Traders Commitment Levels

[waza1960]

I thought it would be interesting to guage commitment levels amongst the traders on ASF.I suppose commitment can be on a minor level of making a few bucks as a hobby to being totally committed with a view to making a living from trading. I myself have spent within a couple years 20k on software/books/courses and 25k trading and I will not stop or be happy until I am trading for a living.

 

[tech/a]

I cant think of anything worse than trading for a living.

Once you learn how to trade it is entirely possible to make a good living.
I'm fortunate that I can trade as I love the challenge and Work as I own the Company.

As for commitment I will admit that getting to the stage of being confident in turning a consistent profit in all markets was a personal challenge.
Much of what I know now would have saved me a great deal of time money and effort during that process.
But for me I had to go through it to know what it was I didnt have to know.

All the best Waza full time trading can be as boring as hell.

 

[ThingyMajiggy]

I think its all up to the individual.

I'm with you Waza, my goal is to trade full time, and that is what I will achieve, I understand techs point about being as boring as hell, but I think it entirely depends on what you are trading, I certainly know I would find trading ASX stuff on the hourly charts boring as hell, I would rather gauge my eyes out with a plastic spoon, I much prefer trading stuff like the US, HHI, SPI(not that its been worth trading) etc, something with a bit of oomph on shorter time frames, I find it fascinating and love it, but thats me

This might work for me, that might work for you, all depends. I don't think anything is better than anything else, but I do know its better for me.

 

[waza1960]

Tech you are to be commended as you are one of an elite few who are successful in business and trading.Myself even though I loved certain aspects of owning my own company (Earthmoving 20 years )and the work I did it always felt that I was going against the grain whereas with trading I feel at home. I was not that successful in business so I'm extremely motivated to be successful in trading.I suppose commitment and motivation go hand in hand.

 

[moXJO]

I cant think of anything worse than trading for a living.



All the best Waza full time trading can be as boring as hell.

Don't forget isolated, and ass size expanding. I tried trading full time for a year, and lucky for me it was during the bull market (Come to think of it I also traded the tech boom for 6 months and did well) so I came out well ahead. But I know the difference between luck and ability. And my skill level for trading is not up to scratch for making a living month to month in all market conditions.

While I enjoy trading, I prefer running a business at this time and also enjoy the physical work. That with grabbing slices of the money from the market seems to be the right balance for me

I'm over dreaming of charts or having them burnt into the back of my eyes. So slow and steady learning for me. Maybe plan a more fulltime roll for retirement to keep the mind active.

TH mention of 10,000 hours of screen time is a mighty lesson imo

 

[Mr J]

I cant think of anything worse than trading for a living.

There's not much else I'd rather do, although to say I do it for a living is a little premature.

All the best Waza full time trading can be as boring as hell.

It depends on the attention that is required. Very fast timeframes might have us glued to our screens, while slower timeframes will allow us to entertain ourselves.

TH mention of 10,000 hours of screen time is a mighty lesson imo

The theory is that it takes about 10,000 hours in a field to become an expert. One doesn't need to be an expert to make a good living from trading, and rate of learning isn't linear (biggest steps are usually taken early on - or in the case of trading, when things 'click'), so I'd expect being able to live off trading to come far earlier than 10,000 hours. Of course, no amount of time actually guarantees anything.

 

[overit]

ass size expanding.

I used to be fit once upon a time!

 

[Wysiwyg]

Part time trading and paid work for me. End of day assessment and monitoring probability set-ups.
I don`t think trading all day/night is a path to success (more a road to insanity) though it does speed up the knowing.

 

[beerwm]

I cant think of anything worse than trading for a living.

haha, i can think of quite a few worse jobs

 

[moXJO]

Of course, no amount of time actually guarantees anything.

Eye strain

 

[waza1960]

Thing is I'm still in the early stages of trading I'm sure the experienced Traders here have forgotten as much as I know but I'm still postive I'll get there.I've being to a few seminars you know the ones where they say that only 3% of people there will be successful and I'm always confident that I'll be in that 3% (I could be kidding myself) not because I'm smarter than the others but because I'm totally committed to being successful whereas talking to the others the majority are there to dip their toe in the water and I'm sure after they blow up their first account they will give up.

 

[nunthewiser]

yes most traders i know should be committed

gotta be slightly warped to rise above the next bloke

 

[wayneL]

I cant think of anything worse than trading for a living.

Michael Gerber in his E-Myth series of books talks about three different types of business personality:

1. The Entrepreneur
2. The Technician
3. The Manager

His thesis is that only entrepreneur types should start businesses, but in fact most businesses are started by Technicians having an entrepreneurial seizure... I'm good at what I do, therefore I will have a successful business. Mostly they don't and struggle.

Based on this thesis, there are personality types that revel in full-time trading, other who would not enjoy it.

Horses for courses.

As a technician, I don't really enjoy business. I find the cut and thrust, dog eat dog atmosphere of business wearying. Full time trading suits me down to the ground.

If I want some interaction with folk, I just go down to the pub, outstay my welcome, then come home again.

The key is a bit of self analysis, understanding yourself and what you want life to be. I can understand people like Tech/a who enjoy their businesses, good on them.

Likewise, they should understand others who want to stay in their pyjamas and watch the green line crossing the red line. We're all different.

