Trading and Online First Person Shooters

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Phenomenal post fickletrader; thank you for sharing your experience. I had a couple thoughts as I read your post...

Quote from fickletrader:


2) Everybody who had a chance to boot-camp with the grand champion came out a much more skilled player. The more time a player spent sparring with him, the better they seemed to get, which meant that a lot of his success could be attributed to learned strategies and tactics. The upper crust players all spent a lot of time sparring against each other in invitation only practice sessions. Getting into that elite circle was coveted, but open to anyone who could play at that skill level.

I played basketball in high school, and during the summer months our coach would always push us to go to the pick-up courts where we could play against college players. I did this a couple of times and it was a humbling experience. I wish I would have done it more though, I fully concur that to get better at any game you have to play against competitors who are on a higher level than you. One of the interesting things about trading is (unlike poker or video games) there are no kiddie pools, you're always competing against black belts, be they in the form of humans or algos. This makes trading all the more difficult when you first get started, and is something most traders don't fully appreciate until the drawdown starts.

Quote from fickletrader:


3) The grand champion put more thought into his drills than anybody else. It's not just that he practiced a lot, he was very smart about how he spent his practice time.

This reminds me of the Brett Steenbarger books I've read. He strongly emphasizes the importance of drills and practice in honing your trading techniques. This is something I did a lot when I was first trying to get the hang of trading (or when refining a new setup), but is something I haven't done in a while, and should (maybe I should be doing that instead of playing video games lol).

Quote from fickletrader:


7) The champion's skills were transferable. He was great at all games and champion of several. I could see that he possessed a process and discipline that made him great. He sought out every top expert he could challenge and converse with when he began to learn a new game. He didn't start adding his own insights until the insights of others were well understood. Once he knew the boundaries of the box, he could think outside of it and truly innovate beyond the community's comfort zone.

This is remarkable, and consistent with my limited observations of truly exceptional competitors. Its a good reminder of the drive, lifestyle, and persistence required to become great at any endeavor.