Trading for Everyone by Adam Hamilton (Part 7)

Trading builds honor and integrity like few other things can. Why? You are completely at the mercy of your own decisions. When you make a trade that doesn’t work out, and it happens often as losing is a major part of trading, you have no one to blame but yourself. Sadly we live in an era where personal responsibility and accountability are dying, people prefer to blame others for their own poor decisions. But when trading you have no choice but to be fully responsible and accountable. Nourishing these positive traits greatly impacts all areas in your life and relationships for the better.

Trading hones diligence and perseverance, maybe the most important life skills of all. Like life, trading has many setbacks so opportunities to get discouraged are legion. But if you stick with it, keep your nose to the grindstone for months, then years, and then decades, you will succeed. The single most-important ingredient for success is to simply stubbornly keep doing something until you naturally learn enough to get good at it! Most elite traders, CEOs, athletes, or any professionals became that way not because they had advantages up front, but simply because they never gave up despite the inevitable setbacks.

Incredibly, trading also helps you socially! Not only does its built-in achievement bolster self-confidence, it makes you more interesting to everyone you meet. Over the decades I’ve talked one-on-one with many hundreds, maybe thousands, of people about trading stocks. And 99% of them are utterly fascinated by the prospect. And who wouldn’t be? The markets are endlessly fascinating, and the allure of divorcing income earned from time on task is great. It is really fun sharing what you are doing in the markets with others, helping them see and seize the same stock opportunities you are.

If you are a parent, I’m sure you want your kids to excel in all these critical life traits. Trading is a great way to teach them! Start your kids out young, it’s easy and fun. When you take them out to their favorite restaurant, talk with them about the process of getting the food to their plates. Tell them about all the workers from the farmers to the truckers to the cooks, who labor hard and earn a profit for their part in the food chain. If the restaurant is publicly-traded, explain to your kids that they can own a small piece of this business themselves!