Seykota uses his discussion on psychology to lead into what is probably his most famous quote: “Win or lose, everybody gets what they want out of the market. Some people seem to like to lose, so they win by losing money.”

After knocking me down a few notches by forcing me to question my trading psychology, he hits me with the question of whether I even want to make money trading. This really forced me into some deep self-analysis and I am still not sure what the answer is.

He goes on to say that “People’s trading performance probably reflects their priorities more than they would like to admit.”

This was the final blow for me. He’s right. I’m simply not putting in the time and effort that I would be if I had a deep seeded passionate desire to succeed here. I’m just a casual observer of the markets making a few speculative gambles here and there. That’s why I have a weak track record. That’s why I feel like I can’t get any traction. I don’t want it bad enough.

The next question is where do I go from here? What do I do with that? I feel like according to Seykota, I’m a lost cause. I also feel like according to most everyone else I read, I am at a turning point where I can make some changes and improve my dedication and commitment. The bottom line is that I have to decide every morning how badly I want this to work. Am I willing to put in the time and effort?