 

[Buckeroo]

All the best Waza full time trading can be as boring as hell.

Did a lot of trading in the late 90's early 2000's on a part time & full time basis and I found I missed the social interaction the most. I can't say though I made a decent living from it.

I did though, find it dead boring when the bulls came out. So now when they are out, I usually just go long on blue chips - you can make decent money with practically no effort - this allows me to ramp up my other business interests.

But when the bear is back, its a little more interesting and I tend to spend more time trading mainly for the challenge - still don't make a lot of money, too emotional by far, but its like gambling, when you make that big win, it drives you on for the next.

Cheers

 

[tech/a]

Michael Gerber in his E-Myth series of books talks about three different types of business personality:

1. The Entrepreneur
2. The Technician
3. The Manager

His thesis is that only entrepreneur types should start businesses, but in fact most businesses are started by Technicians having an entrepreneurial seizure... I'm good at what I do, therefore I will have a successful business. Mostly they don't and struggle.

Based on this thesis, there are personality types that revel in full-time trading, other who would not enjoy it.

Horses for courses.

As a technician, I don't really enjoy business. I find the cut and thrust, dog eat dog atmosphere of business wearying. Full time trading suits me down to the ground.

If I want some interaction with folk, I just go down to the pub, outstay my welcome, then come home again.

The key is a bit of self analysis, understanding yourself and what you want life to be. I can understand people like Tech/a who enjoy their businesses, good on them.

Likewise, they should understand others who want to stay in their pyjamas and watch the green line crossing the red line. We're all different.

Wayne.
All good points.
Believe it or not being a successful trader means you are successful in business.
I personally enjoy the business of business.
My business is Civil Construction.
I own 4 excavators and would be an expert operator for demolition.
Can throw a Bobcat around and drive the boggies.

Point is that actually "Doing the job" I am pretty average.

If you want to be a full time trader understand how to run a successful (Profitable) business. Rules are the same whether trading or running an Earth moving Business.
Waza know where your coming from brother!

 

[Krusty the Klown]

There is a lot of validity in the E-Myth idea and trading full time. As discussed if it is an isolated, lonely way to make a living, some people are just not suited to that way of life.

We've all heard the expression "he/she is a people person". They probably could not do it as the isolation would drive them insane, then the emotional instability as their phychological needs are not being met, would impact on their performance.

I know people like this, who hate being by themselves, when they are alone they get depressed and their work suffers.

So to do it full time you would not only need the technical skills and knowledge, but also the psychological make up to succeed.

You could say the same for any job that has little human contact. Some would prefer it and thrive, others wouldn't.

 

[MRC & Co]

Why is trading so lonely?

You can trade at an arcade in many larger cities, you can trade in a prop shop or even at a hedge fund..........

It's only lonely if you choose to do it that way, and for most jobs you won't be able to do it from a small town anyways.

I would rather trade than anything else. Find it far more fascinating and know many people who have done it for many decades and still find it the same. Some also make the excuse that they wouldn't want to be infront of the screen all day, but again, many professional traders don't spend nearly as much time infront of their screen as the average joe at his desk job. Some of course, wouldn't like it, but I believe, the fact is, just like a professional athlete, most don't have the skill to do it anyways.

 

[simoncar]

Waza, if you've got the commitment I believe that you have won half the battle. It took me along time to become profitable.....but I was never going to give in. Now I find trading pretty boring and I know that is a good thing. I've heard alot of good traders say that in the past and now it makes complete sense. When you understand risk control, the setups you will trade, how you manage these trades....all you then do is place the trade , manage it then do the same thing over and over and over. Boring is a good thing it means you you've probably got your emotions under control and are also confident in your system. I, like many others don't want to trade for a living although I probably could. I enjoy my "main job" immensely even though I make more money from trading. I trade EOD even though I can be in front of the computer during ASX market hours 80% of the time. I day traded reasonably succesful for awhile but found I was neglecting my family and friends and my eyes and wrist were killing me. Wrist from using the mouse!!!

 

[wayneL]

Wayne.
All good points.
Believe it or not being a successful trader means you are successful in business.

That's true. But it's a business that a technician can run successfully. It doesn't need an entrepreneur type person like so many "people" businesses.

I believe you can see the different business personality types in trading courses for sale/

Courses designed by entrepreneurs are.... well, all the things experienced traders dislike about courses. BS, poor content, ridiculous claims, EXPENSIVE etc etc. The course designer probably no longer trades and was a loser when he did.

Courses designed by technicians are more low key and factual without the ludicrously BS marketing. Much better courses by a million miles, but lacking in the marketing and promotion department. They appeal to logic rather than fear and greed. Consequently they don't sell as well, but at least they make a quid trading... because they still actually trade.

The classic "technician has an entrepreneurial seizure" scenario. I'm a good trader, so I'll sell thousands of really good courses.

Just my observations.

 

[moXJO]

I day traded reasonably succesful for awhile but found I was neglecting my family and friends and my eyes and wrist were killing me. Wrist from using the mouse!!!

Yes I had a similar experience....

Time flies by and you don't notice it when staring at charts, and data. Trading is not something of a shared hobby among my friends either. So I thought I would converse with some like minded individuals. I was part of a group of traders at one time. We would all communicate daily while trading. Man that was an accident waiting to happen, it started off rather well. But I would rather then get in that situation again.