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Trading Success, Fear, and Endurance

“What makes a great endurance athlete is the ability to absorb potential embarrassment, and to suffer without complaint. I was discovering that if it was a matter of gritting my teeth, not caring how it looked, and outlasting everyone else, I won. It didn’t seem to matter what the sport was–in a straight-ahead, long-distance race, I could beat anybody.

If it was a suffer-fest, I was good at it.”

Lance Armstrong
It’s Not About the Bike
p. 23

“You can lash out at people, you can get mad at yourself–you can even end up hating yourself without ever realizing that fear is the interference, the block in the road of progress. Fear only causes me to react. Fear only causes me to wait. Fear moves me away from effective action. When you find yourself acting like a jerk, stop for a second and just ask yourself, What am I afraid of here?”

Richard Machowicz
Unleash the Warrior Within
p. 61

What do you fear most as a trader?

Embarrassment of loss?

Being wrong?

Losing a dream?

How does your fear manifest itself?

What negative trading behaviors do you engage in to mask your fears? Getting mad? Walking away?

There’s much to be said for trading as an endurance sport. One of the things successful traders learn to endure–and overcome–is fear. And that starts with a simple question: What am I afraid of here?

Nine Business Lessons From Celebrities

If you pay attention, you can find inspiration and lessons that you can apply to your business everywhere you look…

  • Lance Armstrong: Be disciplined. No business will succeed without a lot of hard work and discipline. Commit to it. Stick with it. Eventually, you’ll reach your destination.
  • Paula Deen: Be yourself (and be bold about it). You will naturally succeed if you build a base of followers who are naturally attracted to your personality. Don’t worry about being liked by everybody. Just let your own unique personality shine through.
  • Mr. Rogers: Be positive. I can’t imagine making it in business without a whole lot of optimism.
  • Ellen Degeneres: Have fun. The daily grind, even when you work for yourself, can be dull at times. Doing something you love, surrounding yourself with clients and connections that energize you, and taking time to appreciate the good things in life make it all worthwhile, and who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh every once in a while? (more…)

Nine Business Lessons From Celebrities

If you pay attention, you can find inspiration and lessons that you can apply to your business everywhere you look…

  • Lance Armstrong: Be disciplined. No business will succeed without a lot of hard work and discipline. Commit to it. Stick with it. Eventually, you’ll reach your destination.

  • Paula Deen: Be yourself (and be bold about it). You will naturally succeed if you build a base of followers who are naturally attracted to your personality. Don’t worry about being liked by everybody. Just let your own unique personality shine through.

  • Mr. Rogers: Be positive. I can’t imagine making it in business without a whole lot of optimism.

  • Ellen Degeneres: Have fun. The daily grind, even when you work for yourself, can be dull at times. Doing something you love, surrounding yourself with clients and connections that energize you, and taking time to appreciate the good things in life make it all worthwhile, and who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh every once in a while?

  • Bill Cosby: Keep learning. I used to be so intimidated by what I didn’t know. But I’ve come to realize that such a list is endless, so I just continue to work at it, and I learn more and more each day about how to build a successful business.

  • Carol Burnett: Be creative. Sometimes you have to improvise. You figure it out, and you come to enjoy the journey.

  • Oprah: Build a platform. To succeed in business, you have to have a group of people who believe in you, who want to hear what you have to say, and who want to support you in everything you do.

  • Jim Carrey & Steve Carell: Don’t take it all so seriously. You’re going to mess up, and you will look silly on occasion. Learn to be OK with that.

  • Maya Angelou: Be resilient. Things will not always be easy, but if you refuse to give up and keep bouncing back, they manage to work themselves out.

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