Post feedFriday....Let's Get Something Started Already!
Before I get an in depth post going, I wanted to share a quick story. Sorry for not posting until after the market has closed, but I am finding my Friday's are becoming the busiest day of the week. Funny thing is...I don't teach on Fridays!
Here is the story...
I was interviewing Jeter to help me better prepare minor leaguers for the shift from Columbus, OH, to NYC. We were making a video to show younger players.
“Derek, how does a young guy coming into Yankee Stadium to play for the Yankees deal with the pressure?”
His answer dropped my jaw. Here’s why.
A year prior I was watching a playoff game where the Yankees were down a run late in the game. They had a man on second and Jeter came to the plate. He settled into his stance and started waving the bat around, much more than a major league guy normally does.
“He looks like a Little Leaguer,” I said to myself. But not just any Little Leaguer, a total stud. If you played you may recall the stud hitter that everyone knew could totally jack the ball. When he got
to the plate the defense swallowed hard. And that kid got up to the plate confidence was radiating off of him. When he got in the box he waved his bat around menacingly, telling the world he couldn’t wait to rip the next sacrificial offering. It looked like fun and everyone wanted to be that kid.
That’s how Jeter looked. Except he was now in the Big Leagues, playing in the playoffs. The whole season was on the line. The crowd was going wild. The tension was thick in the playoff air. The emotion dripping off the moment one pitch at a time.
And Jeter looked like a Little Leaguer having fun.
Flash forward to my interview with him…
“Well,” he says, “the big thing is to have fun. That’s how you handle pressure.”
“Come on,” I said, “with tens of thousands of people yelling, your results posted in the paper every day, your every move watched and scrutinized, and you say have fun?”
“Yes. It’s just like Little League [that’s when my jaw dropped]. It’s the same game I’ve always played and always loved. It’s fun. Sure it’s challenging, but that’s part of the fun.”
Me: “Even with 50,000 people yelling and screaming.”
DJ: “The more people, the more fun.”
Jeter is able to maintain the perspective that the game is fun. Most players I coach come to me when they’ve lost that. It’s become work. A job. A test of self-esteem. A measure of self-worth. It’s become who they are.
Stress occurs in us when we perceive a threat to us or to something we love. It may be a threat to our physical body, like a cancer diagnosis. Or it may be a threat to our emotional body, like getting yelled at by our boss.
Jeter avoids stress because he doesn’t perceive game situations as threatening. He sees them as challenging. One perception creates tension, fear, doubt, choking . The other creates freedom, relaxation, and top performance.
Question for you...Why do you trade? There are lots of ways to make a lot of money. Even more ways to make enough money.
One of the traders’ greatest challenges is to remember why he or she got into trading in the first place, and keep a perspective on it that minimizes the perception of threat.
What’s fun about trading?
Here is the story...
I was interviewing Jeter to help me better prepare minor leaguers for the shift from Columbus, OH, to NYC. We were making a video to show younger players.
“Derek, how does a young guy coming into Yankee Stadium to play for the Yankees deal with the pressure?”
His answer dropped my jaw. Here’s why.
A year prior I was watching a playoff game where the Yankees were down a run late in the game. They had a man on second and Jeter came to the plate. He settled into his stance and started waving the bat around, much more than a major league guy normally does.
“He looks like a Little Leaguer,” I said to myself. But not just any Little Leaguer, a total stud. If you played you may recall the stud hitter that everyone knew could totally jack the ball. When he got
to the plate the defense swallowed hard. And that kid got up to the plate confidence was radiating off of him. When he got in the box he waved his bat around menacingly, telling the world he couldn’t wait to rip the next sacrificial offering. It looked like fun and everyone wanted to be that kid.That’s how Jeter looked. Except he was now in the Big Leagues, playing in the playoffs. The whole season was on the line. The crowd was going wild. The tension was thick in the playoff air. The emotion dripping off the moment one pitch at a time.
And Jeter looked like a Little Leaguer having fun.
