Perhaps, but people who seem to do well in life tend to enjoy what they do. So I think that happiness figures into the equation somehow. And I'm not convinced that the money necessarily comes first.
I'd say one of the main perks of being a trader is not having to work for someone. You work for yourself, you think for yourself, you are in total control. Total control.... something that everyone wants, but few can really handle. Trading is the perfect example of that statement being true. Responsibility is so great that you, yourself are the sole responsibility for your trading. You can't have an excuse, like a co-worker being lazy, or a boss that is giving you too much work or anything like that. You must take responsibility for everything. My sisters husband owns a local electrical business and he loves what he does, I guess I really picked up the ideas of working for yourself from him and he seems very happy. Although he doesn't make a whole lot, he is getting ready to move to a house, hopefully build one and they are happy and he loves his work, I can tell he loves his work because that is all he talks about. He started out working in a local restuarant as a cook, and now he owns his own electrical business with about 6 employees. So, I guess I can relate because I love trading so much and that is all I ever think about. Does that guarantee success.... no, but I believe you have a much greater chance at not being a failure if you honestly love what you do and have a passion for it. I am not yet successful if I measure my success in money/profit. But I am successful if I am learning and gaining experience that will help me in the long term with my trading. I'm sure that if people looked at the longer term of trading when you are new to gain experience not looking to make quick money, that 95% failure rate would be a little bit different. People would have more devotion to learn and less about how much money they can make as soon as possible. Just figured I'd throw this into the discussion, not really expecting a reply, but just some ideas up for thought by the new people that get into this game.
I really think that this depends on the individual. I'm young, but I've already seen plenty of people who are more apt to complain about work than to do anything about it. I personally view work as a way to advance towards other things that I want to do (such as trading), rather than something that I want to do for my entire life. I definately have the entrepreneurial bug.