A Labour of Love

Special Episode

Whilst slaving away over the last few weeks to get the discord ready, I’ve sacrificed many things, sleep, time with the kids, my wife and friends. I’m not telling you this so you feel sorry for me, I’m telling you this because strangely, I’ve enjoyed every minute of the work I’ve been doing.

A follower messaged me when I was tweeting about the discord and said that he was sure my work was a labour of love and he couldn’t be more right. But actually, anyone who makes it trading can relate to that sentence, everyone who “makes it” in anything, doesn’t make it because they’re the best, they make it because they love what they are doing more than anyone else around. Let’s look at some examples and see what we can learn:

Disclosure: As well as being a big Sopranos fan, I’m also a huge LOTR fan. JRR Tolkien was an English writer who is best known for creating the world of Middle-earth. He spent years working on his magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings, which is one of the best-selling novels of all time. But the important thing to know is what he loved, and how his passion allowed him to write such a wonderful canon. His work was driven by his passion for language and his love of mythology, he studied these things so deeply that eventually he created his own fork within it. He created a rich and detailed world with its own history, languages, and cultures. Tolkien’s labour of love has inspired generations of readers and writers from Game of Thrones to Harry Potter, all modern mythology has its roots in the work of JRR.

Away from fiction, many years ago I sadly lost my mother to cancer and now support the charity founded under Marie Curie’s name. Curie was a physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and she won the award twice! Her work was driven by her passion for science and her desire to improve the lives of others. She spent years studying the properties of radioactive materials, these very materials would slowly weaken her and take her life. But I’m doing so, she developed new techniques for using radiation to treat cancer. Her labour of love led to the development of new medical treatments and the discovery of new elements and to her, humanity will always be in debt.

The endeavours of these two wonderful human beings put them in a league of the top 1% of humans. But that shouldn’t be our goal, the top 10% will do for us, because that’s what you need to be in order to be a successful day trader. 90% never find success in this game, and the truth is 90% never deserve to find that success, because for them, it’s about the money and not the labour of love that comes with being the 10%.

Success in anything is not a destination, it's a journey and 90% of you don’t want to be on the journey, you just want the destination - that’s why you fail.

In many different fields, only a small percentage of people achieve success. For example, only 1% of athletes become professional, only 10% of businesses become profitable, and 10% of day traders become consistent. What do these successful people have in common?

They all have a passion for what they do. They are not just in it for the money or the fame. They love what they do and they are willing to put in the hard work to be the best.

One of my favourite books is Malcolm Gladwell’s outliers. In it, he explores the factors that contribute to success. He argues that success is not just about talent, but also about opportunity and hard work. He cites the example of professional hockey players, who are more likely to be born before January or February the reason for this is because they then become the oldest children in their school, and in being so, they have the physical advantage over their peers from the get-go. Add to this a child that knows how to work hard and does so because he loves it, and suddenly you have a budding professional hockey player. It sounds simple, but Gladwell uses the birth data of hockey players to really make his point.

Gladwell also argues that success requires a certain amount of luck. He cites the example of Bill Gates, who was born into a wealthy family and had access to a computer at a time when most people didn't. This gave him a huge advantage in the early days of the computer industry.

Of course, talent is also important but Gladwell argues that talent is only a starting point, you also need opportunity. It's what you do with this talent and opportunity that matters. He cites the example of the Beatles, who were all talented musicians, their style of music and an era of a developing global culture gave them an opportunity but they also worked incredibly hard to become as successful as they did.

So, what do the 10% of people who achieve success have in common? They all have talent, but they also have opportunity and know what hard work looks like. They are also willing to make sacrifices and they are not afraid of failure.

My favourite quote from the book is this:

"The world is not a level playing field. Some people get dealt a bad hand. But what separates successful people from the rest is how they play the cards they're dealt."

So, I want to welcome you all to our discord, it is a place where those of you who treat this endeavour as a labour of love will find success, if you bring your determination and embrace the journey.

You have my levels, you have access to me, in each club you have access to some of the most hard working traders who are all committed to trying to make it. This is your opportunity. But it’s not going to happen overnight, or in a matter of days or months, it will take years and it will be slow and it will be painful.

Are you ready for the hard labour?

Will you fall in love with it?

PW.

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