How do you know you will be successful?

[Samuel Blake 3]

I am starting this conversation with members of BBT because this topic has been on my mind all summer. Feel free to share your experience.

This summer I took the past few months off trading, quit my job, moved states, and decided to take a bicycle and pedal across America. I started in Yorktown, VA and ended in Astoria, OR which took about 2.5 months. This trip is unrelated to trading, but it gave me an amazing opportunity to think about the question: "How do you know you will be successful at trading"?

The answer to this question came to me in Wyoming. I was 25 miles from any town and facing a headwind of 30-40 mph. Never have I been so mentally drained and physically devastated by such an endeavor. As I sat on the side of the road absolutely crushed, I had two options: quit and see if I could hitch hike to a close town, or continue to persevere and finish my trip like I had always dreamed of. It took over 4 hours but I made it to the next town on my bike after getting ran off the road (and almost killed) three times by cars and being beat down by the wind. This was one of the most difficult days I have ever experienced.

But it lead me to the answer to this question: perseverance. I have lost many battles with the market but I believe that my absolute desire, passion and perseverance will keep me in the game to be able to succeed. I also learned that when things take a turn for the worse, keeping a positive mindset can make all the difference.

Thanks for reading, I just wanted to share this story with this amazing community. Also, Peter absolutely crushed the BBT podcast. Thanks Peter for keeping me entertained on my trip!

[Hux 3]

Samuel - The answer to this question came to me after reading your submission.  I just listed some of the difficult times in my life that I overcame.  Funny, the first one was a bike ride, only 80 miles, but on a bowl of corn flakes, one water bottle and no training (I was 15).  The rest were getting an engineering degree, crazy work situations and others that numbered up to 14.  Looking at the list, success in trading seems mild.  So thanks for helping to put this in perspective.  I've been trading for 3 years with limited success, and moving in the right direction.  I'll keep going.  And agreed with Peter and the demons.