Do you ever wonder why some people are megastars at what they do and others just try? Do you ever wonder why the rich kids get the scholarships when they could pay their own way? Why do some kids seem to be absolute winners and others not?
We’ve got to ask ourselves, “Is there something to learn here—a secret formula we can apply to trading?”
From my own experiences, what I discovered is that the answer is something that all of us can apply if we choose to and many do. You don’t have to be rich or wealthy but you may need to “invest” to reap later.
1. “BEST” PRACTICE
There’s practice and there’s practice. Any practice won’t do.
My daughters’ go to a top ballet school that produces a disproportionate amount of New Zealand’s top performing dancers. How do they consistently do this year after year?
Their philosophy about practice is that students are better not to practice at home if they’re not doing their absolute best. Class is only for students to show their best so that corrections are only given for what requires improvement, not as a result of laziness.
These principles are extremely relevant to trading and we should apply them to stretch our performance.
Likewise, everything we do in trading is reinforcing behaviors and actions we’re making. If we’re sloppy when we execute we’re embedding sloppiness. Even when we’re new to trading and doing small amounts we need to demonstrate the behaviors and actions that we’ll take when we’re trading larger amounts. Don’t wait until then and try and fix it.
“Best” practice is about always working at the highest level of performance you can, continuously stretching top actions and skills.
2. “BEST” COACH
To achieve top-level performance at anything, a person needs the “best” coach.
The best coach is not necessarily the person who has the highest performance in the area the student wants to learn. It’s not necessarily the trader with the highest results.
The best coach is the person who has high-level intricate knowledge of what’s required to perform at the highest levels and can communicate that clearly to the trainee who’s learning. They need to show them the way to that higher place like a magnet.
3. ATTENTION TO DETAIL
As a trader, if you make even one mistake it can make a huge difference to your results, good or bad. But let’s presume they’re bad because the mistakes rarely seem to go our way.
Being a good trader is a lot more than mistake free trading. There are many minute details that need to be done well. Like reviewing your trading performance and finding improvements.
A top trader and coach pays attention to the finer details and nails your specific issues to gain increasingly greater performance.
4. CARE
Why do you think that many child tennis prodigies had their parents as coaches in the early years? The parents themselves usually hadn’t made it big themselves in the sport, so what was it that made the difference?
There’s one thing that parents tend to do more than anyone else that can make a big difference in the coaching relationship. They truly care.
To excel at anything, including trading, the person helping you really needs to care enough. That is, to truly have the person’s betterment as a priority and to be frank and honest with their feedback for true learning to occur. They need to believe in you and your vision whole-heartedly.
5. REPETITIONS
Paul Tudor Jones, U.S. trading billionaire, discussed the importance of repetitions on this trading development and ultimate success in a recent interview.
In Andre Agassi’s book “Open” you can clearly see he’d hit more balls than other young tennis players by an early age. It would have become an almost automatic response to connect with the tennis ball, so quick the reactions had become.
Then there’s Malcolm Gladwell’s famous book “Outliers” that strongly subscribes to the 10,000 hours to an expert rule.
All other things being equal, the person who practices or performs every day will become a lot better than the person who does it once or twice a week. Increasing repetitions of best practice can lead to exceptional performance.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Use the ingredients for top level performance and make a splash!
Combine:
- Best practice trading execution, review and improvement.
- A great coach with the knowledge and communication to transfer what you need to know.
- Strong attention to detail, taking care of the finer details.
- Help that cares and will lay it to you straight.
- Tons of repetitions of best practice.
Don’t think, “Why not me?” Do what it takes and join the elite.
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Rachel Hunter, TraderRach has written lessons to help traders’ create a life they love with forex. Sign up here to get a free copy.
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Related Reading:
Secrets All Successful Investors Have in Common
