Adam and I have known Norman for a very long time. We've worked with him on many occasions and have spent time with him and his materials. We both agree that his trading wisdom and mental discipline go far beyond his years (No offense Norman), and I can confidently say that Norman Hallett is known as the Internet's leader in helping traders with their trading discipline.
I can say that because there are hundreds of INO members who are have taken part in Norman's training and coaching. Today he's launching a new class and has 4 Special Reports on trading discipline that I'd like to offer to you for no cost. Grab the reports HERE.
I also asked him to present us with a scenario as to what makes a successful trader. Below are two examples and Adam, Norman, and I would like for you to comment as to which person you think is a successful trader and why.
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“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”- George Sheenan
The Caribbean water is crystal clear and inviting as you sail on toward Tortola. Your cell phone rings and it’s your broker in New York. You listen intently and then say “sell and transfer the funds to my commodities account”. You disconnect and do a feeble fist pump and mutter, “cha ching”.
You are in the waiting area at JFK. Your flight to Hawaii leaves in an hour. As you don’t want to be disturbed, you re-check today’s positions and stops and close the laptop. You’re taking your family on a winter escape to paradise. No clients to worry about. No office politics. Just you and your laptop have made it all possible. You look at the Armani crowd and remember what it was like before you were able to work in your jogging suit. “No risk….no reward”, you say to yourself.
You are up in your “command center” as you and your spouse jokingly call it. You hear your children and husband getting the kids ready for school. He lives the buttoned down life and you are still in your robe. You’ve been up before the markets open and are in the midst of planning today’s trades. Yesterday wasn’t a fun experience; you didn’t make your daily goal and your win-loss was upside down. You try not to think about it prefer to focus on setting up for today’s trading. You come down from the command center to say goodbye to hubby and the kids; your mind is still focused on the three trades you plan to make as soon as the entry points presents themselves. Your husband starts to say something and you hold up your hand to stop him. “Don’t say a darn thing, you know the rules.” He smiles and herds the kids to the car. With coffee in hand, you bless the skills you have acquired but curse the loneliness of the isolation. But there is no other way you have the possibility to make the kind of money you can earn by trading and your husband makes enough to pay the bills.
But both you and your husband have a dream of moving out of the city and out of the rat race. You both want a better home and are able to send your kids to the best schools possible. As withholding and social security taxes are sucked right out of your husband’s paycheck, accumulating wealth is almost impossible. but becoming a successful trader may be the only way to reach those dreams and ambitions. Up until now, you have been able to actually make fairly steady profits in your trading accounts and you feel that after three years of full time day trading , you seem to have what it takes to make a go of it. But the pressure and isolation can become intense.
Which one of these scenarios is a more realistic picture of a “successful trader”?
Success is defined by the achievement of pre-established goals. The key to becoming a successful trader is identifying, quantifying, strategizing, implementing, tracking, analyzing, learning and growing as a conscious person. You see, there is no such thing as “easy money”. Let’s get this upfront right now, trading is not easy and not for just anybody.
How many people do you know who have an idea of what they want out of life? How many people do you know who understand what makes them happy and what fulfils their needs? Probably not many and this is where becoming a successful trader begins…..understanding yourself. You define what success means to you. If you don’t know what that is, how can you reach it? Indeed, this process of defining what a successful trader means to YOU, lies at the heart of building a trading plan for success.
Norman Hallett
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We're looking forward to your comments and before you comment be sure and grab Norman's 4 Special Reports HERE.
The article is right, however, there's a caveat. It's not only about experience, otherwise, engineers and programmers would all make fine traders as they know a lot about accumulating knowledge and working hard. It's about the cross product of consistent work, some intuition, and letting go. If you're got that, then you can trade for a living. And no, not just during volatile seasons but in all seasons.
Vinny!
Many thanks for your comments! I couldn't agree more!
In all honesty when I made my first comment (printed more or less twice) because I did not take into account time lapse between writing and posting......
.....I did not expect to receive such an outpouring of commentary...
...but maybe that is for the best!
I just want to say thanks to you and all who commented....
...and yes I will continue to work at this....
Harald
Harald,
In all sincerity, you never put your security in someone else's hands.
These marketers are just what you said, out for number one, its always buyer beware.
It's up to you to secure your well being. Trading offers so many benefits, too many to cover here. More than money, it's about freedom.
How important is that to you? It's everything to me. So my passion to
attain this goal will be met, and I will not waiver.
That is the kind of committment you must have, it doesn't matter what others say or do. The goal will be attained. Knowledge is everything and its there for the taking. The internet is filled with free info.
