Think back to the last time you experienced the opportunity to watch a world class performer, someone who really put on an amazing show. It doesn’t matter whether it was a musician, a sports athlete, an actress, a doctor or a business owner. When you see one of these performers in action, you can’t help but admire their skills. It truly is a work of art. And it makes me wonder, “How many hours, days, years or even decades of practice and performances did it take to be able to perform at that level?” How many times have they tried to master their skills and failed before they finally got it right?” And more importantly “how many hours each week do they continually practice to keep performing at that level?”
If you’ve ever read a biography about a top performer, you will quickly realize that their fame and fortune was the result of years of hard work and failure which, through persistence, eventually led to success. And you’ll also realize that keeping that success requires continual practice and repeated failures as well.
The simple fact is that every performer who is at the top of his field is there for a reason, and that reason is because they were willing to put in more time and effort in developing their skills than the majority of others in that field. And then they continually practiced and honed their skills to stay there.
For example, if you look at a top football player like Peyton Manning, he didn’t just “happen to become” one of the best players in the NFL by simply showing up for football games. He spent countless hours over many years practicing drills, fighting injuries, pushing through failure and learning from his coaches. And he knows through experience that you don’t just learn to play football and then you’re done. He knows that he won’t stay a top player for long by just 10 to 20 games during the season. He knows that he needs to continually practice and be coached to stay at his current level or he’ll quickly fall off the leader board and go back to average. Therefore he continues to practice and hone his skills daily, outside the game, to keep performing his best.
Let’s apply this to trading. Do you know that if you were to make 30% per year of a portfolio on a somewhat consistent basis, then you would be among the top traders in the world? Some people don’t even think that’s possible. It’s well documented that an “average” trader is a losing trader and many professional hedge funds struggle just to keep up with the S+P 500. Therefore, if your goal is anywhere near the 30% range or more, then your goal is to become a world class trader.
To become a world class trader, you need to expect the same challenges any world class performer would face. You’re not just going to buy some course or take some classes and be able to perform at a high level consistently. Sure you may have a period of time where you get lucky for a while but eventually your results will drop to your skill level.
Let’s face it, you don’t just “happen to become” a top trader. It takes many hours over a period of years practicing drills, fighting well established mental habits, pushing through failure and learning from coaches. And when you finally do get yourself to “world class” level, it will take more than “showing up for the game” to stay there. You’ll need to do more than put on trades. You’ll need to continually back trade, paper trade, plan and learn from coaches to keep your performance from falling back to average.
If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. Trading can be an extremely rewarding occupation both financially and mentally. At the same time trading is psychologically demanding and takes continued practice and discipline to deal with the uncertainty and failures that are necessary to perform your best. The proper information combined with a great coach can certainly make the process a lot quicker and is often the difference between a winning trader and a loser.
If you’re willing to put in the work, I’m here to help you become a winner! Click here to learn about our One on One Coaching and Trading Triangle Programs and I’ll see you at the top!
John Locke
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