No matter what you think about the following statement I’m about to make, it’s true, and you will see why if you finish reading today’s lesson…
The rich and successful in this world, including business people, professional athletes, movie stars and the like, all DESERVE the money and success they have earned and achieved in their lives.
In nearly every case, they work harder and smarter than the other 99% of the population, they do what 99% of the population won’t do, they take the risks, they invest the time, effort and money, they study and practice and perfect their crafts constantly. Whether directly or indirectly, they are working on becoming “the best”, the majority of their waking hours.
The biggest difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful person is almost always the level of conscientiousness to the task and awareness of what needs to be done and when. That means they are dedicated to always learning and absorbing new knowledge and information, it means they work their asses off to get to where they want to be and dream to be, it means they seek out solutions and answers to the problems and challenges they face. The rich and successful live and breath what they do, they are passionate and will usually be the one in the group who is prepared to do whatever it takes, including take the risks required to get the result they desire.
That, my friends, is the price of freedom and lifestyle, be it from trading, business, sports, a top level executive or CEO, or whatever it is you choose to be. The majority of those that eventually get the good life, deserve the good life, not because it was they inherited it, but because they out-worked everyone else to get it.
So, where does that leave you? Where do you think you stand right now in your life when it comes to increasing your level of conscientiousness, what’s your level of awareness? Be honest with yourself, if you’re overweight, do you deserve to be overweight or do you eat well and exercise regularly? Do you study health and nutrition ? If not, then you probably deserve to be overweight. Do you study the markets, do you read constantly about the markets, do you take courses and seek mentors, do you study the market and charts every day?
No pressure here or anything, but right now, after hearing a brief intro. into what the rich and successful in this world do and how they think and act, do you think at this stage you really deserve trading success and the lifestyle it can bring? Are you really doing what it takes?
IF NOT, READ ON…
Even if you’re not rich yet, even if you’re not successful yet, even if you only have $1,000 in your trading account, you NEED to start acting as if you are a millionaire, you need to start acting as if you have already made it and to do that I have laid out some ideas below to help you get into the right groove. Hopefully this will bring you close to the self-belief that you deserve to master the game of trading, investing, business, whatever endeavor you choose to pursue.
Do you even know why you’re trading and what you want from it?
It’s funny that many, if not most traders, have no idea why they are even trading beyond “I want to make money.” That, my friends, is a problem.
If you don’t know where you’re going, what your goals are, how in the heck can you make a plan to achieve them? You need a “mission statement” for what your reason(s) for trading is, don’t just “wing it” and “see what happens” because if you do this, you’re gambling.
You need to get real about this shit, seriously, this is REAL MONEY AND REAL LIFE, it’s YOUR MONEY. It’s not a “fun little game” we are playing on the internet. Trading IS BUSINESS on the world’s biggest stage; the financial markets. If you aren’t prepared to do this business properly, you are going to get steam-rolled, I promise you that.
Being “prepared” and “playing properly” means you know why you are trading and exactly what your end-goal is, and it can’t just be “to make fast money”, because honestly, you are not going to make fast money unless you get super lucky, and if you are relying on luck to make money in the markets, you’re gambling and you’ll eventually blow up your account as a result.
As an example, what someone wants out of trading could be something like “I want to diversify my income streams and obtain another avenue for making some money besides just my 9-5 job, so my first goal is to just supplement my monthly income with trading income” – that is a specific defined goal that is not too lofty. Too often, traders start with unrealistic goals like “I want to quit my job immediately and make a thousand dollars a day trading” – these types of “goals” are not helpful because they are not realistic.
Your thirst for knowledge has to be unquenchable and insatiable
Warren Buffet still reads everyday, most likely a large portion of his day. He goes to work and studies his craft and industry, despite being almost 90 and one of the richest people alive. Most people would have slacked off decades ago if they had Warren’s money, but not him, and that is why he is the best at what he does.
Tiger Woods still practices golf on a regular basis, despite having achieved everything any professional golfer dreams of. Most people would have thrown in the towel and resorted to a life of laziness and luxury at this point. There is an inner drive, competitiveness, passion, that keeps Tiger, Warren and many others dedicated to their craft. They are just as dedicated now as they were in the beginning, before they were successful, and that is what is required to achieve success in anything.