Flash forward to my interview with him…
“Well,” he says, “the big thing is to have fun. That’s how you handle pressure.”
“Come on,” I said, “with tens of thousands of people yelling, your results posted in the paper every day, your every move watched and scrutinized, and you say have fun?”
“Yes. It’s just like Little League [that’s when my jaw dropped]. It’s the same game I’ve always played and always loved. It’s fun. Sure it’s challenging, but that’s part of the fun.”
Me: “Even with 50,000 people yelling and screaming.”
DJ: “The more people, the more fun.”
Jeter is able to maintain the perspective that the game is fun. Most players I coach come to me when they’ve lost that. It’s become work. A job. A test of self-esteem. A measure of self-worth. It’s become who they are.
Stress occurs in us when we perceive a threat to us or to something we love. It may be a threat to our physical body, like a cancer diagnosis. Or it may be a threat to our emotional body, like getting yelled at by our boss.
Jeter avoids stress because he doesn’t perceive game situations as threatening. He sees them as challenging. One perception creates tension, fear, doubt, choking . The other creates freedom, relaxation, and top performance.
Question for you...Why do you trade? There are lots of ways to make a lot of money. Even more ways to make enough money.
One of the traders’ greatest challenges is to remember why he or she got into trading in the first place, and keep a perspective on it that minimizes the perception of threat.
What’s fun about trading?
Jeff,
What a great story! I enjoy the challenges of trading, but often get caught up in the "learning experiences" that don't financially benefit me. I am early in the game and have a lot to learn. Everyday, I step back up to the plate. I want to play; I want to be successful. Your story inspires me to "love the game"; to take my experiences in the market as a challenge to trade better.
Thank you,
Amy Myers
Posted by
Anonymous |
9/15/2006 04:25:00 PM
Great story! I have only been trading for about 7 months and the more I do it the more I want to learn. I love the challenge and excitement each new day brings as I sit in front of my computer, each day different than the previous. I only wish I had more time during the day to trade. It really does get a hold of you once you dive into it. My biggest obsticle is concentrating on my day job and not trading!
Posted by
Anonymous |
9/15/2006 06:21:00 PM
Mark,
I agree with your comment. I was a computer engineer until it became a job and lost some of the feeling that jeff is talking about. I am getting the same exciting feeling from trading and learning to trade. I see the patterns, candle sticks and trends etc but mostly afterwards. I guess more practice will make it better to recognize this as entry signals and ofcourse confidence is the key.
This is a journey, we all need to remind ourselves that be patient and keep learning.
Jeff for haveing a venue like for to share and learn from.
Mahmood
Posted by
Anonymous |
9/16/2006 08:56:00 AM
Whats fun about trading ?
Making lots of money!!
Actually I havent quite mastered that on a consistent basis yet, but its fun learning :)
I started trading less than a year ago and I soon discovered there is so many aspects to trading one needs to understand to be a successful trader in the long term. Therefore learning to trade is a journey for each individual and this is the fun part if you have the patience and willingness to learn.
For me, reading the market wizards series of top traders was an excellent insight to the different skill sets required to be a top trader. The interviews reveal that each individual trader has their own specific system based on what they are comfortable with and some of these systems may seem to contradict one another (i.e. some use purely mechanical based system, some use purely technical analysis and some are more fundamental based).
This series of books in my opinion are a fun read and are an excellent source for anyone wishing to fine tune their skills as traders, and perhaps conquering the emotional skeletons in their closets.
So for me the fun part is the learning journey. Do I want make lots of money absolutely, but I beleive the best traders will probably admit they are constantly learning and would consider themselves students of the market.
John
Posted by
Anonymous |
9/16/2006 08:00:00 PM
Jeff,
How bout everything!.....and some things are just marketably more fun than others!
Making gains, cool new searches, making fun of yourself, learning from your mistakes, thinking I am clever, getting out of X at exactly the wrong time (Niner, Niner)
Cheers
Posted by
Anonymous |
6/01/2007 09:18:00 AM