I have no talent trading. I want to make sure it is clear. I only know a handful ‘Talented’ traders. What makes them talented?
- No data to trade
- No fear and high objectivity
- Talent in understanding flow
- Talent in understanding panic
- They can just ‘show up’ and trade
Why do I bring this up? Despite a handful of talented traders, I know about 50x 7fig+ traders that have no specific talent. Here are some of the things that make them standout:
Visualization & Deep Belief
They see themselves successful, they don’t even consider another path, no alternative. They believe in their identity as a future success, they see a light at the end of the tunnel and they believe in being able to reach it. It is a relentless belief, they just do not give up, its not even an option.
Work Ethic
They can barely fall asleep because they want to get after it day in and out, every minute not pushing is a minute the competition is killing you.
Introspective Skills
They are all good at being able to detach from the ego /self and analyze their actions and emotions. Picture it like a split personality between trader/individual and a psychologist
Data Driven
They need to understand through concrete data points.
Why was this a good trade?
Why did I fuck this up?
Why am I feeling tired?
They quantify success and failures to allow to grow on their path… Like building stairs to the target, which allows to see the target more clearly.
Competitiveness
They can not bare to be second place. They want to raise the standards and be the best. It is not enough for them to be part of the pack, they want to be the best.
By setting the bar this high, the work standards rise, the acceptance for mediocrity goes down to 0. By reaching for the next galaxy, they reach the stars.
Inquisitiveness
They want to know, they want to understand. They take true pleasure in learning and knowing more. Their goal or manner of work leads to a deep understanding of the playing field. They become teachers in order to become masters.
They Question & Crash-Test
They never believe they are the best, when they reach their initial goals, they raise the bar.
They believe they can become the best but never feel the best. To keep themselves in check they spend time crash-testing strategies, ways to think , knowledge and more to assess the safety of their journey and approach.
“The only thing that could hurt me is if my success encouraged me to return to my childhood fantasies of omnipotence — but that is not likely to happen as long as I remain engaged in the financial markets, because they constantly remind me of my limitations.” -George Soros
They do so by discussing their ideas with their pod, reviewing data, simulating and visualizing situations and asking for help
They Are Contrarians At Heart
When everyone tells them one thing, they think about the impact of them being wrong. They would rather be the ones right/wrong alone than the ones right/wrong within the crowd. They want their decisions to be their own, they fight against the consensus. They take advantage of the social drive in human kind to create skew.
They Are Leaders & Alpha
They want to eat what they kill, they want their decisions to be the ones dictating their lives. They would will feel pain on their own, they will fight against armies, they will conquer the trading world.
Their is a deep belief in this. You often hear it from retired traders:
‘I did not like who I was to succeed’
‘I was a different individual trading’
Trading is a war, everyone is out to get your money. (investing is more of an infinite game and allows for the mindset to be shifted)
This feature on Talented Traders is the work of The Short Bear. If you liked this feature, you can check out other strategies from featured traders like Kristjan Kullamagi, Modern Rock, Andrea Canto, Dr David Paul, Michael Huddleston, Mark Ritchie, Patrick Walker , Dan Irish , The Top 10 Rules For Successful Futures Day Trading and many more.
Edited & Posted by Ryan Thibault for Stocks & Futures Trading Magazine
