This is a guest post by Francois Normandeau
This is a fictional story.
Tom’s diary.
Year 1: I decided to become a trader.
I want to get rich quickly and easily and retire next year.
I always liked catamarans and maybe I can date models.
Year 2: Since I decided to become a trader, I lost $50,000.
I had a dinghy and sold it for $500.
I need that to open a micro-lots fx account.
I think I should read books on trading.
I met Stacey. She does photo-shoots of gardens and forests.
She is a part-time photographer…. she finds me ‘cheap’ and says I spend too much time with the markets & that it’s all a dream.
Year 3: Stacey left me. that has given me more time and I have read 82 books on trading, finance, economy, psychology.
I know technical indicators better than my own family.
I can compute and deduce. I can anticipate and react.
I can also say that I am a much better trader.
this year, I did not lose $50,000.
I eat well once a week.
My psychologist keeps asking me if it’s all in my head and that maybe I am refusing to leave this virtual reality.
Year 4: I have decided to terminate my relationship with my psychologist. he was too expensive and I live on modest means.
I am writing articles for 2 blogs & I sound nice and professional.
people look up to me. that is good for my self-esteem.
But I refuse to tell anyone that my average gain is $120.00 and I rarely have losses but my losses are $2,000.00 easy.
Year 5: I don’t read books anymore. actually, I don’t read.
I have canceled my TV package and bought 6 monitors.
I am watching 12 markets, like a hawk, 18 hours a day.
I started photo-modelling on my spare time.
I was told I have a nice abdomen and they need people for pictures of underwear and boxer shorts & it’s easy money.
I reinvest everything in my trading account.
I have no car. no girlfriend. no friends. no life. no family.
But after 5 years I know that trading is all that matters to me.
Year 6: I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
I now have a more normal life.
I know when to trade and when to step away.
I can manage decent profits and I keep losses tiny.
After having tried 127 ways to trade, I have kept the few things that make sense to me and that, on the long run, bring a profit.
I have finished paying off my student’s loan of 12 years ago and I managed to buy a small sailboat, nothing fancy.
I feel like maybe this is real.
I used to be obsessed with trading. I am more relaxed now.
I only think about it all through the day but more calmly.
Year 7: After 7 years, after losing pretty much everything, and not giving up, I have closed each month with a profit.
I can afford a small car. I am taking a small trip to see what’s out there… I will go to the next city and do a weekend of golf.
I am living the dream, ’cause I saw Donald Trump today and he said ‘kid, no matter what, keep going.”
Year 8: My income is now decent enough that I am starting the year with a 3-week all-inclusive vacation in the Maldives.
I booked a private suite.
the hostess here looks like a photo model, and when she found out that I trade for a living, she asked me on a date her interest was born in that single instant and she said:
”Wow! You trade for a living. it must be nice to get rich quick.
and to know that life always was and always will be easy.”…
I thought she was too keen and too pushy
and obviously, she has no clue as to what it took to get here.
I canceled the date.
I’ll probably grow old, with my 6 monitors and my cats, but hey, I chose this life. and I am not rich but I am happy. 😉
P.S. A fictional account, but not too far from how it all goes for thousands of real, dedicated traders out there.
A story on the real cost of trading, and the real rewards at the end, way beyond wealth and money.
