Sunday, April 5, 2009

The Weekend Trader - "Guest" Poster

I've said before that some of the greatest insight on this site is provided by traders and other onlookers subsequently commenting in response to my initial post, and I continue to encourage readers to scroll back through recent posts to catch some of the dialogue.

In today's case, I'll let James' comment to yesterday's "Life After 40" post serve as some final weekend inspirational thoughts.

*****

Don,

I’m 61, so I’m on the back nine of life approaching, let’s say, the eleventh green. My front nine was pretty good, but if I’m going to keep it together coming in, I’ve got to pay attention to what’s working for me now. The odds are this will be different from what was working for me going out.

First, know the difference between what’s important and what is not. Then don’t waste time on the latter. After all, we’re not as fresh as we were earlier in the game and our resources are more limited to cope with its ongoing challenges.

Second, if you hit it into the tall grass and have to improvise to get back into play, remember what you did to recover and do it again. Then do it again and again until maybe you’re confident enough to try something new for the fun of it. Remember, though, the game is ending, not beginning, so never lose sight of the simple shots, the ones saving you to begin with.

Third, accept the fact you don’t have the same skills you used to. For sure you can’t hit the ball as far. But you still can be terrific around the greens. KISS. It’s a whole different game when you’re playing off the short grass not swinging for the bleachers hitting it out all the time. You might even win net.

That’s how it is at my stage, still interested and still playing within my abilities as I head for the clubhouse, the big trading room in the sky.

*****

Well said.

Enjoy a restful Sunday.

1 comment:

Charlie G. said...

Don,

This comment and your "Life After 40" post were very appro for me. In my 39th year, I made my first stock trade just last October. As I consider becoming a trader at this stage in my life (now only paper trading), lots of things emerge beyond the challenges of learning how to be a good trader (which is a great hurdle in itself).

I have young children (3 and under); and this would be a major career change from working in a nonprofit sector all my life. I'm comforted that maybe I will be hitting my stride in the next decade, from what you wrote. I definitely know I would of made a lousy trader in my 20s and early 30s. I work for myself from home with a consulting business, and this gives me flexibility. But my next steps is transitioning to part-time trading with real money. I'm struggling with how much time and resources I should invest with it, but I don't have to figure out all today. Thanks for reminding me I'm a baseball player with my biological clock setting!