Passion is key. People like us are built differently. I was having dinner with a prominent hedge fund manager a few years back (we started on the same trading desk, and he was featured on Forbes and Fortune magazine before he turned 25; he even made it to the cover of New York Magazine). He is a family man, and he admitted that having a kid changed him, but having his second kid, not as much. He got more excitement from a very successful trade. True story. If I had not found trading or BASE Jumping, I really believe I would have become a contract killer (and a good one). I had this discussion with one of the most famous BASE Jumpers in the world, at his Malibu mansion, and he felt the same way (like 2005). He was the first one to admit it, and then I realized we were on the same wavelength... One of the best compliments I got was when he was driving me to Malibu, and said "you realize, people are not like US"...
What's the point of trading if you already have enough... that's like playing a video game over and over and over again to generate 2 billion points. It all starts to feel rather dumb, boring, meaningless, mindless and a waste of time, life. I don't know how LeBron James is able to still play basketball. I'd personally feel dead inside by now
I love this!!! And I would like to add to this, you talked to a guy who was a hedge fund manager who had passion with the industry when he was young, as a trader and I had a ton of passion when I was young, and I was able to build nothing into a 7 figure account over just a few years...... But one of the hardest things as a trader is that the passion wanes over time, it starts to become a hindrance more than a passion, you start to learn that the times you were able to crush it mostly had to do with huge spikes in the VXX that were out of your control. I don't fault anyone whose extremely passionate about moves like today.... I just don't react the same way they do day afyer day anymore, my passion is there and I like moving forward but your boxed in from where I am
It's the love of the game, which you obviously do NOT have. You either have it, or you don't. Like BASE Jumping; you can't fake it. You either are, or you are not. BASE Jumping does not lie... It's all about the game. May I suggest a different career course? You are not built like us, and that's perfectly fine. Got it, buddy? To sum it up, at this stage of my life: PS. I could have stopped in 2009, in my early 30's, and simply retired. I had already "made it" by 2005, btw.
I'm just saying everything gets eventually boring. The initial magic dies or becomes greatly diminished. I understand...The Passion part clearly. It's there in theory, but not necessarily there completely in reality. It quickly feels like an uninspiring, mundane, grind. You can never again experience the true magic of first riding a bike or first being in love or your first orgasm. You can semi capture that essence by doing completely brand new things in your life though. Continuously. Don't sit still and become a complacent statue set in your ways.
That's why you must add NEW experiences. And that requires money. Like spending 10 days on a private yatch, with full crew, scuba diving, in all the remote islands in the Galapagos, and seeing exactly what Darwin saw when he first landed there. Summiting Kilimanjaro twice in a day (7 day trek, followed by a 7 day Safari on the Serengeti, with balloon rides), running with the bulls in Pamplona, BASE Jumping Kjerag in Norway for a week with your private helicopter, Inca Trails to Macchu Picchu (6 freaking days), diving with tiger sharks in the Bahamas (no cage, blood added to attract them) etc. etc. I can keep going on and on How's that for reality??? It justifies what you refer as the "grind". We get to live incredible lives. Hopefully, you get the point. It's not rocket science. WE ARE NOT BUILT THE SAME. And that's OK... You just don't have it. You are not like us... Riding a bike is magical for you? Not for us. PS. Almost forgot, spending 2 months in Tokyo, and having this entire restaurant to myself for one hour (had 29 pieces!!!), with 2 chefs (father & son), just serving you... JIRO personally made every single piece for me, as his son watched on. Pretty cool... That's the best sushi in the world, btw.
He might have expressed it in inarticulate way, but what he is saying is 100 percent real every single trader hits a level where they would deemed a comfort zone, I.e. when you get to a million or a couple million you realize that there is really only a couple times a year when the market is worth trading, its not that I don't like the market, I definately do, but I have no desire anymore to sit there for 12 hours a day from premarket open until the close trying to grind it out trades that are getting closer and closer to 50/50 I'd rather be passive and long term and then only step into the market on weeks like this where the :VXX is through the roof. It is fuxking mind numbing waking up at 3 in the morning for the PRE market opening just to find a trade or 2 you think might work..... at the same time though you kind of need to remain sharp for moments like this...... you can't just wake up during volatility and start trading it if you don't have a feel for whats been happening in the market, unfortunately it's like an excercise for your trading skills that needs to be done even if you aren't showing real big gains on a daily basis when volatility is low
From plus 85k yesterday to down 40k today lol never seen something this nuts 440 on the QQQ and 520 on the spy's is key now need to hold that or back to hedging or selling
You seem to be obsessed with materialism and money spending on lavish experiences. If that's your nature and happiness I respect that... but that's not necessarily everyone's equation of fulfillment. Quite frankly, I find that type of existence to be rather cheap and empty and sad. The so-called celebrity rich person experience of life. A truly wise man exists on minimalism. Not consumed by earthly human pleasures.
What does your overall trading chart line history look like? Does it move up relatively consistently, or just breaking even flat line erratic, A trader needs to produce a process understanding that's somewhat consistent and less erratic to truly gain and win in the market