LETTING GO 01' [ MOTIONAL ITAT£5

'"
ufgreal riet,,,,,, S"ddt'nly, the calls SlUp and he w ill IIut b~ heard fru", ror a
",,,mh or ,nore <luring which Urne h~ has once again lus( ev~rytltil\g.
Why <lues a trader cnnllnoe to lose al] thai he mak"" in thl' markets
when his tal~m is as great or greater than {he best traders in Ihe field?
In Roy's case , he is perpetually Wldone by IUs unbridled greed. Strangely
enough, when Roy is poor. to .. is the ka>t !(re<'<Iy jm\i>;duai you will cver
",,...t, lie ",-<",Id happily give you tt,e shin from his back. WI",n he has no
p,or;pt'cts of having any '"Ollt'y , he will share ",'hate'-c' I' e has. lIuw">,,,r,
j,,-,t give llim the vision of rich"" in the future, and Roy rapidly I".""s al l
sense or propolti"". reality, and Sl'lf.fll-';ipli"e. I!e breaks all "f his uwn,
most cherished trading rules untillhere is nothUlg left to trade.
II would be possible to make the case that traders li ke Roy are simply
afraid of suc"""'" Of that th~y fN.'1 unworthy of succ""". Ho .... ~'·er. nothing
coutd be fulther fro", the troth i" Ruy's easc. Ruy tonos s,,~..,~-ss and l>c-
1ie~es d~... pty that he is wurthy uf i\- I" fact, he has puwerfut ",ulivati"g
i'MS"'; of himself In su~cf'1l.~ful siluation.• . Without ttol'Se powerful u"cun·
ow.iuU'l motivators, Roy would never have achieved the level of SUN.'es.< in
other fields that he has already achieved.
The problem is that Roy becomes pos.5('ssed by greed. It overtak"" him
with such POW~f ttom h ~ is una""ar~ uf tis hold "nd h~ is hdpl,.,." 10 fight il
,,"Iii it has takc" e~er)'lh;ng back. Ilfflpile all uf his best intenliun.s, Ruy is
Su"'"cpliblc h' greed's infe'..1iuus l",weT lu sidetrack his suCCe!!Ol.

Acwnllng to Ihe dictionary, greed l< "an overwhelming desi .... to have mo ....
of sumetl,ing such as money than is actually needed." IlUl what does thai
really mean for a trader? Is gre<-d simply an emotion like joy, d",;ire, grief,
Of angN? Docs it toave mOT~ of an influcnce on us than JUs! II transitury
fN.'itng Of d<'!lire?
Althuugh there is nu a,'ailabl" research un the biod"''''iSlry uf greed,
it is dcar (ita( greed has Ihe I",wer tu scnd a chemical rush through uS
tl~~t ~umI"'L. Us t" PUI asitle our ~ummon sense, our selk"n\r()I , anti our
humanity If other po"'enul emotional states create changes in our brains
and our hodies. thNe is w mpemng evidence in the beha,;or surrounding
gr<'ftl to suggest Ihat it doc" IlO as well.

" ,\ llil uf Gn'rd. '\lI~'unr'!" '

Must of liS k"uw traders, frienM, arId c"e" "'e",bers uf uur uwn family who
are "" highly ",,",«;eptihle It, addi~tions that they smoke. drink, gamhle, take