Doing It Your Way

Doing It Your Way

The typical 9-to-5 job can be limiting. You have to work for others, and constantly live up to their standards, which are often arbitrary. But traders have the freedom to work for themselves and on their own terms. Trading allows you to express your individuality and do things your own way.

The freedom that trading allows is highly motivating. Take Brandon, for example. In his Innerworth Master Interview, he describes how important it is to be free and creative: "I just want to be able to do my own thing and be responsible to myself. I want to be completely in control and have complete responsibility for my life. I think trading is a great opportunity to do just that. If I buy something and I lose all my money, it's because I did it. And that's pretty comforting, just to know that I'm in charge."

Working for yourself, and taking full responsibility for it, may be stressful to some, but seasoned traders relish their freedom. If they feel like trading, they trade. If they feel like taking the day off, that's fine too. The freedom trading allows, however, is more than just about flexible work hours. Traders enjoy building their trading skills, and working to achieve a level of excellence that is entirely defined by their own standards.

Trading is a natural, integrated activity, in which each trader brings his or her own knowledge, personality, trading method, and tools to the trading arena. Through a coordinated integration of these various components, he or she builds up a set of individualized trading skills that produce lasting success. Such integration doesn't happen over night, but though hard work and persistence. Over time, one makes trade after trade, gaining key experiences along the way, until it all comes together in the end. One needs to find one's own personal talents, accentuating one's strengths and working around one's limitations. Every trader is on his or her own path. This individual journey can be a challenge, but for most seasoned traders, freedom is power.

When you work for yourself, and you love what you do, you'll find that even a major setback can be easy to get over. As you follow your passion independently and freely, you'll cultivate a resolute winning attitude that isn't easily shaken. Master trader Brandon describes how a resolute attitude keeps him focused and optimistic: "There was a time when I was down about 40 percent. I wondered whether I was ever going to make it as a trader. But I also knew that trading was what I really wanted to do. I knew that even if I had to come back 10 times, I was going to keep doing this for a living. Trading is the only thing I want to do." Sure, working for yourself can be stressful, but when you're doing something you love, you'll enjoy your freedom, and be able to tackle any challenge you face as you work to master the markets.