If you had asked me my favorite song back in my student days, hands down it would have been Roxy Music's A Song For Europe. It isn't easy to turn something like lost love into a thing of beauty, but such is the transformative power of art.
There was a time I would have liked to have been a full-time, very active trader. I worked diligently to position myself for that opportunity and, when the time came, I found that it wasn't what I had hoped for. Something was missing: the something that had brought me to psychology in the first place.
And that sabotaged my trading. The day I realized it was when I found myself chatting with other traders to the point where I was alerting them to great setups--only to then miss them myself! The social contact meant more than the trading.
Ironically, it took stepping away from trading to eventually develop the trading I do now: a very opportunistic activity where I will find one or two very high probability setups in a week and otherwise stand aside and focus on my main work. And had I never stepped away from the old trading, I would have never discovered my own transformative fusion of psychology and trading.
The moral of the story is that trading has to fit into your life; your life can't fit into trading. Be who you are, and you will have the opportunity to become the best trader you can be.
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5 comments:
There are some activities where being second best just doesn't cut it.
Trading, I believe, is one of them.
Either you are passionate about it and learn how to weave it into your life or walk away.
The Boyz will eat you alive if you get careless or don't know what you are doing.
Outstanding post on knowing who you are... and aren't. thank you.
Trading should allow a rewarding life "outside the charts". Well put. CHT
Yes! The foundation of a trading strategy is our statistical edge. Our edge comes from who we are, our skills, character, talents and passions. If these are out of whack, consistent profits become difficult.
Dear Brett, G'day
Very short & nice. This is the factor which I am trying to instill into my students hearts. I am just developing on this thoughts, I will drop by if it comes good. Thanks for the trigger.
Be Awesome,
Raj, DreamJOBZ
Brett, I found almost the exact same experience and I resolved it by becoming an active mentor which often takes priority to my own trading when their need is more urgent than mine.
I could not day trade without human contact and having a way of giving back a little. Ultimately there is a by-product, the result surprisingly improves one's own disciplines and trading.
Anyone can tell you have a giant size generous heart and my message to any intermediate or higher level trader is to take on a student or two and give of thyself for free.
David (uk)
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