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From Engineer to Full-Time Trader:
Bruce’s Trading Journey with IDTA

Interview with IDTA Member and now Pro Trader Bruce G

In this inspiring interview, Bruce shares his incredible journey from engineer to successful day trader with IDTA (International Day Trading Academy). Originally from Swaziland and now living in New Zealand, Bruce opens up about how he discovered futures trading, overcame early challenges, and developed a calm, disciplined trading mindset.

Bruce discusses the role IDTA’s comprehensive education, coaching, and live trading rooms played in his growth — helping him move from the “school of hard knocks” to becoming a coach and moderator himself. Through personal development, mindset shifts, and learning to trust the process, Bruce has transformed not only as a trader but also in his personal life — becoming a better husband, father, grandfather, and employee.

What you’ll learn in this video:

  • How an engineering background helped Bruce approach trading
  • Why mindset is the key to trading success
  • How IDTA’s education and support system made all the difference
  • The emotional and psychological journey behind mastering trading
  • Tips for staying calm and patient while trading
  • Why Bruce recommends IDTA to anyone serious about learning futures trading

Transcript:

Dani: Hello, Bruce. Thank you for joining me today.

Bruce: Hi, Danny. How are you?

Dani: Good. Thank you. So let’s start with a little bit about you, who you are, and where you’re from.

Bruce: Well, first of all, I hail from a tiny little country in in Southern Africa called Swaziland. Been in New Zealand for the last, thirty years about. And, yeah, just got three children.

I’m a dad, granddad, husband, been married for thirty six years, an employee, all those things, trader.

Dani: And what do you do? What’s your background in terms of your career?

Bruce: Well, I’m an engineer, and I have a PhD in engineering. So I like to be, quite, I like to know how things work.

Let’s put it that way.

Dani: Mhmm. So that’s very different. I love that. And that’s very different to trading. So what got you interested in day trading and futures?

Bruce: So, I think it it was a a friend of mine came to me and said, I’ve got this investment opportunity that I think is a really good one. And, I was at the time had a little bit of spare money, so I thought, oh, what a good idea.

And learning a new skill was always always appealing to me. So, she she introduced me to IDTA and I joined up. And, I think the whole notion of trading and the analytics that goes with it is very consistent with my my education and background as an engineer. But there are a whole bunch of other nuances that have emerged over time that have, been a little bit more challenging. But, yeah, that’s the main reason.

Dani: Awesome. So what was it about IDTA in particular that you were attracted to that you thought was pretty awesome?

Bruce: I think in the beginning, it was, I didn’t know much better. I’d never come across trading in any way, shape, or form. But the person that I that introduced me was quite knowledgeable.

And, she introduced me to a couple of other people, and I just checked checked out the reputation. And in fact, one of the people that I met was, working with and for, IDTA. And, I got to and that person also helped me with some other investments. So I had a high degree of trust there and didn’t believe that they would be leading me into a bad investment space. And then so then I joined.

And then I, studied the education, which is very comprehensive. And I really enjoyed, the the comprehensive approach to the education. That for me gives quite a lot of credibility. And so once I was, I was in, I was hooked.

Dani: Awesome. So did anything surprise you about the education, about the community, about coaching, about anything at all?

Bruce: Well, I think in the early days, there was, you know, you were, you know, in many ways thrown in in the deep end. Although the, education was good and the, the LTRs were available, there wasn’t any other real coaching and education that came with it. So, school of heart knocks is pretty much, how I learned my trading. A lot of mistakes, a lot of pain and anguish.

And then, in recent years, that all changed with IDTA with the the much more proactive education, the coaching, the style of moderating, and the general support for the community, has increased dramatically. And so I’ve I’ve really enjoyed that and have, been very keen to offer my own sort of knowledge and, expertise and experience based on that school of hard knocks to, you know, to help our new members. And so I’ve become a coach and a moderator, and that’s really been, a fantastic journey. Thanks to you, Danny. So You’re doing the work, mate.

Dani: You’re doing the work. But, your journey is the opportunities. It’s been pretty awesome observing your journey from a trading business school graduate to becoming a coach, and now you’re one of the moderators in the live trading rooms. And so it’s been so amazing and inspiring to watch your growth and evolution over time. So, you know, congratulations on that.

Seriously. What was there a was there a specific moment where everything just kinda clicked for you?

Bruce: I think that I don’t think there’s ever only one. I think there are series of them, and they come when you are mentally ready. I think the first one for me was, when Cam ran the high performance, a course, maybe two years ago.

I can’t remember exactly. And, one of the things that came out of that course for me was a very logical deduction, which was, you know, you’ve got control over your decisions. You don’t have to just emotionally respond or impulsively respond, and that’s what I was doing quite a lot. And that process then, triggered me to, think a little bit more deeply about my own mindset and the mental approach to not just trading, but everything. And, that led to some, a few sessions actually with a clinical psychologist, which led me to understand a number of, things that are, a big tension in my in my in my head.