Ask yourself this: Are you constantly looking to increase your trading knowledge, skills and conscientiousness? Honestly, you shouldn’t even feel like it’s something you “have to do”, you should WANT TO DO IT. If you don’t have that innate desire to WANT to do it, then maybe you don’t deserve to be a successful trader and maybe you should put your time and effort into a different endeavour.
Are you just here to gamble or are you here to make money long-term?
Do you want to make money over the long-run or are you just here to gamble? You may say that you’re here to make money long-term but how you trade and how you feel when you’re planning and about to place a trade will tell you a lot.
If you don’t have a plan, then you’re planning to fail. If you’re second-guessing yourself constantly and have little to no confidence in your decisions, then you probably haven’t learned an effective strategy and don’t have a trading plan in place.
Day-traders almost always end up gambling, because of the constant screens in their face, the constant price changes, the temptation to take stupid trades that don’t meet whatever system they’re trading is too strong for most people to overcome. If you want to make money long-term you need to learn position trading where you hold trades for 1-3 days to 1-3 weeks on average.
Day-trading influences a trading addiction mindset which is NOT the mindset of a pro trader. Professional traders do not trade “for thrills”, they trade for goals, and they have a plan in place to achieve those goals. SOME people can day-trade successfully, but very, very few can do it because it tests the human ability to have self-control perhaps more than any other endeavor on earth. Pro traders do enjoy trading, but it has to be calculated and calm, not impulsive and erratic.
Do you treat your trading like a business and trade with a plan?
This may sound repetitive, but it’s because it’s important. YOU NEED to trade with a plan. If you don’t have a trading plan then you need to make one asap. I have a complete trading plan template at the end of my professional trading course that can fast-track this process for you.
Every business has a goal and a plan to get there, trading should be no different. Too many (most) traders simply learn about trading, read a few blog posts and then start chucking their money into an account and then let the trades fly. This is why they lose money too and why they DON’T DESERVE TRADING SUCCESS.
Do you think and act like a ‘baller’?
If you don’t think and BELIEVE that you deserve trading success BEFORE you actually have the success, how do you think you’ll ever get it? The only way to start doing everything right, that you need to do to become successful, is to first believe that you deserve and that you will attain it. As I’ve written about before, you have to think and act like a ‘baller’ to eventually become one.
As yourself, do you trade like a seasoned hedge-fund manager by position trading and not wasting time on short-term charts? Are you calm and collected and calculating? Do you remove the emotion and the mental highs and lows from trading? If not, you need to start working on these things to become deserving of trading success.
Are you sickeningly disciplined and ninja-focused?
To deserve trading success you also need to put in the time and effort required for such a “reward”. You may not want to hear this, but you have to be sickeningly disciplined and have laser-focus if you want to put yourself into position to deserve trading success.
In an article I wrote on how to become a trading master, I discuss how famed martial artist Bruce Lee become the best ever at his craft. He is a good example of the type of dedication and discipline it takes to deserve trading success. It is not going to “just happen” to you because you think you want it more than the next guy. Let me tell you something, there is not a person on this Earth who wouldn’t love to be able to make consistent money trading the markets, so just “wanting it bad” means ZERO.
Fear the opponent who has practiced 1 kick 10,000 times, not the one who has practiced 10,000 kicks 1 time, put that in your ‘pipe’ and puff on it a while.
Conclusion
After reading today’s lesson, what I want you to do is ask yourself the following questions and answer honestly:
What are you going to do to continue building your trading conscientiousness and awareness?
Are you doing enough or is there a lot more fuel in your tank you could be using?
Do you really deserve success in trading, business or your personal life? What are you doing to earn it?
Are you one of the 1% who “ticks all the boxes” we discussed above, day in and day out?
You may feel like you have some work to do, and that’s okay because I am here to assist you in any way I can. Just remember, ultimately it’s YOU who has to put in the hard work, ‘sweat and tears’, because I can teach you through my professional trading courses and online members’ area, but I cannot force you to do what is required to deserve trading success. You may think you deserve trading success but if you aren’t seeing it reflected in your trading account then I promise you that you don’t deserve it yet, so you need to re-group and plan out what you can start doing to deserve that success you so desperately desire.
Comments