Seek and ye shall find. No excuses. If its important enough to you, you'll get it and put it to good use.
Once again, I emphasize learn your indicators. They do not lie, they
tell he whole story. The trick to indicators is which ones to use in combination with others. That is trial and error, but they are your map to success. Elliott Wave, Fibonacci, indicators: they all work.
The kink to this trading thing, is a day like today. The outside markets screw up your technical analysis. That's part of the game we just have to deal with it. You can do this.
Anyway, enough said. Good luck to and I hope you attain your goals
whatever they be.
Vinny thanks for the interest and the comments.
I don't disagree with most of what you offer as advice......Frustrated? A matter of perception. How one handles losses? Also a matter of perception. I once knew a furniture store owner who had the "I'm gonna go out and kill 'em" strategy. He was one of the most positive people I have ever met. Unfortunately, it did not keep him from going broke!
My main point was that in my learning process I have come across more hucksters than I care to talk about.
A marketeer who has 300 clients at $200 a pop DOES NOT need to trade....he already HAS a business.
A marketeer who does not offer a money back guarantee for a meaningful period is a fraud in my humble opinion. If he says that the student must agree that no representation is made that the student will be successful....then I as a potential student will have to question such a marketeers good intentions.
That is my reality.
As for me being the one who is responsible for my own actions is true....and that is why I am suspicious of anyone who markets products without a thought ezcept maybe to collect the money....
Thanks for all the help from you all. It is both a surprise as well as appreciated!
Harald
Note: Harald, forgive me for misspelling your name.
I would like to put my two cents in if I may. In my humble opinion, Norman is right on! An expression from the 70's. I have been trading every day for the past three years, and have over 300 trades under my belt. My initial influence was Ken Roberts, and we all know the controversy surrounding Ken. Probably not the greatest trader, but a terrific marketer, and a philosophy that sold me on trading. After failing with his course, I decided to go it on my own. All the information is free on the internet. If you are willing to work hard, be passionate and dedicated, you can be successful. Ken is right. This is the world's greatest business. The problem I see, is that people want to buy a system that does everything for them. It doesn't work that way. YOU HAVE TO BE THE SYSTEM. Repetition is the key to learning. Learning how to be a good loser is the key. It's easy when you have a winning trade, but how 'bout those losing streaks? This is where you find out what you're all about. When your confidence is beat down, how do you respond?
Knowledge is empowerment. Find out how the indicators work and utilize them. They are essential and they work wonderfully. I spend 5 to 6
hours daily doing my homework for the next day because I am tracking 6 to 8 different commodities, so I'm prepared for the one I deem right.
Knowing why and what your all about is critical. Hearld, unfortuantely sounds frustrated and misguided. There is no substitue for hard work. Some day I hope to put out some info to help traders be successful. I know its diffucult, but it can and is done daily.
I won't waste your time further folks! No point in beating this subject any further "to death"!
But I do appreciate the feedback.......
....even though I am extremely skeptical of all that is said. I have heard too much propaganda and too many promises that "don't deliver" to be easily "taken in" any more!
People who make money "selling systems" or "selling" timing don't need to be good traders. Just good marketers.....
Thanks again to all who contributed to my comments!
Harald
Norman Hallett is right its all in your head. After all a double top is a double top. Most systems work some of the time and fail some of the time. The problem is sticking with it.
I will go one more round on this. Harald listen to yourself. I am a successful trader and so is Adam and the astute that follow a trading system such as INO presents. When you say things like; you know trading is a difficult business; no one has the answer, and trading depends on "light bulbs" going on, I really have to question what you are doing in trading.
It appears from your dialog that you are a wanna be trader that has become weary, maybe dishearted with need for some real help. Indeed, it does not come to be over night to be a successful trader - it does take years to learn the secrets, to really get focused on: trade plan-system, trade rules, projection to target, and money management(the cornerstones). But the good news is that INO has all the answers for you if you stick it out. Gosh man for the price you get: when to trade, how to trade, constant mentoring and education from Adam and guests, charts, etc., etc. It is all starring you in the face!
I will say that INO did indeed assist me to "get over" the hump in my trading. This was years back and I am now on my own doing extremely well as an FX trader. And now, trading is very easy, incredibly simple, and just plain fun. My 18 year old daughter trades only the GBP/USD and averages 40-120 pips per trade session every evening. In fact, I am having a hard time getting her to stay with a college focus because she makes so much money.
So stick to the INO education and study what they are presenting and in time you will get over, what I must say is a self-defeating attitude. Once you get through that bit of quandry the bells and whistles will go off and the dream and profits come through.
