After six years of trading, my understanding of trading deepens; trading requires some talent, and that talent is your intuition. The theory of investment talent: most people are not suited to be traders (but there is always a place for you in the financial circle).
1. The harsh truth: investment is a game for the gifted.
First, I must say frankly: the vast majority of people are not suited to be professional traders.
This does not deny your abilities, but because great investment performance requires an almost innate gift -- it is not entirely related to IQ or effort, but rooted in personality traits and thinking patterns, with character being far more important than professional knowledge.
Acknowledging this is the first step to understanding the financial ecosystem.
'Life is like a card game, success starts with recognizing the hand dealt to you by God.'
Your 'natural endowment' (interest direction, risk tolerance, decision-making pattern) determines your best positioning in trading. If you force yourself into a role that does not belong to you, it is like 'a duck wanting to swim'; no matter how ambitious, it is hard to resist the current of reality.
2. Financial ecology: there is always a place waiting for you.
Can't become a top trader? That doesn't affect your success in the financial industry at all!
The ecosystem of the industry is far broader than imagined:
Research-oriented: Researchers delving into industry logic.
Management-oriented: Fund managers and product managers coordinating resources.
Service-oriented: Advisors and trainers connecting resources
Strategic: Management that sets rules.
Recognizing your own endowments and choosing a matching track is far more valuable than blindly charging forward.
3. The 'innate four pillars' of great traders
American scholars have found that top traders possess seven major traits, which can be condensed into four core endowments (almost impossible to acquire later).
Core endowment connotation:
Interest
Extreme obsession with capital markets, with competition as a strong excitement point, the desire to win far exceeds that of ordinary people.
Belief
① Operate against human nature: decisively buy during panic, calmly sell during frenzy;
② Adhere to the trading system without wavering;
③ Do not alter investment logic when faced with extreme volatility.
Agility
① Balance left and right brains: rational analysis (left brain) and intuitive risk-taking (right brain) in synergy;
② Quickly admit mistakes and correct them, never repeat the same mistake.
Perseverance
Almost obsessively execute trading discipline, 'ignoring' market noise.
Key warning:
If these four traits are significantly inferior to others, please choose the path of trading carefully -- knowledge accumulation can only strengthen talent, it cannot create talent.
Four, the 'Four Methods' of acquired training
Even with exceptional talent, one still needs to cultivate four major qualities that can be learned:
Focus
Focus on trading without distraction, rejecting external noise and emotional interference.
Learning
Practical experience and theoretical in-depth interaction, forming a replicable cognitive system.
Discipline
① Strictly adhere to stop-loss rules;
② Scientifically manage positions;
③ Eliminate 'hope trading' (using fantasy to replace market reality).
Following the trend
Always revere the trend, do not oppose the market.
Five, the biggest trap in investment: knowing ≠ doing.
'Unity of knowledge and action' is the ultimate threshold distinguishing ordinary people from great traders. The market is a 'magnifying glass' for human weaknesses.
Reward humility, calmness, and self-discipline;
Punish greed, fear, and impatience -- and the punishment intensity is amplified by leverage tenfold or hundredfold.
'No matter how high the perception of 'market feel', it is essentially instinctive reactions internalized after thousands of trial and error. Without capital to endure the 'self-realization period', it is hard to talk about it.
Six, the path to simplicity: the simple code of success.
The truth of investment is so simple that it is hard to believe!
Solve three problems, achieving excellence is success.
1. When to open a position? → Establish clear trigger signals
2. What to do when the market is unfavorable? → Pre-set stop-loss mechanisms.
3. What to do when the market is favorable? → Establish profit-taking and position-adding rules.
The father of technical indicators, Wilder (RSI creator) later overturned his early system in 'Adam Theory', realizing that 'following the trend' is the way -- the ultimate realm is 'winning without a move.'
Seven, character and wealth: the hidden rules of the market.
Excellent traders often share a common trait: good character.
This is not a moral preach, but a result of the market mechanism:
Leverage effect + accelerate 'cause and effect'.
Good character (such as self-discipline, patience) → Stable profits → Positive cycle;
Bad character (such as greed, impulsivity) → Accelerated liquidation → Vicious cycle. Concentration is the moat:
True winners have no time to indulge in hedonism; 'success in love, failure in gambling' is a bloody lesson. The market measures human nature in real time with money, and can be regarded as the most brutal 'retribution in this life.'
Eight, loneliness: the ultimate realm of the strong.
Great traders are often lonely:
Not intentionally avoiding the world, but needing to be far away from the noise due to extreme focus.
Not emotional indifference, but independent thinking that does not rely on consensus.
Citing Nietzsche's insight:
'True loneliness is the existence itself; once shared, it evaporates completely.'
When loneliness becomes a habit and strength, it is time to dance with the market.
Find your coordinates in the financial ecosystem
If lacking the 'innate four pillars': please calmly embrace other roles in the ecosystem -- research, management, and service can all achieve excellence.
If your talent aligns: please use 'interest as fire, belief as anchor, agility as blade, perseverance as shield', and continuously hone 'focus, learning, discipline, following the market' until simple rules are internalized as instinct.
The best realm of investment is to recognize oneself and calmly place bets after refining human nature.
The highest good is like water, following the trend.
Wealth will eventually flow to those who deserve it, the soulful ones.
Trading is a journey to the stars and the sea.