ogSTACUS TO " KOldlN{; A to<' tRADE R

he claimed. "If I could only acl on my own ad,-;c", I would be a mulli·

milllonair("~· Jack dearly felt thaI il was Important for me to I>e aware of
thIS detail b<"Caust" he r("I",,,,,"<I it many lim{"5l>elw","n his slories.
As a lrader"s c<.>ach, I hav~ heard stories like Ihis ",any {i","", owr
(tIe y~3fs. Th~y are a co",mo" Ih~,"~ of ])t"oplc s,uck in Ihe loop of o,·"r·
studying and ,"·N.analyzing. Th..se ri.~k-ave"", analYSL~ would mlher ha"e
oth"rs act Oil t.heir prediction" and l",ar the risk thall take actiun and re-
sponsib,lity Ih"mS<!lves. Aft"r the fact. th"y can cherry pIck Ihe stori"s
about being right on forecasts of big Irddcs wilhout assuming Ih" risk Ih("m'
8<.'1""S, COll"elllently, they n("gl.-cl 10 indude "tori .... aoout when their pre-
dil"tion~ were wrong a"d ,.,ould hav" lost "'oney.
Jack <k'Sp"mtcly needed 10 ""courag.· hi",self pluS win adulalion a"d
applaus" from nlhers wilh his Slortes. I; nf",tunalely. the Siories were all
thaI he had 10 show for his hard work, Jack did work hard-the problem
was thaI he did nUl work sman. Jack wallled 10 find a new and innovative
shoncul 10 t.rading success WIthout ha,ing to do whal lop Ir<>d"I>! dn to
b<"Com(" successful
Sandwich!"(1 l>t'1."'"'e" his se lf,pro,"oting I.rading Slori.." were s,,,ries
Ihal r,,"cak"(1 Jack's "U ... , side. These slories ren"al ..d ,he Jack wh" was
andwred in negativ" h~l~wi"rs from a self.inlliCI~I. rlifficult life. Th..se
swries told of drug and alcohol abuse, high advcntu .... , macho choices,
mowrcycl" crashes, sleepless nights, poor nutnti"n, brok"n relationshIps,
and brok"n h~mts, For Jac k, Ih<'S<" ~tori{"S represe",~"<1 conch.IS"'" ,,'id~J\ce
of 1m! unique ability (0 take nsks in OIher areas of h'" life. Natumlly, he
fail"d tu ",Ial~ this self·sabotaging b"ha"ior w his inabilily 10 r"lIow his
Iradi"g rok.".
II<>w co uld a man give up hig Slories when his selt.pl"f'S("rvation and
i<lemily was so dependent upon Ihen,? Jack 's stories w",," extremely int"r-
esling initiallY, Their <lranla and imensil), mad" his !lfe a high ad,'emu,,",
But when you he in your ima,o:ination wllh such an inte, ...... slale of "m,,""
lion, Ihe ordlllary becomes bonng, Would new sWnffl aoout a lrader fol·
lowing his ",Ies aud making "'''''cr r",nl IhO<Se rull'" be """ugh I" suslai "
his ego?

\lOHI-; . -' ISln' Sl'OHIIlS

JOCk's life is not uI\;que. Mauy IrJdeffl 1I:l.\"e sturi!." I.hal ex]!lain Iheir fail·
ures an<l Iheir successes. The Slories thaI explain SUCCI'SS"" are g",,,,ra]ly
positi"e anchors, ""en if thcy result fl"<>l\\ adversily and lo".~. Traders who
have lransfomled adversity and loss into success have c .... at"d thelf own
holy grail or sec .... t formula for SUCC'-'Sll. The lrati«rs who hase a story