The Heroic Dimensions of Trading

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The Heroic Dimensions of Trading

Brett N. Steenbarger, Ph.D.



For me, there's no better time than a long holiday weekend to step back and ask the big questions: those that deal with the meaning and significance of being a trader. These segments from my two books capture much of my sentiment on the topic.

"It is better to struggle in the service of one's dreams than to find instant success at meaningless work. The greatest joy in life, George Bernard Shaw once wrote, is being used for a purpose you recognize to be mighty. The greatest fields--those that are a calling and not a mere job--give one room to expand and develop oneself. There is only one valid reason for trading the markets, just as there is only one valid reason for being a psychologist, a dancer, or an architect: because it is your calling, the arena that best draws upon one's talents and passion for self-development." - The Psychology of Trading, p. 317.

"There are few arenas left in life where the independent individual can enact the heroic struggle...This, I believe is the eternal allure of the markets. With a reasonable stake and an online account, each person can undertake his or her own gold rush and enact the highest entrepreneurial quest. Like salmon that swim upstream to spawn, sperm that pursue the egg, and prospectors that dig for precious metal, many will be called and few chosen. It matters not. What matters is the dignity and the dimension of soul conferred by one's noblest impulses. It is not desirable to rule in hell or to serve in heaven; far preferable, to paraphrase Ayn Rand, is to fight for tomorrow's Valhalla in order to walk its halls today." - The Psychology of Trading, p. 318.

"Let us not forget what it means to be a trader. It means that I am free to own property: shares of a private company or contracts in a commodity. I can take delivery of my property and dispose of it as I wish, or I can trade it to others. My decisions are mine to make; I need not follow the dictates of those who would put other interests--those of gods, governments, or guns--above my own. If I lose, it is my loss. If I profit, the gain is mine...Without freedom, there is no trading. Trading is a celebration of economic and political freedom. Slaves are traded; they do not trade." - Enhancing Trader Performance, p. 253-4.

"What are we really developing when we train for expert performance in any domain? We develop skill and knowledge, to be sure, but we also develop more than that. We cultivate will: the ability to formulate goals and direct our actions toward reaching those goals. Every training session is a battle of will: a struggle to overcome our limitations and reach a particular performance goal...When you enhance your performance as a trader, you replace a small piece of randomness with intention. To that degree, your outcomes are self-determined. If you train yourself properly, you will become not only a successful trader, but a more self-determining human being." - Enhancing Trader Performance, p. 254-255.

[OAC]

Here is a picture of the Naked Cowboy today, one of NYC's biggest tourist attraction. He is heroic enough to stand out in the cold in his underwear for up to an hour at a time. The question is : Is he heroic enough to be a trader ?

[aiki14]

	Quote:	OAC
	Here is a picture of the Naked Cowboy today, one of NYC's biggest tourist attraction. He is heroic enough to stand out in the cold in his underwear for up to an hour at a time. The question is : Is he heroic enough to be a trader ?

The Museum of Natural History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Opera, The Empire State Building, The Naked Cowboy, The United Nations, Greenwich Village.
So many things to see in the Big Apple

I don't see trading as a heroic endeavor any more than any honest effort to do the right thing for ones family. Thinking of it as a heroic pursuit seems to me to put it in the realm of military service or the police or fire services, where ones life is on the line. I am satisfied to see it as a challenging vocation with the potential for very large reward. Over dramatizing it by calling it heroic serves to attract dreamers and gamblers, rather than those with discipline and a work ethic, who are much more likely to succeed at it.

As to the Naked Cowboy, he strikes me as marginally talented at best, a guy who needs some ridiculous gimmick to feed his desire to be noticed. Standing around Times Square in Briefs and Boots while disinterested New Yorkers pass by and gawking tourists snap photo's is hardly heroic. I'd say sad at best, and demented at worst. Just my opinion of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Cowboy