Meet Tyler Berryhill
Full-time TMC Trader Tyler B, originally from Texas, is living a true laptop lifestyle by definition! Over the past year, he's opted for a nomadic way of life with his girlfriend, traveling around the USA whilst building out and growing his trading account. To many, Tyler's living the dream, but as you'll see in this interview... living the dream takes bravery, vision, action, and continual commitment to the evolution of self. In this interview, Tyler encourages you to look at your own life, and ask yourself the tough (but necessary) questions. For they will get you that much closer to where you're truly meant to be.
Read Tyler's inspiring story below, and consider taking some notes! It's that good.
When did your trading journey first begin?
My trading journey, which originally started in 2013, has been quite a long one. I had recently finished a degree in engineering and was just beginning my career at a semiconductor manufacturer. However, I always had these reoccurring questions. Is this it? This is what I worked so hard for? I had somehow fallen into living out someone else’s version of what my life was supposed to look like. I was sitting in a neutral-colored cubicle in a room full of other neutral-colored cubicles occupied by people who start thinking about Friday by Monday afternoon. I will never forget one of my coworkers saying one day on the way back from lunch “well guys, only 40 more years to go.” That immediately made me sick and I decided that can’t be my story—it wouldn’t be my story. From there I found babypips and “traded” an MT4 demo account, hitting the buy and sell buttons like a toddler banging a plastic spoon on a table. It wasn’t until 2016 when I joined IP that I started to get some genuinely organized thoughts about what I was doing.
"I had somehow fallen into living out someone else’s version of what my life was supposed to look like."
What was it that made you want to pursue trading?
When I was a sophomore in high school, I had an economics teacher who exposed us to what the stock market was and what a candlestick chart looked like. I remember looking at it and thinking I can do that; I can figure out how to trade. I later went on to pursue engineering because everyone in my family told me as a child that I was good at math and computers so I would be an engineer someday. That moment in my high school economics class came flashing back to me when I had the realization that the life I was living wasn’t the life I wanted. I wanted freedom. I wanted to take my life back and I wanted to be able to create an income from a laptop anywhere in the world. Trading checked all the boxes for me-- it’s technical, it’s a solo sport, and I could do it virtually anywhere.
What is something unexpected that you love about trading?
What I love about trading is the evolution of self that’s required to achieve mastery. Initially, when you start trading you think you’re just here to make money but when you trade a live account, you’re welcomed by a massive kaleidoscope of emotions that you probably didn’t even know you had or at least thought you had under control. Think you’re always calm and collected? Think again. Think you don’t have unresolved childhood trauma regarding success or money? Think again! This game is all about conquering yourself, not the market. It’s no surprise that most traders are on a perpetual journey of personal development and growth.
"What I love about trading is the evolution of self that’s required to achieve mastery."
What are one to three books that have profoundly impacted your journey? Why?
Trading In the Zone - Mark Douglas
As a trader you have to think in probabilities over a significant sample size but coming from an engineering background I was much more familiar with verifiable certainty. This was something I struggled with a lot in the beginning of my trading journey because I wanted the impossible. I wanted to know. This book allowed me to put those expectations in check and develop an understanding that you don’t have to know to be a successful trader. This concept is extremely important to a new trader to wrap their head around so they don’t question their performance until they have sufficient data to draw conclusions on. I focus more on quarterly returns now rather than individual trades or weekly performance.
Reality Transurfing - Vadim Zeland
Where do I even begin? I guess to start, I emptied 5 different highlighters reading this book—it’s that good. The book conceptualized so many aspects of psychology that you can leverage for personal growth and creation. I was able to become more aware of the quality of energy that I was allowing into my space as well as the energy I was cultivating within myself. It teaches practical exercises you can use to become the creator of your life rather than a passive participant. It will likely challenge parts of your belief system but doing so will be a constructive process for building out a new perspective on your existence.
The story of David Goggins is one that will continually make you stop and say—wow. This book is the best example I’ve ever seen of the level of grit and determination a human being is capable of if they gain control over their own mind. Anytime I’m struggling with a workout, a new habit I’m trying to commit to, or something that makes me feel defeated I think about this book. What would David Goggins do in this situation? I know that if he can run a 100 mile race on broken feet, finish Navy Seal training on broken legs, then whatever it is I want to complain about is inconsequential and I just need to suck it up and power through. Our ego wants to protect us and tell us to stop when things get hard but Goggins’ story is all about saying f*ck that, watch me.
What new belief, behaviour, or habit has helped you gain the most forward momentum since becoming a trader?
Walking. As simple as it sounds, incorporating the practice of walking at least a few miles a day, personally without music in order to remain present, has helped tremendously. Walking has been linked to an increase in creativity, life expectancy and it’s just great for your overall health and wellness yet it’s so simple that it’s often overlooked. There are many famous innovators who were avid walkers. I’ve gained a lot of clarity and asked myself countless important questions because I had the time to properly think through things while taking long walks without distractions. Start walking and ideas will just come to you out of the ether.
What advice would you give to an inspired, driven individual about to step into the trading world?
Protect your energy and be cognizant of what people, things, and ideas you let into your life. Get involved in a community where you can surround yourself with likeminded individuals on a similar journey. Also, I would highly recommend anyone who wants to progress quickly to do a social media detox for 6-months or more while you really work at mastering your trading plan and psychology. Social media can be great to share ideas but it can also be a major pitfall of self-comparison, FOMO, and doubt. The mental clarity and time you gain from removing social media from your life cannot be emphasized enough. Your journey is unique to you and the more you get out of the way and let that play out the better off you’ll be.
How has Trading MasterClass assisted your evolution?
Trading MasterClass, and specifically Trading Blueprint, was the catalyst I needed to achieve consistency. I had a good understanding of technical analysis and the TMC strategies but Trading Blueprint made me get organized and define my trading workflow to a degree that I could backtest it with results that were actually relevant to how I would trade live. Sometimes people are good at being busy for the sake of being busy—like backtesting without a trading plan. Will that data be meaningful to you? Trading MasterClass offers a clear path for evolution as a trader from the basics to transitioning to full-time trading. That level of clarity is what I needed to be able to perform, review, then iterate in such a way that produced substantial results.
"Trading MasterClass, and specifically Trading Blueprint, was the catalyst I needed to achieve consistency."
What is your next immediate trading goal?
The next step in my evolution is to get funded by a prop firm and use it to grow my personal account to 6-figures. I don’t think it’s something I will do forever because I don’t like the idea of having a pseudo-boss but if I’m already consistently executing trades I might as well leverage what opportunities that are available to me to achieve my goals sooner that I would otherwise.
Any final words of wisdom?
Trading allows for a level of lifestyle design that I have not seen in any other career path. You can start with a blank canvas and paint a picture of a version of life that resonates with you. For my girlfriend and I that meant a nomadic lifestyle in the United States where we could follow the warm weather, explore new places and do things most people wait for retirement to do. We’re over a year into our journey now and we’ve been to 14 states and 22 national parks. One of my biggest fears is having a long list of “some days” and then not having any more days. I would implore anyone, trader or not, take a long look at your current life and start asking questions. Is this what I want? What do I want? If your whole life flashed before your eyes, would you be satisfied with what you saw? Build out a vision for the next phase of your life then put ideas on paper that can get you there and remember to be patient. Create your story. It took 2 years for my girlfriend and I to build and execute our plan but I have over 5,000 photos and countless memories from the last year to prove it was all worth it.
"If your whole life flashed before your eyes, would you be satisfied with what you saw?"
How can we keep up with you?
Best place to keep up with me is through the TMC Club. I’m not very active on social-- remember that detox I talked about? :)
