Now that we are hopefully coming out of one of the larger market corrections in the last few months, I hope those people who still don’t make solid plans for when the market moves are reconsidering this most vital aspect of trading. By making a plan ahead of time for when the market moves up or down, or when your investments move up and down, it allows you to act before most everyone else. And when you act first, you maximize profits and minimize losses.

For an explanation of how much taking action before everyone else is helpful, let’s look at an extreme example. If you took action and bought BTC before anyone else, you would be sitting on enormous profits right now, possibly in the billions. If you’re the last person to act and the last to buy BTC, your profits will be much lower, and possibly nothing.

The above is an extreme example, but it illustrates that by acting before the majority of other traders, you maximize your profits, and you can also minimize your losses. You always want to buy before everyone else starts buying and to sell before everyone else starts selling. Anything that can help you do this is something you must be doing.

So how do you do this? The most consistent way is to always have a plan for when markets start to make big moves. The reason being is that while other people are biting their nails and wondering what to do, you simply follow your plan and take action before the rest of the market even figures out what happened. And as I explained above, taking action first allows you beat everyone to the punch.

Not only does having a plan allow you to act before everyone else, it also takes so much of the stress out of trading. You don’t have to worry about what to do when you see a correction coming, you simply follow your plan and ride it out.

So how do you set your plan? The first step is determine what you are going to do with your individual investments as they reach certain levels. Determine what you are going to sell, and how much of it at different price points. Don’t just say you are going to hold, as this isn’t a plan at all. Determine the exact prices you plan on selling to take profits or cut losses. These price points can change over time so make sure to adjust your plan regularly.

Next determine what market conditions will cause you to take profits. Maybe the price won’t trigger you to sell, but an influx of bad news might make you feel it’s time to take some profits. For example, we have seen clearly now that bad news out of Asia regarding government regulation can hurt the market. So this may be something you plan for. If news starts coming out of Asia that is mostly negative, you may want to implement your plan to take profits until the news calms down or changes.

After you have plans for your initial investments, it’s time to look at the overall market and have a plan for that. If the market is falling and you haven’t had time to take profits, what are your plans to protect your gains? Do you have accounts set up to move to fiat, and can you do it quickly? Do you have accounts on two exchanges like Gemini and GDAX so if one goes down, you can still move some money? Are you familiar with moving some money into Tether to hold during a correction and the risks associated with that? These are all clear steps you should have planned out well in advance so when it’s time to act, you simply make a few mouse clicks and watch the rest of the market panic while you’re already protected. Even things like having your bank account information as well as customer service numbers at the ready can save valuable time when moving money which can protect your profits.

Also, you may want to have a back up plan such as a local buyer from a site like localbitcoins.com. Building a relationship with one or two buyers in your area could be a way to liquidate some holdings quickly if your other methods are not working for whatever reason. So find a few buyers/sellers and build a relationship with them and get to know how much the will buy in a pinch.

But overall, you need to have a plan to get your profits out of the market before you end up right back where you started when things correct. And you do this by having a plan, and having backup methods for protecting your gains.







To get started, I recommend people actually write down these plans. Don’t use an app or tracker. Get a notebook and write these things down and keep them organized. Writing with pen and paper makes it real. Once you have your plans written out, make sure to revisit them often and make small changes as the market dictates as well as if your investments change. You should always have a running plan on what to do with all your holdings.

Remember, your plans have to be your own. They have to be based on your strategy and your tolerance for risk. Make sure to be honest with yourself.

Also, make notes of what has moved the markets in the past so you can watch out for them in the future. Like the example above, we have seen that regulation news out of Asia is a big mover of the markets, so make sure this is on your radar and you have a plan if it happens again.

Remember, you dominate the market by always acting before everyone else does. Buying before everyone starts buying and selling before everyone else starts selling. You do this by having a plan ahead of time, so you don’t waste precious time figuring out what to do, because that type of panicked decision making is what bag holders do.