The day the market showed me who I was
Weeks after I won Zerodha’s 60-Day Challenge, the market did something to me that no boss ever had. On a January expiry, it kept rising and I kept selling calls against it. By the end of that day, I had lost everything I had earned in the entire year.
I could not tell my wife. I could not tell my friends. They would have said, “Stop, this is gambling,” and in their place I would have said the same. So I carried it alone, the only earner in a family of five.
The strange part is that I thought I knew exactly who I was. I was the boy who earned money through side jobs while still in school, because money pulled harder than textbooks. The one who walked into a call centre straight out of school with weak English and fought his way to the top of the sales board. The one who ran call centres of his own, and rebuilt his career in travel from the bottom, promoted three times in a year. The one who started a holiday business, and when the lockdown froze it, paid his team half salary for three months before he had to say sorry.
Then the market, with no boss, no team and nobody to stop me, showed me the rest. Greedy the moment I saw money. Impatient when I booked profits. Undisciplined the second I broke my own rules. Still sharp. Still capable. But not the man I thought I was.
Fixing that took years, and it meant facing alcohol. For about a decade I was an alcoholic. I tried to quit again and again, and failed again and again. Today I am sober, and for the first time I do not crave it.
Who I am?
My name is Abhishek Sikka. I live in Faridabad, India, and I am a husband, a father and a son.
Over the last two decades, I have worked as a call-centre sales agent, a tours and events manager, a full-time trader and an active investor in the Indian stock market.
What changed?
The turning point came when I realised I wanted to be truly present for my family, first as a husband and then as a father. I did not want my children to grow up believing unhealthy habits were normal. I wanted energy, mental clarity and emotional stability, and a healthier future, not only for myself but for the people I love. That moment was the beginning of real change.
So I started changing slowly.
- Not through extreme motivation.
- Not through perfection.
- And definitely not overnight.
Step by step, I improved my sleep, fitness, food, discipline and stress management. Strength training became part of my routine. Health and nutrition went from a curiosity to a serious interest. Over time I became calmer, more focused and more grateful for life.
What helped me change?
Change did not start in the gym. It started in my mind. I had to look at myself honestly and ask, “Jo main kar raha hoon, yeh 5, 10, 20 saal baad meri life ko kaisa banayega?” Slowly, a few things made the real difference:
Mindfulness and meditation. Quiet time to notice my thoughts and habits instead of running on autopilot, and small moments of breathing that eased anxiety and overthinking. I learned to ask “Why am I doing this?” and “Is this really helping me?”
Exercise and movement. Regular strength training and everyday movement. Nothing extreme, but enough to feel stronger, lighter and more in control of my body.
A more disciplined daily routine. Better sleep, more structure in the day and fewer late‑night decisions. Discipline gave me freedom, not the other way around.
Family. My sons’ smiles are a constant reminder to choose long‑term health over short‑term escape.
My Learning Journey
- Completed Thomas Cook’s Certificate Course in World Tour Management (Grade A, 2016) → the start of my travel-industry years.
- Passed the IATA Foundation in Travel and Tourism with Galileo with distinction (2016).
- Completed NSE’s Finance 101 programme (2021) → built my foundation in investing and how financial markets work.
- Won Zerodha’s 60-Day Challenge in 2022 (Winner’s Certificate for being net profitable over 60 trading days in equity and F&O trading) → experience that now shapes how I teach trading: as a tool for hedging and risk management, never as gambling.
- Founded Carnival Holiday and Events (2019), a holiday and events business for travellers and corporates.
- More than six years actively investing in Indian markets → now focused on simple, long‑term, safer approaches over short-term trading.
- Through my YouTube channel, Students of Market, I have taught 50+ lessons on F&O trading, technical analysis and trading psychology, built on data‑driven back‑testing, risk management and the mental side of trading, never on tips or gambling.
Why this site exists?
I know how many people quietly struggle with the same things:
- poor health,
- weak discipline,
- stress,
- unhealthy habits,
- financial anxiety,
- and the feeling that life is slipping by too fast.
I am not here to play the perfect guru. I am here to share lessons from real experience: what helped me, what failed, what took years to understand, and what works over the long term.
What you will find here?
On this site, you will find content about:
- healthy habits for busy adults,
- sleep and recovery,
- sustainable fitness,
- nutrition and lifestyle,
- stress management,
- discipline and consistency,
- and balanced, long-term investing for ordinary working people.
When it comes to money, my philosophy is simple: no shortcuts, no hype and no “get rich quick” promises. Real wealth is built slowly, through discipline, patience, emotional control and sound long-term decisions, the same way a healthy life is built.
Growth never truly stops, and I want this site to be a place where people learn from each other honestly, through struggles, failures, lessons and small wins that slowly change a life.
“I learned most things the hard way, and often wished someone had guided me sooner. Through this site, I simply want to share what I’ve learned and help you avoid at least some of the mistakes I made.”