Founder’s Note: Jason Perz is going to share things nobody else in this business is going to share – about himself, about the market, about how to get better.
We talk a lot about “doing the work” here at TrendLabs. That goes on the upside as well as the downside.
At the end of the day, we always keep our feet moving. – JC
By Jason Perz
There’s a Japanese proverb people like to quote: “Nanakorobi Yaoki” – fall seven times, stand up eight.
Sounds good, but here’s the lesson in action.
Growing up as a professional bike rider involves falling one hundred times, breaking yourself, waiting six months to heal, relearning how to ride from scratch – then falling another hundred times until one day it finally clicks.
That process hard-wired how I look at everything in my life – especially trading.
I’m not afraid of failure.
I’m afraid of not trying.
You only grow by trying. By being vulnerable. By putting your entire heart and soul into something. By failing.
Then standing in front of the mirror and saying, “I have to be better,” and trying again.
That loop never ends.
Persistence Is the Edge
One of the first real compliments I ever got as a trader came from someone I deeply respected.
He knew my background as a BMX rider and said, “Jason, you heal quickly. You’re going to be a great trader.”
At the time, I didn’t understand it. I thought my past had nothing to do with trading. I was just a wild kid who rode bikes and crashed often.
What I didn’t realize yet was that healing quickly is the edge. I know I’m wired differently.
When most people say they do something because they enjoy it, I understand that. But for me, it’s deeper. I don’t just enjoy certain things. I need them.
I’m 40 years old and I still work out every single day. Not because I want to. Because I have to. My motor runs hot. It always has.
And because of that, I’m not afraid to fail.
I’ll be back tomorrow.
And the next day.
And the next.
Until I figure it out.
The early years of trading were a disaster for me – just like they are for most people who actually stick around long enough to find out if they have what it takes.
I blew up accounts. I overtraded. I chased. I forced things. I paid tuition the hard way.
But I healed quickly.
And every time I healed, I got better.
That’s the part people miss.
Failure doesn’t break traders.
Unprocessed failure does.
Resilience: You Win Because You Don’t Stop
This year tested that belief again.
I got a diagnosis I never wanted to hear. I spent most of the year in treatment and therapy.
For some people, that would feel like failure – wishing you had done something differently, wishing you were someone else.
What I’ve learned over time is this: Anything could happen to me, and I still wouldn’t want to be anyone else.
Injuries.
Addiction.
Health problems.
Trading failures.
Who else would I rather be?
Because everything I’ve been through built the one thing that matters in this game: resilience.
When I zoom out and look at my worst days – months in a hospital bed with tubes everywhere, detoxing in jail, family members dying, blowing up accounts multiple times, staring at screens wondering if I was cut out for this – I always come back to the same truth:
I built this monster.
And I’ll keep fighting.
That’s trading.
You don’t win because you’re smarter.
You don’t win because you’re faster.
You don’t win because you avoid pain.
You win because you don’t stop.
Failure isn’t a signal to quit.
It’s feedback.
Losses aren’t proof you don’t belong.
They’re proof you’re actually in the arena.
You cannot be stopped if you keep going.
Keep going.
I’m rooting for every one of you.
Let’s close out 2025 with a bang next week.
Save the bees,
Jason Perz
Senior Analyst, TrendLabs