A Tale of an Old Man, a Boy and a Donkey.

Have you heard the tale of the old man, the boy and their donkey?

An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they plodded along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people who remarked: “What a shame, he makes that little boy walk.” They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story?

There are a few that are relevant to trading and investing but I want to focus on one in particular.

You see, everyone has their own perspective. We do, after all, swim in our own pool of personal logic.

This is a good thing because if we all mirrored each other it would be a boring old world to live in.

And nobody would make money.

However, issues arise when we are swayed by too many perspectives from too many people. It sucks us into the Beginners Cycle. It lures us away from what we set out to do. It confuses, complicates, and distracts.

You lose confidence. You lose money.

In trading, if you try to do everything, you might as well… kiss your ass good-bye.

Instead, become good at one thing. Trading one specific pattern. Following a single proven system. Trading a trend. Anything.

But importantly just make it one thing. Do it well. Do it long enough so you become completely proficient in it.

And turn off all the other idle noise and chatter.

When you become good at that one thing, when it becomes second nature and you thoroughly enjoy the experience of using it and profiting from it, only then should you move to the next.