What does "everybody else" not do? They don't work very hard, they don't have a huge passion for the markets, and they don't have the type of rare skills and ability that make one suited to trading. There are many people who have 1 of the 3 down, and some who have 2, but not many who have all 3.
1. A great life outside of trading - no addictions. 2. A decent size bankroll to start so you can trade multiple strategies/intstruments and you can play conservative and still pay all the bills. 3. A veteren mentor to prevent you from acting totally stupid - like betting it all on one position with no stop. 4. Don't trade unless you know the current trend in the market and if you do then ride it. If you nail your entries then you don't have to worry about DDs. But if in case you're wrong (a) limit the number of trades to prevent large lossing streaks and (b) use stops to prevent a huge loss on any one trade. The lack of condition # 1, 2, 3 kills most traders before they can get a handle on condition # 4.
Many great traders, and great performers in any field, have had addictions. In some cases their life totally sucked, apart from their work. Many, if not most, started out without much of a bankrol. I agree that a mentor is extremeley useful - but some superstars have made it without one. I agree totally with point #4.
You know it's funny that Edison has a lot of great quotes, yet there is quite some info out there that he stole most of his ideas and inventions.
being able to shrug off a 9.27 fall against your position, like what happened to me this morning and not kill yourself. -- fuck you GROW!!. Sorry, I had to get that out. cm69
A dog. Only a dog will understand you after you have locked yourself away for several years to study.