before it even started.
Once you are back from job if you have kids you must give them your time. If you don’t have kids do some more intentional work on Project – back testing , analyzing the charts etc… But be careful with starting to hard burning yourself. 90 minutes a day on the project is maximum. No hard work in one day beats consistency of smaller daily consistent work. So don’t overshoot the start.
📝 Then Journal your day, write down what you learned and self reflect on progress in each parts of monk mode – Meditation, Project – Back testing, Notes from book, Work out.
✍️ Make plan for the next day and go for walk without phone or music. You will see what happens on that walk. Then just come home have a shower and go to sleep.
🔁 Next day repeat. On the Saturdays and Sundays add one more bigger window for work on the project to summarize what did you learn during the week. Then you do some relax activities as sauna, massage, visit family members, spend time with kids, give more time to reading.
If you do this consistently for 3 months. You will see miracle happen, not only in your trading career but in your life will change go for 6 months and you will come back as different person.