This isn’t Kansas anymore.

Trading is harder than it appears and once we realize that fact, we naturally seek out education and advice. Good advice can be found everywhere. Anyone who has paid sufficient dues has kernels of wisdom to impart. Moreover, there are some truly awesome Trading Wizards around who will absolutely dazzle you with their brilliance.   

Chances are, however, that the person you ask advice from will give you the information that he or she would have wanted (and needed) to receive when they were first starting out. But you are not him or her.

Good advice, even from the very best traders, has its limitations because trading is such a personal quest. In a decade of coaching traders, I’ve never met two individuals who trade in exactly the same way, even if they are using the same software! We all know that the personality variations even among closely related individuals are often striking.

So would the advice really help you? I have my doubts. Moreover, I find that most traders have a hidden agenda that has nothing to do with making money; it’s actually an agenda toward personal growth and it makes one’s path unique. Let me explain.

Trading presents us with the conditions in which we are forced to develop traits and abilities that are latent, disowned or otherwise under-developed… or else we fail. 

THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

This concept may sound overly psychological, but I assure you it is mainstream. Take, for example, The Wizard of Oz, which is based on a novel written in 1900. The Tin Man, the Lion and the Scarecrow each lacked an essential character trait and in the course of their journey to Oz they faced challenges that enabled them to reclaim their lost parts.

LOOK IN THE MIRROR

So ask yourself: Why are you trading, really? To answer, look at what is difficult for you. Discipline? Admitting you are wrong? Risk taking? Patience? Planning? Whatever is truly challenging for you points directly at your personal developmental task. The more you can recognize this hidden agenda, the faster you will integrate the missing piece…and profits will naturally follow.

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Join Kenneth Reid, a trading coach, each Wednesday on TraderPlanet for The Dr. Is In column. Leave your questions for Reid below.