Setting Goals at Trading and Investing
What good is a map if you don’t know where you want to go?
What good is a map if you know where you want to go, but you don’t know where you are now?
The first thing you must have is a GOAL or TARGET and compelling reasons WHY you want to get there. You must have STRONG reasons to develop a burning desire for achieving your goals… and a burning desire and strong reasons are what will give you strength in times of difficulty or tribulation.
Secondly, you need to know where you are. Otherwise it’s hard to get to where you want to go if you don’t know what you need to change/improve. Self-awareness and self-honesty are critical.
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” – Lewis Carroll
Self awareness is a vital issue, but I want to focus on your GOALS as a trader and investor in this post.
You have to know where you are going. You have to know what you want. And you have to put back of that want a BURNING desire.
A burning desire is the fuel for your journey. As with anything worth accomplishing in life, the path to reaching your goal or target is NEVER a straight line. Trading the markets consistently and profitably is such a destination. The ability to pull consistent income and build consistent wealth from the markets is a highly coveted ability. And because it is so lucrative and so freedom-giving the Universe makes it something that is challenging for most to achieve.
If the journey is easy or straight, your rewards will be paltry because anyone can have that ‘reward’. And besides, how boring would your life be if all you did was go after easy things and never failed? How fun would life be if you never had a challenge or a setback?
I remember back when I played baseball that one of my favorite things was taking on a team that was in front of us in the standings, or a team that maybe only had a few losses and we were meeting them for the first time. The games were intense and exciting to play in. Often the pitchers were more talented and so you would get less hits – but the game would be so much more fun than a 20-2 boat race. Each little aspect of the game became so magnified… but I remember feeling so ALIVE at these games.
So pause to reflect and EMBRACE your past challenges and your current challenges… .and the ONES that will INEVITABLY come as you move forward and gain more skill and prowess in this investing and trading game. A lot of times we try to fool ourselves and think we have personally evolved to a point where we will no longer face challenges in our lives and in our occupations – but if you are growing and getting better, then you will face challenges.
“Welcome Every Experience.” – Jim Rohn
One great metaphor I’ve heard of is about ants. Ants will FIND A WAY. Next time you see a train of ants going in a direction put your foot in front of their path. What do they do? Go over your foot? Go around? I know they do not turn back and go the way they came… at least none of the ants I’ve seen.
And I haven’t met an ant yet that stopped, sat down on a grain of sand and started crying about how the Universe is unfair and this challenge is BS and why does this stuff always happen to him and life is so hard and…
But hey, maybe the ants are special in my neck of the woods. Check it out in your neck of the woods and see. The point being is that I’m sure we’ve all met at least one person who melts down and gives up at the first sign of resistance or challenge.
Be like the ant. Define your Goal and Target, visualize achieving it, back it with burning desire and excitement, and you will simply AMAZE yourself.
Tom Willard has over 15 years of trading and investing experience and he trains and teaches others to make money consistently in the markets through simple and powerful techniques.
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