Chapter 11
Turning Your Trading into a Business
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
—Bill Cosby
When asked the question “What do you want to do with your life?” as a youngster, most of us would reply “Fly to the moon!” or “Drive racecars!,” a far more popular response than emphatically responding, “Work for The Man!”
But no matter our initial intentions, the unpopular answer is the more common outcome. After a while, we see the question about our dreams as no longer relevant, as if the opportunity to dictate our professional futures were as fleeting as our youth. Of course, it becomes increasingly more difficult to make a professional change as we become entrenched in our fields. But if, when posed the question, we begin salivating over the thought of independence and emphatically answer “Trade for a living!,” then with a little motivation and guidance, we can make this dream into a reality. Trading for a living is the ultimate independent business, and it’s a lot more profitable, and safer, than racecar-driving night school.
This chapter illustrates the basic process of turning your trading into a business. I will offer you some simple mantras, guidelines, rules, and examples to get you started in your trading career.
LEARNING THE DOLLAR
“You need money to make money,” was the mantra by which my father traded. This translated into an almost pathological sense of frugality; my father squirreled away almost every ...
