Just as children gradually grow into adulthood by moving through various stages, traders also go through a developmental process. As part of an aspiring trader’s journey, there usually comes a time when one seeks out a mentor. This need arises when a trader realizes that it is impossible to learn trading from a book. Why should that be the case?
We learn a lot from watching others do what we are ready to learn. Infants and small children learn the nuances of physical activity via mirror neurons in the brain, which promote copy-cat behavior. (You probably learned to put a spoon in your mouth from watching someone else do it.) And mirror neurons still operate in your brain today.
If you watch sports on TV your mirror neurons take in all sorts of information about how you could mimic the viewed behavior. As a tennis player, I notice this Mirror Effect all the time. Seriously, my game does get better from sitting on the couch and watching Tennis Channel.
There is a ‘right way’ to put a spoon in your mouth or walk, or balance on a skateboard. However, there is no universally correct way to trade. Although you will most likely learn important things from copying any mentor you happen to choose, it is highly unlikely that your mentor will trade in exactly the way you need to trade. Why is that?
I believe our personality influences how we see the market, how we define opportunity, how we define risk, and how we manage risk/reward in a live trade. And because you and I are unique individuals, there IS one right way for you to trade and it’s simply YOUR WAY. Finding your particular, unique Way (Tao) is the job of every trader who aspires to be a professional.
But don’t get me wrong. There are objective things you need to know and skills you need to practice. But how you integrate all these elements into a coherent trading method is a very personal process. To offer a simple and quick example: The amount of detail you require to make a confident trading decision is entirely personality-dependent. Some people require little and others require a lot.
Consequently, if your mentor is not a “detail person,” and you are, there will be a mismatch. Because he or she is your mentor, you will disregard and minimize the differences. But in the end, you will not be able to trade that method successfully.
Do you make snap judgments? Then you are not a detail person. That’s a simple test. And to discover much more about your own trader personality visit the link below where you can take a free profile and get instant results.
http://www.daytradingpsychology.com/aware-trader-personality-profile/
