Wednesday 8 March 2017

朋友, 敌人, 初心



—般的成功靠朋友,更大的成就靠敌人。

最大的敌人是自己,坚持初心走到底!



Success depends on friends; greater achievements are spurred on by enemies.

We are our biggest enemy; never forget why we started the journey in the first place!





21 comments:

  1. Hi SMOL,

    I especially like the part about greater achievements being spurred by enemies. They say that good is the enemy of excellent also. If you're good, you're never going to reach excellence.

    But that might or might not be such a bad thing too haha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LP,

      Yup. If Warren Buffett were happy with $100 million and considered that "good enough", he would have retired in his 40s and lived off his passive income.

      And we would not have heard of him...


      Hence greater achievements are done by those who will never retire since they do not consider what they do as "work" ;)


      As a grasshopper, I am not in it for the "achievements" since I won't live beyond winter.

      But I do want to overcome myself.

      A similar recurring theme in your blog posts too as in becoming bigger than yourself or outgrowing our problems ;)


      Delete
    2. SMOL,

      But I do want to overcome myself.
      What does that means?

      I know it's not about setting a goal and achieving.

      It's more than that. But what exactly is that?

      Delete
    3. Blursotong King,

      Glad you knew its not something quantitative that I'm after ;)

      Its qualitative like be a better person - whatever that meant!? LOL!

      Like for example - anger management, be less judgemental, be more considerate, etc...

      Of course when it comes to my craftsmanship with trading, much work remains to be done when it comes to my entries and exists ;)

      Delete
    4. SMOL

      I see. Understood. Thanks!

      Delete
    5. whats there to do with your entry and exits?

      Delete
    6. coconut,

      Nothing. Just want to be competent in my trading craft.

      It's like asking the samurai warrior why he does the same sword swing a thousand times...

      Or why the Zen Buddhist who tries to draw a "more perfect" circle with his brush a thousand times...


      I am my worst enemy.

      I give the BEST excuses why it can't be done...

      Why I should be doing something else...

      Why I should just quit ;)

      Delete
    7. practice is good, however skill (as in strategy) is only 10%, the rest of 90% are mental.

      mental is most traders lack, not skill.

      Delete
    8. coconut and temperament,

      I expressed it as "entries and exits" - the execution part.

      Something which the reader can see.


      Of course behind the entries and exits is the mental part which you've described.

      The Mind part is the only M of the 3 Ms that can't be learned through books or courses - unlike Method or Money Management.

      Bei kambings who are new to trading swallow hook, line, and sinker the snake-oils' spin, "Only 5 minutes a day and you can trade you way to financial freedom!"


      How to explain the Mind part to newbies?

      You both know through your experiences.

      Hence I can only describe the execution part of the Mental part - entries and exits.

      In Zen, we say act with "No Mind".

      CW calls it "Less Analysing; More Investing".


      Anyone who hesitates or thinks too much before an entry or exit knows intuitively they are still far away from mastering the Mental part ;)


      Delete
    9. temperament,

      Your answer belies the Mental discipline you have for your entries ;)

      You let the trade come to you.


      Of course we will miss some trades this way, but evidently it has worked so far for you - considering the amount of experience you had ;)

      You would have changed it LONG ago if it did not work!


      For me, as a Trend Follower, the moment I decide to hope on a trend, I'll buy on the offer and sell at the bid.

      But if I would like to fade a rally or buy the dip, I'll do what you do ;)


      Delete
    10. temperament,

      Yes, I can verify what your broker said is true.


      In your case, its a "If Done" order type since you do not already own the underlying shares.

      For example, you enter a "If Done" Limit Order to buy ABC stock at $1.50, and when it gets filled or "Done", the system will automatically create a Stop Order that you have previously created as part of the "If Done" order type.

      This is a 2 step process. The 2nd Stop order will only appear if your Limit Buy Order "gets done" - hence the name "If Done".

      So your fear of creating an unintended Short position will not happen.


      If I already owned stock ABC, I can also create an OCO (One Cancel Other) order that will create 2 orders at the SAME time in the system - one Limit Sell order to take profit when the stock hits my target price, and another Stop Order to limit my losses.

      Whenever one order gets filled, the other order in the system will be automatically cancelled - hence "One Cancel Other" ;)


      See? Unless one is an intraday trader, traders like me can create our orders in the morning and then go fishing!

      No need to stare at screens whole day ;)


      Tip: You may want to explore your broker's CFD platform as Advanced Order Types are a given since CFDs are for trading.

      For regular stocks trading, most retail platforms don't have and must go through Broker Assisted trades to create these Advanced Order Types.

      Unless of course your broker is Phillips. I am pleasantly surprised they just gave their advanced trading Poems Mercury platform to ordinary retail "investors" free of charge!?

      Their previous ProTrader must pay money one.

      Delete
    11. temperament,

      I'll try to reply your questions in a new post.

      This way, other traders may chime in so you'll get a balanced view.

      Especially when I put what I say to the "verifications" of others ;)

      Delete
  2. Your FB friends is an indication of your success in the new world

    ReplyDelete
  3. 一般的成就是疑兵,更高的成就是伏兵,
    最高的成就是骄兵,没有成就是精兵。

    自己的心境是良将,自己的智慧是地势,
    勇气是知道什么时候做什么,那你无敌。

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sillyinvestor,

      都说你能治自己,何必请我喝咖啡?


      Most readers may not understand why I "poked" you the hardest. Not even the fisherman I poked like I do to you.

      Just look at what you have written.



      But not so easy to apply in every day living right?

      That's why I wrote this post. Its about overcoming ourselves; and using our enemies as catalysts to get us off our inertia...



      Delete
  4. 智慧最重要。应该把勇气改成智慧。

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. blackranchu,

      有智慧没勇气,光说不练。

      有勇气没智慧, 张飞是也!

      Delete
  5. “最”字跟“智慧”两个字很难和谐

    ReplyDelete
  6. temperament,

    智慧 comes from "crash got sound" ;)


    Never underestimate the wisdom of the Hokkiens!


    ReplyDelete

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