Last week I had part of a shocking experience that made me think about life and people in general. Most likely I'm never going to forget what I felt that day as it's still in my mind.
About two years ago (I think), I was fortunate enough to get a copy of a book written by a very respected trader, for free. If you're not familiar with this industry, legally issued books are very expensive and not exactly light reading material either. You need to pay a couple of $100 and study (yes, not just read it like a novel half asleep late night before bed) 400 - 500 pages and that is just one area or level, after which you can buy the next one and do it all over again.
Imagine my surprise when I saw the downloadable version for free, which was also lightweight compared to other books. Not to mention it was presented as "All You Need To Know". I said this is my lucky day, thinking I'm holding the key to success, so I downloaded the book, printed it out and started studying.
My initial enthusiasm kept me studying for a few days, but then somehow it required more and more effort to continue and the result was not directly proportional with the effort put in, so I pot the book aside and opted for other learning opportunities. The fact that the editing was extremely sloppy, the text was full of mistakes contributed as well, heavily, but the biggest problem was it felt like a lot was missing. This was not abandoning the idea of reading the book forever, just putting it aside for later. What I was hoping to change? I don't know, but life has confirmed it was the best decision I could make back then, regarding this book and my studies.
As I mentioned above, it's been around two years when this happened. During these two years I've been constantly studying and trading. Today I'm lucky to be trading live with a few exceptional traders a few times per week and learn from them. This is the most efficient way of learning in my opinion and the progress I've made is considerable.
Last week I thought it's time to take out the book again and continue studying to improve my knowledge because since then, most likely I've accumulated enough knowledge to understand it better. I started reading the book and ... had to realize this book is definitely not the key to success, not by far. Not even the base to start trading. Why you might ask.
Well, the person who wrote it is a master in trading and a respected name in the industry, so the knowledge he shared is legit, but far from enough. He simplified things the best way he could, but that doesn't mean a newbie would understand and would be able to apply it successfully. They would need to study much more in order to start trading.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming him as he did nothing wrong. He wrote a book, simplified things as he saw fit. I can only blame myself for hoping to be found an easier way to learn what is needed. This makes me no better than the good majority of the population. I'm not proud of it, but I'm glad I did not trust it with my life and looked for better options.
The truth is, there's a lot of written and video material out there, most of it is free as well, but no one is going to hand you over the key to success, not even in paid groups. You need to put in the work and find your edge, your way to success. The sad thing is, quite many won't do that, unfortunately. Some don't want to for the obvious reasons, while others just can't, because they are not capable.
This particular case made me think of how many people have lived all their lives without using their brain. (Yes, sounds brutal and I mean no offense here, but that's the truth.) They get hired, are shown what to do and how and some of them do that for decades, till they retire. No thinking is required as everything is given, all they have to do is execute. They get their paycheck and if not satisfied, the only thing they can do it blame others.
This type of behavior is common is communist and totalitarian countries, where you either do what you're told or else you get into trouble. This way people learn not to think at all, which can have serous consequences in time.
This is a very common human behavior and widespread as well. Expect to be given the key of success while making no effort. I can see this on Hive as well, quite often. I'm getting requests all the time, people expecting me to tell them exactly what to do to be successful (their word, not mine). I don't do mentoring as my time is limited. A couple of years ago I wrote a set of newbie guides, covering what I taught was important to know, those are still valid and available at the bottom of each post of mine.
What they don't realize is that those who started early at the legacy chain, started from scratch and literally built the platform up. No one knew what will work or what will not. There has been attempts, failed and successful ones as well. Just with everything in life, you try, you fail, you try again in a different way, fail, then try again changing what's not working and succeed.
Those who made history did not get where they are today by following others or expecting others to tell them what to do. They did something others didn't. This requires courage first of all. You need to go out of your comfort zone, accept potential failure and criticism, but most of all, a lot of hard work.
Most people want results, but not the process or the work needed to get the results. This is why those who are selling the key to success can make millions today. Naive people become tools in their hands and are used to finance their luxury lifestyle.
So where is the key to success hidden? In putting in the necessary work, learning what is needed, doing something new, extraordinary and becoming the best. There are no shortcuts, especially in trading. You most likely are going to lose a lot of money in the process, but every loss is a lesson, if you're willing to learn. I could go on an and on about this, but you can see the meaning.
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
