Bob - excellent post and I'm glad you brought this subject up. I think your post raises the most important subject for investing / trading / in fact, life. I'd like to share my thoughts on this subject.
I am a big believer in personal accountability.
I believe that "I" make or attract what happens to me. Its not someone or something else's fault. I do not blame anyone but myself for things that go wrong, and I'm happy to take credit for things that go right. Also willing to acknowledge when a fluke happens to, but hey, I attracted that fluke!
I refuse to be a "victim".
Cruising through Yahoo, in particular, and many threads on SI -- its easy to spot people that aren't accountable for their own lives and actions. They try to argue a stock up or down. They moan about how management is posting enough press releases or doing anything to support them and their stock. They fight amoung themselves.
They use crutches. I agree with you 100% that many people will use new gadgets, stock picking newsletters, and other people as crutches. These crutches are really an extension of the personal accountability issue I mentioned -- Blame it on my tool, the newsletter, that person its not *my* fault!.
They are and have made themselves victims.
Much of the world revolves on that particular merry-go-round, not just traders and investors. When someone talks about a difficult situation they are/have gone through, listen for the verbal clues "you" vs "I" as to whether, at their core, they feel they are in control of the situation and are accountable for their own actions. Example of someone relating an unpleasant experience to another:
You feel bad, when someone does that to you, it just is the most terrible thing. When someone hurts you like that, you don't know what to do. Your world is turned upside down.
As opposed to:
I feel bad, this pain I feel really is terrible. She hurt me, and I don't know what to do. My world is upside down now.
Sounds different, doesn't it? Not suggesting the "I" version means this person is a-ok healthy, but its a damn sight better putting that "I" into all that emotion instead of hiding behind that "you".
Most often people drag the "you" out only for bad or unpleasant situations, and when the sun shines, "I" is trotted out proudly. People use "you" instead of "I" or "me" more often than you'd believe!
(Pretty sure Monica Lewinsky used a bunch of "you" words during her interview the other night. I caught a few minutes to check that out.)
I believe that I am strongly attracted to the markets because nothing, absolutely nothing, other than myself, stands in my way of making money in the markets.
Earlier in my life I did not have this clear sense of personal accountability. If I had been drawn to the markets then, I am positive that I would have fallen into every trap you outlined and others I've seen.
What a world of difference the change has made in my personal and professional life.
[soapbox mode off] |
