Here's proof slow thinkers can win at intraday trading

Intraday trading isn't just for quick thinkers—and that's a good thing. 

Because intraday offers:

• Frequent opportunity.
• Less competition.
• Low-risk trades.

What looks like 'fast thinking and reaction times'—in how I trade—is anything but.

Keep reading to see how intraday trading and slow thinking synergise when paired with a framework of robust principles.

Process not speed

Slow-thinkers show strength in creative problem-solving and analytical reasoning. Take the first trade of the day shown below:

Like a sports match played within specific dimensions, the trade is the by-product of analysing your 'playing field', directing you on where you can and can't trade.

Once you know your playing field, this framework extends to:

• Who's going to move the price?
• Why will they move the price?
• Where will they move the price to?

This approach suits the complexity and nuances of markets yet reduces them to a robust system you become familiar with.

Systems exist to achieve consistency. Through repetition, they make the complex straightforward.

Anticipation not reaction

Knowing where and why you'll trade before 'trading time' starts, you avoid the mental stress of needing to react instantly.

Instead, your entry is calm and measured because you anticipated this moment long ago.

But before you pounce:
You first want to know what price route your trade is taking.

Price regularly takes different routes as it travels from one price level to another. And it's these different routes that cause you havoc, whether it be through:

• Overtrading.
• Exiting at the wrong times.
• Losses instead of profits.

But there's a solution professional traders swear by—a collection of maps for different price routes—in the form of signature trades that give you clear directions.

Imagine you're driving to the local shop—a trip you make every week. Thanks to repetition, you don't need Google Maps because you know the route from memory.

Signature trades work in the same way. Through repetition, you know your trade directions by heart.

Mental shortcuts to acting quickly

Did you know your brain processes visuals such as colours and simple shapes 60,000 times faster than text?

A key principle of how I trade is to base decisions on 'multiple points of evidence'. As Dr Brett Steenbarger says: "If everyone engaged in evidence-based trading, there would be no overtrading."

Zoom out on the trade from above, and you will see a reference to eight different simple coloured shapes and lines. Each represents a key piece of evidence.

Putting the meaning of each evidence piece into words would take several sentences. Add all eight pieces, and you’ll have pages of notes.

Add the additional evidence shown but not numbered, and the details can fill an entire chapter of a novel.

But when the information is presented visually, you can comprehend a whole chapter in an instant.

Anyone in a mentorship relationship with me knows I’m meticulous about sticking to the designated colour key—because it's just so damn powerful.

At 60,000 times faster comprehension, consider how significant your advantage over so many of the traders competing to get paid is.

Combine this with signature trades, and you have a powerful trading system that doesn’t rely on fast thinking or quick reflexes.

Slow-thinkers kryptonite

The one thing you don't do as a slow-thinker is get out of your lane. That's when things come unstuck.

If you are experiencing a moment in the market that's not something you've done numerous times before, you can't think fast enough to adapt.

But relying on a playbook of signature trades insulates you against doing this.

Your most important asset? Energy

You may relate to not having the same 'staying power' you did in my 30's.

Trading as you age requires a mindset shift: time is no longer your most valuable asset—it's energy.

With robust principles and a playbook of income-producing trades, your trading business maximises your output efficiently.

In summary

Slower thinkers tend to steer towards reflection—one of the most potent techniques for deep learning.

It could be while walking the dog during a break from the screens (There's a point of evidence that tells you when to take a break).

A sophisticated endeavour like trading becomes simple when you rely on intelligent principles, signature trades and mental shortcuts.

Simple doesn't mean instant. But what you can repeat, you can master. Agree?

Repeatedly apply the framework and principles discussed, and each trading day, you win where you've won before.