In any endeavour, the majority will seek the holy grail of instant success and effortless mastery. Itâs human nature. Seeking pleasure, avoiding pain.
So while many traders are searching for the perfect system, or seeing options as the nirvana, the shortcut to riches, (a myth perpetuated by marketing hype) my perspective is entirely different.
I believe that real success lies in discipline, unswerving commitment, and tireless hard work.
Baby steps up the stairway to heaven; before you know it youâll be walking on the moon.
If you want inspiration, watch
Gattaca. A celebration of the limitless potential of the human spirit. A timeless masterpiece.
Iâve spoken to some successful traders. Theyâre not interested in home runs. Theyâd choose consistent singles any day. And they pay little attention to âperfectâ systems or fancy indicators. They simply trade with the trend, cut their losses and ride their winners.
And thatâs all Iâm setting out to do.
I could illustrate this with so many analogies.
Take bodybuilding/weight-training. A passion of mine when I was younger.
Take the majority. What do they do?
Read the magazines, buy the supplements and join expensive, all-frills health clubs. They try to emulate the pros. Little matter that theyâre not juiced, genetic freaks. They jump from one hyped system to another, always in search of the holy grail,
thatâs right, YOU TOO could have a body like this in six weeks. Just twelve easy payments of $39.95, and eventually quit after injuries, frustration and perhaps even forays into the world of underground pharmacopoeia.
They donât take the time to find out what real life success stories do. They donât enter the world of the genetically typical and drug-free. After all, why should they? Itâs not glamorous and exciting. No bells and whistles.
Thereâs no avoiding the pain.
Guys love to boast about their bench-press.
Go to your local health club and just look at the benchpress rack. Thereâs usually a queue. A pecking order of guys lining up to prove their manhood, hoisting as much weight as their ego will bear, with awful, even
dangerous technique.
Itâs absurd.
Little matter that itâs the same struggle with the exact same weights, week in, week out.
Month in, month out.
No progress. Then they curse their bad fortune when they get a rotator cuff tear.
What do the real-life success stories do?
They have a sound training plan which they stick to religiously, eat a healthy diet with an excess of protein and calories, and keep a training log. Simple as that.
And they use one of the greatest inventions in the arena of progressive resistance. Microweights. Tiny plates for an Olympic bar. 1lb. 1/2lb. 1/4lb.
They donât do a thousand sets of twelve different exercises to develop their chest. They do two sets on the benchpress. Once a week. They donât try to add 20lb to the bar every workout. Theyâll add 2lb a week, one tiny plate on each side of the bar.
Iâve actually seen people scoff when they see the tiny weights.
Now what happens?
The
get-stacked quick crowd are plagued with injury upon injury. Their weights never increase. They get nowhere. At the end of the year, what have they got to show for it?
Nothing.
Meanwhile, the guy with the boring system and the tiny weights has gained 100lb on his benchpress in one year. And thatâs just one year.
How many people do you know who have done that?
Probably none.
So you see these guys with their impressive physiques. They didnât sculpt them overnight. Rome wasnât built in a day either. Their physiques are the result of years of discipline, commitment and hard work.
Getting back to the pointâ¦
Iâm implementing discipline and simplicity from day one.
Iâm living within my means, and plan to add 1-2K a month to my trading account.
Iâm aiming to increase my equity consistently, even if itâs only $100 at a time.
Thereâs no such thing as bad luck.
I believe that everyone makes their own luck.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent...
Coolidge
