it has a lot to do with effort but above all imho it's important to be willin' to change and improve, identify what is workin' and what's not. what is causin' your pnl not to be up to your expectations and, the most revelant thing the characterize your overall performance: the course of action necessary to contain your losses and increase your gains.
yes. sometimes action is required to do something, but sometimes not doing something ill-conceived will save ur ass. therefore, a non action could be a great action. problem western education teaches kids at young age to think linear. that all rewards are based on actions, and not off non action. what it comes down to is those with great risk management skills, perform fantastically well. many times, great risk mgmt involves not being involved or doing nothing at all.
I remember going on a run around Diamond Head in the mid 70's with Arnold the "Governator". He came over to the islands once a year to guest pose at our state championships. He wanted some running buddies so I volunteered. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to grill him about his 'suppliment' use. WRONG!!! The entire 3.5 mile run he wouldn't stop talking about himself and his future. And he did it without getting out of breath (it almost killed me to keep up with him). Two things he said that really struck me as odd ...and ... well ... really off the wall and Not acheivable for this "bodybuilder"! One, he said he was going to be the wealthiest actor alive!(wealthiest not greatest)... and this was before he had done the first Conan movie. And two, he said he was going to marry into one of the most famous American families!(this was before he had even met Maria) I also remember thinking to myself... yeah this guy is very charismatic and a real nice guy....but jesus C. ... he can hardly speak english... his accent is sooo thick... what an idiot...he should really stick to bodybuilding. Well , through shear effort , and an extreme amount of work he certainly "willed it to happen".
In the past, I think talent, luck, etc. are the things you need... Now, I believe down-to-earth, take massive action, work hard and smart, etc. are the keys. Ask yourself, are you rich now? Are you successful? If no, then, what you think may be wrong... Your current thought may be poisonous. Think differently! Act differently. Think like a rich people. Then, you may not get rich but you will feel much better.
Hard work and persistence bring you your heart's desires in the end. However, we must define hard work and persistence. Hard work is not merely spending 20 hours a day at your computer screen with your eyes glued. The hard work comes in analyzing economic conditions and learning from mistakes, not having to relearn from mistakes too often, and focussing more on your art than on your PnL. The fact of the matter is that most people do not work hard; not in the sense we speak of here: merely putting in many hours is not the definition of "work hard". Persistence is key, I believe. You must be persistent to ever achieve anything in your life. You may try your entire life and get nowhere; then we must conclude that it was not meant to be. However, if your chances without persistence are at 10% I believe that with your persistence you can bring the odds in your favor up to 90%. Consider the soul that tries one time at something and fails and therefore never tries again; you must certainly agree that his chances of success would have increased if he would have tried a second time. Consider a person who simply does not take failure as an option; he may fail 1000 times and go right back to the beginning and try again. There are numerous examples in history of people who would have failed were it not for an unquenchable persistence. Check out this link to the story of Abraham Lincoln:http://www.snopes.com/glurge/lincoln.htm I would go so far as to say the single most important trait of a successful trader is PERSISTENCE. I don't care if you are a boy genius like Soros, without persistence you simply will NEVER succeed as a speculator of financial markets. Persistence becomes key in trading because losses are inevitable. If you are the type who would quit after having a single loss, you need to leave this business. The art of trading is more about RISK/RISK than it is about RISK/REWARD. You embrace risk and are never set back by it. No one knows what lies ahead in the future. your persistence, however, increases your odds of getting what you desire. Persistence is the number 1 character trait of every successful trader.