To Norman Hallet!
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed response! I must say THAT is a surprise!
No, I would not classify myself as a successful trader...yet.
I have played with demos and real accounts long enough to know this is a very difficult business.
It is not difficult because I don't have a PLAN, there are just too many plans out there and not all of them are suitable for everyone. You can plan your trades and still fail consistently.
I do not have "the answer" and neither do you or anyone else! I think that the more difficult things become the more difficult it is "to pull the trigger". One simply errs on the side of caution. That continues until something gives....either a "light bulb" goes on...or we decide this is better left to others....
That is the essence of my experience. I will not spend any more money on "systems" that may work...or may not. Nor will I spend money on "mind improvement" that may work or may not! Is there a money back guarantee? I doubt it!
In any case thanks again for your time and courtesy!
Harald
Good discussion!
Adam is the grooviest guy of all! Definitely a child of the 60's! 🙂
You're right, Mark B, about the importance of deep experience. Problem is you need to survive (even prosper?) while you are deepening your experience. To me, this means spending time developing a responsible trading plan.
There is not a lot of good info on how to develop and run your trading plan, so I'll be releasing an ebook soon on the topic to at least give my two cents. I'll give Adam a heads-up right before release as I'll he'll be getting an advanced copy (and you too, Brad).
Good trading to all,
Norman
Norm,
Keep it Up - You add some Mark Douglas to that Potion? If Not - I highly recommend it.
I will be attending as soon as I can gather up the funds. I have been paper trading and writing my plan off and on for 8 months. I have given myself till end of year and have a goal of going live in Jan 09!
A successful trader is above all a deeply experienced trader who has seen many market scenarious and situations, much like you, Adam. And, to a lesser extent, me! A successful trader never relies on luck and overleveraging to engage in gambling in lieu of intelligent trading.
For example, I have discovered that spot forex can be successfully traded at 3-1 leverage on fxtrade.com by following the prevailing long term trends with the 55/144 EMA trendlines. No one can win at 100 or 500-1 over the long haul in spot forex. Traders who think they can are delusional at best and suicidal at worst!
I agree with Harald on this one, this article has nothing to do with trading, after reading it I felt like a student during the sixties where I puffed but did not inhale.
In fact I am tired of these guru guys who try to get into your head with this massage therapy garbage on trading. That said, what I do like about INO is that they in fact present all this type of goofy stuff in a type of forum so one can realize what trading is really all about - trading is just really groovy guys!
Just follow the INO receipe and you really don't need to waste time with the "massage therapy" being offered by guru's - instead read SUN TZU's ART of WAR for Traders and Investors by Dean Lundell and get serious and focused to be a successful trader with what INO has to offer.
Herald- In my humble opinion, everybody is allowed their humble opinion, including you.
But I have to say I don't understand your objection to a trader having clear goals. Do you not think having clear goals to what you want out of your trading will help you be a better trader?
Let me give you one aspect of my point. Most traders have a trading plan...some better than others.. but let's assume a trader has a good trading plan that's been back and forward tested and goes into his trading day confident that if he follows the signals given by the trading plan and then puts in the stops/limits once the trigger is pulled on a trade, according to his trading plan, he will be successful in the long run.
I submit that when the time comes to pull the trigger, many traders will balk.. hesitate... and miss the trade, or chase the market, whatever... but not follow the plan in the heat of the moment. I say the the trader who is purposeful, who has a clear picture of why they are trading, is more likely to follow his plan than someone who has no clear goals. I'm not only "submitting" this, but I know it to be the truth from working with hundreds of traders.
And I'm not talking about a clear goal like, "To make money", or even, "To make $200. a day". I'm talking about core beliefs. "I'm determined to follow my trading plan and be a successful trader so that I can take care of my family." The clearer you are as to WHY you are trading... what core benefit being a successful trader will be to you, the more you will be disciplined.
Now, you may be a totally disciplined trader who has everything figured out without looking inside yourself... but most traders are not at your level.
This all may seem nonsense to you, but I assure you that this view has value. I'm not pushing head-shrinking... I'm pushing inward inspection of why you are doing what you are doing so that you can identify your core motivations and thus make you a more dedicated trader.
Now please excuse me while I mix up some love potion. 🙂
PS: I actually think you'd enjoy the 4 reports that are offered after the post. You seem like a passionate person.
What kind of nonsense is this.....what does it have to do with trading??? This guy is pushing head-shrinking and mentoring for a fee!
Pure baloney in my humble opinion....what does this have to do with trading???