If I was to hire 5 of you today let me tell you what I would be looking for. I know Goldman Sachs Morgan Stanley or Bear Stearns won’t be showing up at UMM this spring to fill their seats on their trading desks but let me give you a heads up of what I would want to see in someone I would hire to trade my capital and the portfolios of my investors. Unfortunately, what I would want is a far cry from what they might want to fill the seat.
First, I would look for generosity toward your fellow man. To be a good trader you can’t be a jealous person. A jealous person has a hard time succeeding. They are always reacting, and not thinking. They make emotional decisions. Good traders have control of their emotions. What you don’t want to be is emotional in your trading.
Anybody golf here? A great analogy can be made by comparing great golfers to aspiring great traders. I think if you look at Tiger Woods and the way he plays golf, first of all, he doesn’t play in 60 tournaments a year. He is selective and therefore makes fewer decisions.
Second, he prepares himself for each tournament so that he’s not mentally worn down. Next, he doesn’t shoot a 64, then a 78. He is consistent. He is not riding an emotional roller coaster. He is playing within his capabilities. He takes care of himself. He works on his conditioning. He doesn’t try to kill each shot because he knows consistency is what counts. He doesn’t try to predict where his next shot is going to land. He doesn’t care where it lands. Wherever it goes he is going to handle it.. He doesn’t worry about it.
Now I am no golfer, trust me. I have new clubs, a beautiful bag, the clubs have never ever been on a golf course. So when I go up to the tee, what do I do? I worry. “I don’t want to hit it in the trees, I don’t want to hit into the lake. What if I hook it?” I have negative thoughts. Tiger goes up there, squares off and hits it. Wherever it lands he hits it again. He has the confidence he can handle the situation no matter what happens. For me it is the same thing in trading. For all good traders. When I am trading well, I don’t care if I have a monetary loss on a trade. I am going to handle it. Nothing can hurt me because I can handle whatever can happen.
Secondly, I would want a trader who can be happy. Most people equate money with success. That is false. Profits and losses are not a reflection of self worth or intelligence. Do not confuse self worth with net worth. Don’t sell yourself short. Success has nothing to do with happiness and everything to do with how you feel about yourself. Success is being happy doing what you want to do because you want to do it. Your net worth isn’t about money. It is about your ability to function. Getting to where you belong in life is very difficult for most people. I am where I belong in life now, but maybe I won’t belong here 5 years from now.
Third, successful traders realize that there are people who have greater talents. I would look for what the armed forces today call “quiet professionalism”. Every trader is like a factory, he has potential, a capacity, and an operating level. Like the stock market, a persons potential fluctuates. This ties in to what I said about jealous people. Don’t worry about the best traders, the guys who trade bigger and faster, just focus on you. I don’t have any monetary goals. I try to do the best I can all the time. My net worth is my ability to function. Money itself doesn’t really mean anything to me. It never really has. It just means I can buy things I’d like to have.
Lastly, I would want to work with people who understand themselves. I know that I am a behaviorist. I learn from observation. My observations allow me to see how things work. It goes back to my fear of science. I don’t have the intelligence to create things. I have always felt this business is about the man in the mirror. It is 15% analyzing the market and 85% working on myself. You have to know where you are at. The main purpose is to keep the mind clear and well balanced. For example, when I am tired I don’t control myself very well. I tend to make emotional mistakes. Isn’t that why most people cry when they are tired. Most people make emotional decisions. I limit my alcohol intake and monitor my sleep requirement during the week. Why do most people paint their house to sell it? Because buyers of houses make emotional decisions, not decisions based on the value of the construction materials. Controlling yourself is paramount. I don’t know if the conscious or subconscious rules me. But I always felt my subconscious was right. My gut feel tells me the truth. I think when you are in college, your subconscious basically rules you. That is why many times young traders do very well. They are very positive and have no fear.
The root cause of volatility. Instantism… Less stable environment. Get-rich-quick mentality. Something for nothing. …. Lotteries, casino’s, CNN, cable TV… advances in communication technology. Plenty of time.. Everyone says that trading is a stressful business. That is nonsense. The only stress in trading comes when you are wrong and you don’t get out of the trade and cut your losses. Stress is living with problems. I don’t like or want to live with problems. When I have a trade that I get distressed over I get out of the trade. I know that I am wrong. I get out of the trade and eliminate the stress. Think of it like this…. A baseball player with 2 strikes and no balls will bat .220 but with no strikes and 3 balls he might bat .390. If you are constantly getting into the hole you are not going to do as well as you are capable….
Work hard at your passion, not someone else’s….. put some discipline in your personal life. It’s all about the journey not the destination. The direction you are facing has a lot to do with our destination.
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