BarroMetrics Views: A Personal Journey to Gold-Medal Trading (4)
So far we have covered the pre-requisites for trading success: the beliefs and values we must have if we are to have any chance of success.
Today I want to consider successes’ two greatest hurdles:
- Unrealistic expectations and
- Denial
I started trading in the late 60’s and was attracted to trading by the stories similar to that told by Richard Wyckoff in his Tickler Magazine. I was expecially attracted to one where he reported Gann’s trading results in October 1909. For those unfamiliar with the story, I attach it.
The key item for this story is the reporting that in Oct 1909, Gann took 286 trades, of which 264 were winners and 22 were losers. He increased his capital 1000%!
So you can imagine my mindset when I started. It did not help that my earlier trading experiences reflected Gann’s 1909 record. The successful traders among you will know what happened next to me: seven long years in the trading wilderness where I dropped A$750,000.00. Had it not been for Chrisy (my wife), I would not be writing this. Through her money and efforts as a breadwinner, she bought me the time I needed.
What I did not know at the time was that the Tickler interview reflects the mindset you need to adopt if you don’t want to succeed:
- Look for certainty: Gann was reported as picking the highs and lows of a move and the date for the extreme - and pick them with astounding accuracy. Let’s accept that the stories are true; the fact that Gann did it does not mean we can. There is only one Tiger Woods, one Roger Federer etc. The fab thing about trading is we don’t have to be great traders to build our wealth - we only have to be competent. In what other profession do 92% of your competitors act in a way that will put money in your pocket?
- Expect, in a short time, to double, triple, quadrouple your money and to do this as a matter of course: This quote I’ll never forget - made by a Singaporean want-to-be-successful-trader: “I am not asking for much. I want a method that has few if any losses, will make me rich beyond my dreams from a small capital base, and will be easy to learn and apply. Oh yes - it must also not take up too much of my time - I am very busy” (!!??). And he was dead serious!
The reality is very different for most of us.
- Trading will take time, effort and money to learn;
- it will take time to accumulate our wealth; and it will take time and effort to apply.
Wishing it were otherwise will not change reality. Many newbies I have encountered prefer to buy-into the pipe dreams offered by the ‘get-rich-quick’ crowd rather than to accept the sage advice offered by those that have been through the grist mill and are now successful. So if you want to make it, take time to discover what is possible and work toward that goal. If instead you would rather deny reality and chase a pipe-dream, expect the fantasy quest to end in failure.
Refer this blog post to a friend or colleague…
