The common misconception most beginner day traders believe is that day trading is a get-rich-quick path to fame and success. Hate to break it to you, but nothing could be further from the truth.

If you honestly think you’re going to open an eTrade account and suddenly become the next Wolf of Wall Street, you’ve got another thing coming. Day trading can be extremely lucrative but you can also lose your ass if you don’t exercise self-control and maintain your composure if you end up on the losing side of a trade. I cannot stress enough just how important it is to remove all emotion every single time you take a trade. If the value of a stock begins to drop, the best thing you can do is cut the loss and wait for the next setup. If it’s a big loss, get up. Walk around. Regain your composure. Don’t be dumb!

Having said that, it absolutely is possible for you to make a million dollars day trading the market. In order to do so, you’ll have to maintain a daily average of roughly $4,000 net profit every single day the market is open — $4,000/day x 250 trading days = $1 million. Easy, right? Well….

Make no mistake, averaging $4,000 a day is going to be a pretty high bar to set for yourself. Even the best traders take a red day here and there, and most P&Ls don’t account for taxes, fees and commissions. You’ll also have to account for slow days, choppy days and days you simply break even.

It’s important for new traders to understand that, while setting a goal for yourself is solid, you cannot beat yourself up if you do not achieve that goal on a day-to-day basis. I’m a firm believer in trading the market in front of you, not the market you want it to be. If you want to remain consistently profitable, it’s imperative to stick to your strategy and learn to walk away before taking bad trades out of desperation.

Moral of the story: yes, a million dollars is a solid goal. Just don’t go expecting to pocket that first millie until you’re consistent enough to know it’s OK to come up short as long as you’re also coming up green.