"Why Great Trader Embrace Doing The Boring Stuff‘
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It’s often the case that traders defer putting off the things that could make them better, stronger, more effective, or more productive, because, well, quite simply, they can’t be bothered.
This stuff, these actions
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It’s often the case that traders defer putting off the things that could make them better, stronger, more effective, or more productive, because, well, quite simply, they can’t be bothered.
This stuff, these actions
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and activities, are often uninteresting, not exciting, unsexy and take time, effort, and energy. As a result, people usually can't be bothered to do them, even if the intention is there. Even though they know they should, they just don’t, can’t, or simply won’t.
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I get it, I’m the same. I’m a human and like all humans I’d rather get the most outcome for the least effort. This behaviour is very human. To a degree almost everyone procrastinates on the vital practices and actions that are the foundation of high or elite performance.
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But, there are some exceptions to this, there are people who don’t skip out, don’t shy away, aren’t afraid to go beyond normal practices, or outside comfortable habits. It is these people who we often get to hear about because they become ‘elite performers’.
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In other performance activities, we get to know them by their surnames. Jordan, Ali, Messi, Cruise, Brady, Musk. They are less well known in the trading space, because its not a public arena, and because they prefer to keep themselves to themselves. Though some, such as
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Buffett, Soros, Dalio, Simons have become household names in the financial markets, and sometimes beyond.
One story I tell in my upcoming book, was told by Tom Dante @Trader_Dante in his excellent interview with @AaronFifield on 'Chat With Traders'. Tom told of how he had
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One story I tell in my upcoming book, was told by Tom Dante @Trader_Dante in his excellent interview with @AaronFifield on 'Chat With Traders'. Tom told of how he had
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returned to the office of the prop firm he worked at late one evening to collect something he'd left behind. The office was dark, but on the far side of the room he saw a light on. Intrigued, he wanted to see who was still working late into the evening.
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When he got closer he realized was it was the firm's top trader. This particularly day had been a huge day in the market. And this individual had made a multiple 6-figure trading profit that day.
Tom was surprised that this trader was still there, he thought if it had been
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Tom was surprised that this trader was still there, he thought if it had been
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him who had the huge day such as this, he'd have been out celebrating. He went over to ask him what he was doing. The trader replied that he was reviewing all his trades for that day. Analyzing what went well, what he could have done better, and what he needed to 9/18
consider for the next day.
This is what the greats do. They go that extra mile, they put in the hard yards, they do the work unseen.
They rarely talk about it, they just do it.
To most other people, this is the boring stuff that they'll do another time. But thats not
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This is what the greats do. They go that extra mile, they put in the hard yards, they do the work unseen.
They rarely talk about it, they just do it.
To most other people, this is the boring stuff that they'll do another time. But thats not
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the case for those who become great.
Today, sees the release of an updated version of @jackschwagers “Unknown Market Wizards”. I coached 3 of the traders featured in that book. I know the lengths they went to on a daily basis to become elite.
The stuff they did was
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Today, sees the release of an updated version of @jackschwagers “Unknown Market Wizards”. I coached 3 of the traders featured in that book. I know the lengths they went to on a daily basis to become elite.
The stuff they did was
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not necessarily the urgent and obvious stuff, but it was the important stuff. This is the stuff that helps you become incrementally better in small ways over time.
In trading there's many practices that fit into this category. Reviewing your performance/actions regularly
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In trading there's many practices that fit into this category. Reviewing your performance/actions regularly
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is one of them. Not just a quick analysis of the day, but going in depth to look at yourself, your actions, your thoughts and behaviours. This is 'being a student of yourself', not just, ‘a student of the markets’.
Great traders study themselves and the markets.
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Great traders study themselves and the markets.
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This is why journaling is so powerful. It's a tool to use to help evaluate and study yourself. It helps build up a record of your behaviours, actions and thoughts.
Journaling, reviewing, being a student of yourself are practices which are not considered by people as
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Journaling, reviewing, being a student of yourself are practices which are not considered by people as
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urgent, and therefore tend to get put on the back-burner, even when people recognize there is a benefit to doing them. But they are important things to do if you want to get ‘better’.
In my book, I talk about a framework known as the Covey or Eisenhower Matrix.
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In my book, I talk about a framework known as the Covey or Eisenhower Matrix.
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An image of this matrix can be seen below.
In this matrix, the top right square is the square of ‘high productivity’. Activities here include, journaling, reviewing, self-analysis planning, engaging with mentors, training, courses, working with a coach, learning new
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In this matrix, the top right square is the square of ‘high productivity’. Activities here include, journaling, reviewing, self-analysis planning, engaging with mentors, training, courses, working with a coach, learning new
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techniques or skills which may benefit you, and many other aspects.
The covey matrix is a matrix for life, if you don’t do the stuff on top right, or you keep putting the stuff in that space off, you are selling yourself short in the long run
The Covey Matrix is one of
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The covey matrix is a matrix for life, if you don’t do the stuff on top right, or you keep putting the stuff in that space off, you are selling yourself short in the long run
The Covey Matrix is one of
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several frameworks that get discussed in my new book ‘Mastering the Mental Game of Trading’, due for release on Jan 16th. The book can be pre-ordered at this link: linktr.ee
We also talk about themes such as this, which are the foundations and building blocks of great performance regularly on the AlphaMind Podcast or in our periodic newsletter. - Details of those and our work more broadly can be found at this link: linktr.ee
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