Are You Bleeding With Passion?

"To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heavens..."
-- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Got this from reading some of the Gann books once.

Seasons come and go, markets change and evolve, but human behavior hardwired into the brain hasn't really changed much since the time of the Neanderthal.

Every one of you reading this wants to make money in the markets. The principles are simple, but not easy: Take personal responsibility for your trades, execute ruthlessly, cut losses quickly, stay healthy in body, mind and spirit, practice good risk management, plan your trade and trade your plan, master your emotions, practice patience, do more of what's working, and take profits on a regular basis.

This sounds easy, but the majority of you struggle daily to do these things. You search continually for something or someone -- an indicator, a method, a newsletter, a guru, Grand Pine. You're looking for answers in all the wrong places.

There is one immutable fact that underlies all successful trading: The answer is within you. It's not out there somewhere. It's about your brain and how, not what you think. Traders, with few exceptions, are made not born. Anyone, given the passion, determination, and willingness to work hard, lose, fall down, and keep getting up, can learn to trade successfully.

How? You must believe totally that you are called to trading, that it is the one thing about which you are completely passionate and that you are willing to forego everything else in order to succeed.

I have stopped counting the number of times people laughed and ridiculed me when I talk about commitment to trading - this includes my mom. You know you're committed when something epiphanous happens to you. One of the definitions of epiphany is a sudden, intuitive perception or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something.

I have had several people tell me that their trading epiphany came in the form of actually feeling the earth move. A Carole King moment for those of you old enough to remember! Are you laughing yet?

Okay. Now that the earth is moving, the real work begins. You must learn to think in probabilities and entrain the qualities of being counterintuitive and peripatetic. You must become a chameleon, a great actor and acrobat on the largest and most intimidating stage in the world. Most of all, you must be absolutely determined and passionate about it. If you can take these steps -- slowly and one at a time -- you have a chance to make it.

Is 2010 the year you'll find the courage to follow your passion and do what it takes to become a successful trader? If so, then see yourself as the most brilliant firework lighting up the sky. Settle for nothing less than your personal best. Let 2010 be your year to shine like the brightest star in the universe. Is this your time? If now not, then when? After all, we are living in the greatest time of all times!

"Courage is more exhilarating than fear, and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight... just one step at a time, meeting each new thing that comes up, seeing it not as dreadful as it appeared, and discovering we have the strength to stare it down..."
- Eleanor Roosevelt