TM Pria of Holding on to Your Srori~<

JlI.~lifying
t!teir failurP to S"tteed have t!teir uwn magic f"nnula fo, con·
liHUe<! fadllrP Lefs take a look at six of the generie failllrP slories:

I. I run the \;et;m of (an utc'<Crupuloll.~, a ,ll.lwnest, rut incoml"'tent, an

overpric<.>d, a poorly t""t<.>d, an undcHesearche<!) ad,;""r, newslel·
leT, system, system d""igner, tradmg px<'Curion service, broker, t""lIng
service ,
l , I would haV(' b<>en a brilham suec""" had T not missed that single big
tmde, which slancd Ihe who)e d<'Cline in my tmdmll, h would not havc
happenNl (excepl rOT the bad day I had, the divorce, Ihc flaw;n my
system, the sudden aud u"e ' pt"ClL"<l tun, ;n \I".
,uarkee or ru<y of the
v;eh",;,;ng factors in the pn."';o"" slory).
:1, My "iff'lllll..b"nrVmothu/fatherlsignilkant othu ha.~ been sal)(>t.~ging
my trading and T ha"e no control owrlhem ,
,I, I have I"",n pennanently lraumatiz"" by something that happen<.>d In
my past (a loss, an act of ,'iolenee or ootrayal , an abandonment).
~. I was lraine<! to dea] wIth a (bu ll markel., bear «larker , volatile market,
static mar ket, lloor trading room , institutional trading room, home of·
fiee, or shared electronic off·lhe·lloor office) and once thing. change<!,
I Ita"c nCWT I>N'n able to find m)' rhythm <lJ!am,
6 . r w"," makinJI money hm,d over fist whe" J fI"'t sian"" trading and
something happen ...1 (a loss, a chauge, a mi~ta~e, a fa;lu .... 10 folio'"
my troding ntl",,) and e"~ryU'ing has l>et-n downhill since then_

ThiS is a sampling of Ihe generic failur~ Slori"" Ihal a .... capable of

d~..,ply St-lling a neg,~li\'c anchor ",hen theyart' \old o'-er and over again_
Thest' are nol jusl r,sh Slories; they are lishy Slori..s. They Stup ringing lrue
after Ihe second retelling. Professional traders expect to deal with los."""
and reversals, changes in the markets or trading: structure, Interruplions,
and other negative events that appear on the screen, instead of using these
ewnts or mfJuene{'S as excu",-'!! for failure. profcssional traders look for
",,1 utio"".

I.I, TTI\:.; .;0 \ 'I-:KSI.S KI-: U .I .\ '

I ..,TTI".; .;0

Washington r"ing, the father of the American shon story, was engag""
to marry a ocautiful young woman who was thc love of h'" life. She diNt
suddenly in the days b<>forc their weddinJI· This trd~edy affecled Inm ""
profoundly thai he never ,nanit'{l . Laler, he eonfellSt-<J 10 a friend thai he