Practice Makes Perfect

July 29, 2010

We are very pleased to announce that Sinan is our special guest speaker at November’s workshop in Spokane, Washington. Twenty lucky students will learn advanced trading techniques along with how to carry them out stress free. Here is Sinan’s newest post!

Enjoy,

Cody Jones

Take any person, successful in their field, be it trading, sports, music, medicine or acting. When you watch them go about their craft, it seems effortless and easy to do. When you attempt to do it yourself, it is not as easy as it looks. You are off the mark, clumsy, neither smooth nor elegant. It is easy to then dismiss the whole exercise by saying: “Well they have talent, I don’t”. But is that really so? Take Roger Federer, Michael Jordan, Meryl Streep or Warren Buffet. Did any one of them have a shortcut to success? Or do they owe their success to countless hours of practice?

When you are learning a skill, like trading, you are bound to make mistakes. If you believe that talent or genetics play a role in becoming good at a skill, you are likely to give up, when faced with hardships or mistakes. “I haven’t got it” is an easy way out. If on the other hand you believe that practice is the key to success, you are likely to conclude: “I need more practice”.

You need regular practice to get good at trading (and any other skill). You also need to continue practicing to maintain your skill. Rachmaninoff, one of the finest pianists of his day has said: “If I do not practice for one day, I notice. If I do not practice for two days, my friends notice. If I do not practice for three days, my audiences notice.” No wonder he was the best in his day.

Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers, The Story of Success” covers the journey of many top professionals from Bill Gates to The Beatles, a good resource if you want more information on how practice makes perfect.

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Sinan Koray

Email me at sinan@tradingstressfree.com

www.tradingstressfree.com

Filed under: Sinan Koray — cody @ 9:48 pm

Comments (1)

Introducing Sinan Koray!

June 30, 2010

I would like to introduce our new friend, Sinan Koray, to the W.D. Gann blog. Sinan is an experienced trader, technical analyst, and emotional mastery counsellor. He is an asset to our team and will begin making regular blog postings here. Feel free to email him with questions and visit his website.

Enjoy,

Cody Jones

Why do markets go up slowly and come down in a hurry?
Why does it take months – sometimes years to build trust and only a moment to destroy it?
Why do we lose weight so slowly but put it back almost in an instant?
How can someone cutting you off on the highway instantly get you to melting point?
How come it takes days, weeks, or months to win a customer, but one wrong answer at the wrong time can undo all of that relationship building?
How can some people gamble away their life savings in hours at a casino table?

The answer to all of the above is the same: Emotional intensity.

It is intensity of fear that sends markets tumbling down. Fear is much more intense than the confidence or greed that makes the markets go up. Trust is built incrementally through moments of closeness, courage, and vulnerability. Loss of trust on the other hand goes hand in hand with betrayal, anger, vengeance, and vindictiveness.

Is it doom and gloom? Is there no way out? Are we locked into the cycles of long and laborious efforts being wiped out by a few short days?

No, no, no.

You start by recognising what is going on in your mind. No put downs, no shoulds, no musts, no “you did it again”s. You simply recognise what is happening within you. Then you release it. This is as simple as expressing your inner dynamics. This can be done by making some sounds, moving your body, exercise, meditation, prayer, or some ritual that will allow you to purge these feelings. Then you re-focus on where you want to go, where you want to be, what you want to do. When you name your dragons (the need the drive for emotional intensity), they lose their power.

Sinan Koray

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