Discover Your Talents

I read a lot of stuff. Some good, some bad, and a lot of in between. While my interests are focused primarily on the market, I do monitor a number of motivational speakers. There are times that they bring something to the table that I think is both worth thinking about and which I believe may be helpful for those who desire to make the markets their profession.

Dr. Zimmerman sends out a Tuesday's Tip newsletter every week and this week's edition offers some insight. Zimmerman basically offers a two-step approach worthy of anyone looking to better themselves in the coming year. Even those of us who are extremely fortunate to be doing what we love, these questions are still helpful to the aspiring trader/investor who is seeking an edge in the market.

First Step: Take stock of where you're at.

Any smart person takes a periodic look at how well he's doing in all the various parts of his life. He gathers the data and makes adjustments when necessary. He doesn't "wing it." So get out a paper and pencil. Think about your life during the last 12 months. Ask yourself the following questions, and write out your answers. You'll probably find some areas of your life are in great shape while others are suffering:

• Am I better off now than I was this time last year?

• Am I happier now than I was this time last year?

• What goals did I achieve in the last 12 months?

• Which goals did I fail to achieve but wish I had?

• How does my financial portfolio look compared to last year?

• How satisfied am I with my salary, wages, or profits?

• What progress have I made in my career?

• How am I doing in terms of promotion?

• How good are my relationships with my boss? Coworkers? Customers?

• How fulfilled do I feel?

• Am I growing fast enough?

• How has my personal life changed? For the better or worse?

• How is my relationship with my spouse/partner? With my children? With my friends?

• Have I done the things I wanted to do with my time?

• Have I changed some habits that need changing?

With things written out in black and white, you'll be able to spot the imbalances in your life. You'll know where you need to focus your personal growth.

Second Step: Discover your talents.

This is the part of the approach that I think has a significant application to those who decide to make the markets their profession. As we learned from Dr. Brett Steenbarger last year , one of the most important things for traders is the ability to develop a strategy that fully captures a person's talents.

As consultant Faith Ralston says, "Focusing on talents is not a luxury. It's the key to thriving in today's economy. The old rules aren't working anymore. We can't wait around hoping others will recognize or reward us. To thrive, we've got to recognize our talents and connect them to business results." Unfortunately, the losers in life dismiss their talents. They say, "There's nothing special about me. I'm not particularly good at anything. I'm rather ordinary." Other losers fail to see their talents. They overlook the riches right beneath their noses.

By contrast, the winners in life recognize their talents, their gifts, and natural strengths. And they find ways to use their talents because when they use their talents, they feel energized during the day and fulfilled at the end of the day. If you haven't figured out your talents, or if you're still in the process of doing so, ask yourself these questions:

• What are you already good at?

• What activities do you enjoy the most at work? At home? Or in any social situation?

• What would you choose to do -- even if no one was paying you to do it?

• What do others see as your talents? Ask 10 people to list 10 talents they see in you. With your list of 100 items, see which ones get repeated the most?

Matching your own personal talents with your personal approach and strategy toward the market is very important. In my experience, people fail because they never find a way to do this. Clearly, for some, it is more difficult than others. After watching so many people never find their way, I think those who strongly advocate that new traders spend at least a year or two just exploring various different trading approaches and strategies before they marry any one approach is more important than many realize. Most try to short-cut the system - latching on to a strategy they've learned from others without understanding the importance of developing an approach that takes their own personality, skills, and talents into full consideration.

As many of you know, my talents rest in being a good researcher and an uncanny ability to sift through volumes of information very quickly. Both this website and my strategies are reflective of that. Also, being a person who tends to be patient and calm, even under tremendous stress, helps quite a bit as well. Likewise, my personality traits also work against me. For example, I don't trade as aggressively as I should or could because I'm not an aggressive person by nature. I tend to concentrate on what I can lose versus what I can gain at all times and that limits my success.

We all have traits and talents that can be our best friend and enemy as far as the market is concerned. The goal, of course, is not to change these things but to understand ourselves, identify our goals, and discover ways to capture our talents the most. These will ultimately become the building blocks of your success no matter what you do.