Trading And Being A Magician

There’s a big difference between knowing how to trade and becoming a professional, full-time, consistently-profitable trader.

I liken it to being a professional magician.

A lot of people think that just because you’ve learnt a card trick or two, you are now a professional magician.

They think that being a magician is all about “knowing all the secrets”.

That’s hardly the case.

With YouTube these days, anyone can learn the secrets to a few card tricks in less than ten minutes.

However, does that necessarily enable you to earn a living as a full-time magician?

Hardly.

There’s so much more you need to master in order to perform magic full-time:

• Practise until your presentation chops are almost perfect (this may take months or even years)
• Develop an entire act with multiple complete routines (a routine is a much more elaborate presentation as opposed to just a simple trick, and each routine can last up to ten minutes or more)
• Develop a unique style or persona that you are comfortable with (some are funny, some are sophisticated, some are quirky, some are mysterious)
• Train yourself to be able to perform confidently, without fear or anxiety (this takes lots of performing experience and can’t be acquired in just a short time)
• Network and build up your contacts so as to get consistent, well-paying gigs (without anyone hiring you, you can’t make any money)
• Learn to deal with mishaps or unforeseen circumstances, such as tricks going wrong or hecklers in the audience (again, this all comes with lots of experience)
• Building up consistency and bringing your A-game to every single gig, week in and week out

In the same way, being a full-time trader is not just a matter of “learning the right strategy”.

There is so much more to that, such as:

• Having a complete, fully thought-out strategy encompassing entry, trade management and profit-taking
• Practising your trades until you can execute them flawlessly according to your full strategy
• Learning to block out emotions and not let fear, anxiety or FOMO affect your execution (this is extremely hard to do)
• Being disciplined and consistent as a trader
• Learning to manage risk competently
• Being able to excel in all market conditions