Newbie seeking tips to win a competition and life

Hello HC Friends!

My name is Emma and I'm a young investor/market player. I've been dabbling for the last 18 months overall I'm in the green about 5% which is better than nothing but also leaves plenty of room for improvement.

I'm keen to learn from old hands and build a network that is going to potentially guide me or help me avoid common pitfalls!

Besides my learn term goal of retiring from my day job to travel and live off profit (the dream!) - my partner and I are about to begin a 6 month competition with separate accounts with $3000 to play with, we are going to see who has the most at the end.

I'm super competitive so want to beat him but also want to use this as a learning tool for the future.

Any tips, comments or things to avoid welcome!

Thanks in advance hotcoppper!