What i really want now is to sit on the beach in a tropical setting and fish. so i guess that will happen
Andrasnm, Aah, you said it so beautifull and to the point in your first post of this thread ! Every trader should incorporate this state of mind and this is what is necessary to enter in "THE ZONE"
there are two kind of motivations: push and pull motivation. push motivation: i don't want a normal job. i just want to get rich quick. pull motivation: I am ready to do anything to get ahead, but trading is the coolest thing i can imagine. In my first year, my motivation was pull motivation. After that it has been just push and trying to survive. edit: so in reference to the opening post: it's the quality of motivation that's most important, and if you have the right quality, you can't have enough of it imo.
i dont know one successful trader who trades purely for the money. not one. the money is just a by-product for a job well done. just like a slap on the back from the boss is the by-product for a job well done when in the rat race.
A trader who has separated him or herself from this emotional hang-up will more than likely be able to either: a) add to a winning position and b) let a trade run until the trailing stop is hit. Would this mean that a bank trader is in a better position to profit because it is the banks money and not his/hers?
Simple and Brilliant! This thread is so deep and hits home with me on so many levels that it is scary. I work at a bank where I actually deal with the desk asistants where some of the bank traders mentioned in Trader Montly Magazine work and I fantasize about what that guy must be like, how he dresses and talks and carries himself. and I want to go out with the guys that handle there accounts but am to afraid that the trader will see right thru my 10yr old Gucci loafers and now that I am poser. It hurts like hell because all I have ever wanted to be was a trader, that movie Trading Places hit me like a bolt of lighting. I am 33yrs old and I dont want to give up my dream but I am beginning to wonder if buying magazines with boats and hoses in South Beach are what's keeping me from succeeding. I will never be a trader at Goldman or Bear like I dreamed and I dont think I have enough money to be a prop trader. I have a wife and three kids and everytime I go to do a small trade I think about them and if I am killing there future. My wife says dont worry about it trade now so that I am not bitter years from now but it is hard when as man you know you have to do the responsible thing. so here I am logged into sites like ET and Wilmott trying to learn all I can and at the same time feel like I am drowning in Gulf of Mexico! I am probably one of the only back office types who has his own copy of the Handbook of Fixed Income Securiites. I buy the book and notice the others in the aisle looking at me like "why are you looking at that book the sports titles are two aisles over." I try to speak to the brokers I work with about trading and the conersation turns to sports in 5 minutes...almost like there telling me finance is not something I want to waste my time talking to you about.