So vulnerability on one hand is something I want to avoid at all costs. And in order to live to my values and do the things I really would like to do, I have to be quite vulnerable so that that tension just needed to be released. And and, then the victim that sits inside, became very transparent to me. So the process of learning to take full responsibility for every decision I make has been, that really transformative thing, but that hasn’t been something that has come easily or, quickly. And, the coaching that you’ve done, Danny, I think there was one moment which, actually shifted so much that from that moment onwards, I thought, well, things are just going to be fine.

We’ll we’ll get there. Before that, I didn’t. But I had done a lot of work to that point so that when we went through that process, for me, it was just like, well, okay. Let’s just let’s just commit to this and and go. That doesn’t mean to say that it’s all hunky dory now, but at least I’m aware of it, And I’m working actively to, to resist the victim and change my internal language and dialogue, not being a critic, being more of a coach to myself, rather than beating myself up over everything and generally being just a bit more kinder on the inside and, and just accepting that things are not perfect, with with as me as a practitioner or, you know, dealing with the probabilities of trading and accepting that if you’ve got an edge, you just gotta trade your edge.

Trust it. Have the patience and discipline around that. And, and, you know, and let the probabilities play out because I’ve done the back testing, the stats, and all those things. So there’s no reason for it not to work. So the only thing that really does matter is how you approach it from a psychological, emotional, mental point of view.

So, yeah, plenty of moments. Lots of moments. I’m sure there’ll be lots more.

Dani: Yeah. There’s always always more to learn in trading.

Bruce: That’s what I believe as well. So And the and the personal development. Yeah. Personal development’s been amazing.

Dani: Traders don’t necessarily realize that when they first come to trading. They think it’s all about charts, and then they realize fairly quickly that there is a mindset aspect to trading. And you’ve obviously deeply understood that, and you’ve been working through a lot of things. And so I can imagine that there has been a knock on effect in your life as well.

So as you work on yourself and trading, like, the knock on effect to everything else. Right? So life in general is different.

Bruce: So Yeah. All my all my relationships, my my state of mind at work, all of those things, you know, better grandfather, better parent, better husband, better friend, better employee.

It’s all had amazing amazing amazing, knock on effects.

Dani: Yep. Beautiful. Just got goosebumps. So are you calmer as a trader these days?

Bruce: I’m calmer as a person. Yes. And I think I think that’s that’s, that’s the key. Trying to be calm as a trader doesn’t come unless you’ve actually figured out how to be much calmer as a person.

I think for me, that’s been the key. And, yeah, I’m a lot calmer when I’m trading. I still get a bit frustrated, and, sometimes the fear creeps in. So, you know, I’m perfectly normal human being, and we all have an a game, a b game, and a c game, and they all come to play. So I’m trying to make that c game good enough not to or to sync you is, the big challenge.

Dani: So when traders watch you, they’re very inspired by you’ve got a Zen like state, a very calm voice. And I’ve heard some coaching clients say to me, I’m working towards Bruce level patients. So you’ve got a coined phrase in the community, which is awesome. That’s quite nice.

It doesn’t you know, sometimes you let sometimes it gets a better of me, but, you know, we are human. Right? We’re human. We’re not trading bots. We’re human.

So that that that does come into trading, but overall, it’s really inspiring to watch you trade. And and here your thought process is you’re very methodical. You’ve got a very clear defined edge. Traders can really they can really understand what you’re looking for in the market, and so your your level of comprehension is is really quite amazing. So well done to you.

And I know the work is done. Right? So you’ve done yeah. You’ve done awesome.

So would you recommend IDTA to others?

Bruce: Well, you know what? I have, committed to IDTA myself, and it’s not just because, trading’s got a little bit easier for me. It’s because of the values, I think, that IDTA brings. The, the genuineness about, their desire to help their their, members to become good traders. And not to pretend that you’re gonna make millions of dollars overnight, but that it’s gonna take hard work, dedication, and, and that there’s support and people behind you that understand.

So it’s a no nonsense, very honest place to be. And frankly, if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here because that’s really important to me. And that’s very different to a lot of the other places that I’ve encountered in my journey because, although I’m with IDTA now, there was a big gap between when I started and when I reconnected where I did a whole bunch of exploration. And, I did not find a lot of good stuff out there. So coming back to IDTA in its current, form has been, like coming home.

And, yeah, I would recommend it to anyone. And for me, it’s it’s good education, good coaching, good support, and, and a really good system, yeah, that really values people and their outcomes. So, you know, for me, if it wasn’t that, then I I wouldn’t be here.

Dani: Beautifully said. Thank you so much for joining me today, Bruce, and I wish you all the best.

Bruce: Thanks, Danni, and you too.

Dani: Thank you.

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