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I know its not healthy for family and career. But can that type of obsession get in the way of your success?
Im long enough into my journey to know it is not just infatuation that fades and taken enough lumps to realize I wont quit. But is it counter productive to jump out of bed at 4 AM on Saturday to spend 6 hours pooring through your journal, replaying the week, working on your plan, trying to program your setups?
I ask because everytime I put things aside for a time and take a break - I actually improve my results when i return?
A buddy of mine always talks about how he works "smarter" not "harder". In my career i have always erred the other way ("harder") and it has served me well.....but does that apply here?
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
To me, 'smarter not harder' means to find efficiency in whatever it is that you do.
I think you would know if it's hurting you. I'm not obsessed. I'm extremely dedicated and have
an extreme thirst for knowledge. Studying all day, everyday is the only thing that quenches my thirst.
Studying all day, everyday isn't the hard way. It's the only way to get to where you want to go.
Greats don't become greats by taking short cuts.
Well, everything in moderation, right? The market will always be here in some form. So no need to ruin your life over your trading education. If you feel you are pushing things too far, and your family or personal health is suffering, then simply slow things down. There is zero rush. If you feel any kind of rush, then it is likely that you aren't ready to trade anyway (rush usually equates to external pressure to perform, which often equates to trading with money you can't afford to lose).
I think there are two big camps:
Camp A: People who just search for vendor after vendor, indicator after indicator, system after system to make them money --- in other words, they want to throw money at the problem and let someone else solve it
Camp B: People who do their own homework, and don't believe anything anyone says until they can prove it to themselves.
People in Camp A should spend their time researching money managers, and spread their money out across a few funds and let someone else trade for them.
People in Camp B may succeed trading their own money, given enough time to build their experience.
I believe hard work is the key to success in trading - obsession helps here , in fact it is the key to success in almost anything constructive.
But as it is said, doing the same thing the same way again and again and expecting a different result is insanity. You would see many lament their lack of success, despite working real hard. I see it is because they are just repeating the same action again and again.
Success will come when you work hard and think independently
'You know that you're obsessed with Technical Analysis when.....'
1) Your 6-year-old pleads with you to take him to MACD's, and you ask him what the parameters are.
2) A social worker is telling you about a patient who has RSI, and you interrupt to ask her if she's read Wilder's book. (Then there's this patient with a history of volatility....)
3) An MA is no longer a university degree.
4) Trapped in traffic at a roundabout, you find yourself waiting for a "breakout".
5) You're constantly losing at tic-tac-toe because you keep employing a P&F strategy.
6) A party addict is describing his LSD trips, and you ask whether his most recent high took out the previous one.
7) You describe an uneventful Friday at the office as an "inside day".
8) The best that lingerie advertisements can do is start you thinking about double tops.
9) While viewing the night sky with your hot date, you find yourself mentally constructing trendlines through the stars.
10) Your wife tells you she has PMT, but you can't remember what indicator that is.
11) You start thinking about your marriage in terms of risk-reward.
12) You stop buying seedless grapes because you want more pips
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” - Dr. Seuss
When you work smart you work hard.
Hard you means long hours as every minute of the day is utilized towards your final goal.
Successful people have scarified a lot to get where they are today.
Successful people are aggressive, and never feel like they gave it all.
They always feel like they missed something and they try to fill those gap by working the long hours.
This "obsession" is sometimes borderline fanatical in their habits, physical fitness and other goals they
have set for themselves.
Successful traders, and those that I have seen, are the most aggressive and competitive people I have seen.
sometimes when I say aggressive, images of obnoxious and rude come to mind , but that is further from the truth.
They are simply goal oriented and very driven.
Lastly, success in my personal opinion is also a factor of your appetite towards risk as a person.
The higher the rate, the more likely you will achieve your goals so long you combine it with the effort.
My definition of risk is what you are willing to give up to get ahead (applies to trading as well)
Think Bill Gates dropping out of Harvard.
To answer your question: I think you are on the right path.
I too try to be balanced family, business and things I love to do on my free time.
It's hard, and I know how it goes, so I understand the dilemmas that comes with this mental workout.
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He divides the year into three different categories: 1. Focus days. These days you work IN your business and earn money. 2. Buffer days. On these days, you do nothing but plan and work ON your business. 3. Free days. These days mean no business. No cell phone, no email, no going to the office, no nothing. Instead its a time to recharge, rest and enjoy yourself. His program is designed to get you to at least 50 free days a year with a goal of 100 free days each year. If you think about it, just taking Saturday and Sunday off will get you the 100 days. But most entrepreneurs, sales people and yes, traders work far more than this.
Buffer days for me worked out to be around 2 per month and then 3-4 days end of quarter and then 2 "retreats" each year to brain storm with others in my profession. I instituted something called First Fridays. I took the first friday of the month and worked ON my business. This meant looking at the numbers, the systems, replacing something that didnt work and implementing new things....
Focus days are then far more productive because you are rested, have your systems in place and all you do is execute like a machine. Your mental capacity is not distracted by all the loose ends and to do lists out there.
But by using his methods of changing the way you approach work and time, you can reclaim your life. He says its possible to earn 10X as much while working far less. Some of what he teaches is not applicable to trading but much of it is.
I gained much by being a client of his.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Must have something to do with the Pareto principle "80% of your profits come from 20% of the time you spend". The Pareto principle can be applied to optimization efforts. For example, Microsoft noted that by fixing the top 20% of the most reported bugs, 80% of the errors and crashes would be eliminated.
Do you think you could apply the 80-20 rule in trading, ie, trade less or effortlessly while winning more?
