The investing mindset of a 27-year-old former stock trader on track to earn $1 million this year

Lauren Simmons got a crash course>Her investing mindset

Simmons says she heard from a lot of the other traders on the NYSE floor that they didn't personally invest in the stock market. "A lot of the men on the trading floor have now been through at least three or four recessions, and they believe that you can't beat the market," she says.

And while Simmons herself worked at the NYSE, she was earning just $12,000 a year and saving 85% of her income by living with family and not going out. Using her money on anything other than a subway card, let alone investing, wasn't exactly her priority.