Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Finding Your Performance Niche

I'm pleased to report that my new book is now shipping and is available at discount via Amazon. Here's an excerpt that introduces the notion of the performance niche.

My review of expert performers in such fields as chess, military, athletics, and performing arts--as well as my research review of exemplary performers--suggests that success is not simply a function of qualities of the individual. Rather, it is the fit between the talents (inborn abilities), skills (acquired competencies), interests, and opportunities afforded by a field that creates accelerated development and eventual mastery.

What does this mean for trading?

It means that success will not be found in better indicators, improved self-help techniques, or any of the endless parade of chart patterns, wave formations, numerology schemes, or moving average arrays.

Rather, success is achieved when we find markets and styles of trading that take maximum advantage of our skills and talents. That keeps us focused on markets and absorbed in them, enabling us--over time--to internalize their patterns.

Many, many times, traders do not live up to their potential simply because they are trading markets and methods that do not draw upon their strengths. Without that fit, they are not absorbed in what they do; frustration replaces focus and learning suffers.

If my book accomplishes nothing else, I hope that it assists you in thinking about where your niche might lie, not just in trading, but in life. The days pass by quickly; life is too short to waste on anything that you're not passionate about and good at.

My thanks to the many readers and traders who contributed directly and indirectly to the ideas in the book. You have been a source of insight as well as inspiration.