Chapter 7
The Internally Motivated Trader Part 1
Do you know what needs to be done to be successful, but cannot seem to force yourself to do it? Instead, do you find reasons and excuses to shift responsibility and blame? Do you feel worried, angry, and frustrated? Why do you feel badly about yourself ? What is happening here?
If you are having trouble maintaining your trading success, you may not be trading from the right set of motivations. Like most traders, you may not even be aware of the forces that propel you each day to succeed or fail.
Are you sitting at your computer from 6:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. motivated by:
- Fear that you will not be able to make your next mortgage payment?
- A burning desire to buy a new house or new expensive toy?
- The need to show your in-laws that you are able to make it as a trader?
- The need to move into your own office downtown?
If one of these sounds like your motivation, you are not motivating yourself for long-term success. When your motivation comes from forces outside of yourself, your life will be spent solving short-term problems or needs. It could be satisfying the desire to own or possess a particular thing, meeting the expectations of others, or responding to external conditions. But, once the external and/or short-term goals are met, your level of motivation will evaporate like fog in a hot sun leaving you motivationally adrift until another emergency occurs or you find another problem to solve or yearning to satisfy.
