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I posted something earlier that I thought might be helpful as a stand-alone thread;
There's a story, a little off topic, but it applies. I am a vegetarian, have been for over 20 years. I also studied eastern religions in the past, and in that pursuit came across a tale of a student who wanted to study with a certain "master".
The master refused the student, saying that he only accepted students who were vegetarians. "But I AM a vegetarian" proclaimed the student. The master still said, "No, you are not."
The student begged and persisted, and finally the master told him, "Go away, and eat nothing but meat for the next thirty days. If you can do that, I will accept you as my student."
The would-be student was confused, and asked, "but master, I can't do that..." But the master's terms were not negotiable, and so the student set off to start his 30 day diet of NOTHING BUT meat.
Several weeks later the student returned to the master, and broke down in tears at the master's feet.
"Master, I tried so hard to do what you told me. I have had nothing but meat for over 3 weeks. Not a piece of bread, not a single vegetable, just meat, meat, and more meat. But, I am so sick of it I now that even the mention of it makes me sick. I am so sorry master to have failed you, but I cannot eat one more bite ever in my life."
The master smiled and said, "Ah, now you are a vegetarian!"
For me, I was a "trader" long before I should have been. I was going to make millions, and have had incredibly profitable days... But even though I convinced myself that I had studied hard, knew the rules of trading, researched probable strategies, backtested my butt off... I was not a trader. I was a fool, I was cocky, I was impatient, I was naive.
Blow up a few accounts. Risk everything and loose it. Do it again. And again and again. Until you can't stand the thought of ever having it happen. That was my path. And then I became a trader.
We all already know the odds are against us. When you play with leverage, make sure you do it on your terms. Trading should not be looked at that much differently from being an insurance underwriter; Know your market, know your odds, take only the risks that make sense.
Stay Safe! And make some money!
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
Bingo. You hit the nail on the head. Trading is a business. Not very many businesses last too long if they put all of their money on one marketing event. Eventually you have something that bombs.
Trading attracts the best and brightest minds from all across the world. Is is funny how many people come in gun slinging and thing that they are going to make a million dollars. Reality is that trading is a business and needs to be treated as such. Stay disciplined to your rules! That is the only way you have a fighting chance in the markets.
Absolutely. My obsession to become a trader exceeded anything near normal. I came into trading after a major financial loss (not trade related), and in my subconscious was determined to figure out how to get even.
But, I did not necessarily do the same things over and over, except for the part about losing money...
I tried every indicator I could find, took a lot of classes, studied wth other traders, read books, watched charts 18 hours a day, backtested for days straight, slept with my laptop in bed for months at a time. Friends were commenting to each other that I had completely lost it. But every time I got knocked down, I would shake it off and get up again. Complete insanity and complete obsession are indistinguishable sometimes.
There were some sizable wins mixed in there, but the real demon to my success was my motivation.
I finally accepted that I had lost millions of dollars, and it was ok. I accepted that trading was not a lottery ticket back to where I had been. I accepted that trading takes a lot of patience and learning and time. I accepted that when my trading has too much importance to me, I do not do as well than when it matters less.
What I went through is not what it should take for a sane, intelligent adult. But my life experiences colored my view of the world for a long time, and it lead me to hell and back numerous times until I was able to regain my personal bearings. The happy ending is, that through the process I learned a lot about myself and a lot about trading. An unfortunate event in my life sent me spiraling down a path that I never would have chosen otherwise, but in the end I gained from the whole experience.
