We've actually found that good traders do not value money that highly, or at least, it is not one of the major reasons that they trade. They trade because they want to be the best or because they love it. Those who trade for the money usually have a very difficult time. And if you'd like to understand that better, then I strongly recommend that you work on my Peak Performance Course.
I actually started this business because I wanted to help people transform. I found that the best traders tend to live very balanced and happy lives. Furthermore, you had to deal with psychological issues right up front if you ever wanted to be an effective trader. Otherwise those issues would constantly find a way to bite you. And as I started coaching people, I watched their lives change for the better and that's what drove me.
So I could actually change that statement around. To me it makes sense to ask, “If you can transform people's lives and help them become the creators of what they want, why would you want to trade?” But that really illustrates one of the key points that we teach. You really need to find your purpose in life and if you want to be successful as a trader, then trading has to be part of that purpose.
At one point in my life, I regarded a hedge fund manager, who I had been coaching for nearly 10 years, as our model trader. I'd worked with him and his family and his employees during that time. Everyone seemed to love him. And when I told him about my mission of helping people change, he said to me, “Van, I transform lives too, by making people a lot of money.” And based upon what I was seeing, I believed him and that got me off track. I started to think, “How can I help people make a lot of money – including those who don't seem to follow my advice?” When you get off track from your purpose, the universe has a way of correcting things. It turned out that this client was a fraud, running a ponzi scheme, which appeared on the cover of Barrons Weekly magazine in early 2000. Even being a psychologist with prior training working with sociopaths, I didn't see this one coming at all. My mistake cost me a lot of money and a lot of heartache. But I also realized that I'd gotten off my purpose, which is to help people transform their lives through a financial metaphor. I think we've now gotten back on track and great results are starting to pour in.
What we really do is work with those people who are receptive to doing the necessary work and who believe in what we do. Those are the people who love us and our goal is to help them transform their lives. And we have a lot of them.
This statement is from a Super Trader who also is about to finish his program. I have not given his name because of the steps he is about to take.
The financial markets have infatuated me from the first time I bought a bond as a young boy. Ever since then, I have played in various markets though I shied away from a financial career because I wanted a fuller life than primarily pursuing mammon. Then I read The Market Wizards where Dr. Van K. Tharp said top traders didn't view money as important. Really! Then what was it about for top traders? Studying Van's material over these last few years has led me to understand how responsibility, psychology, and beliefs underpin my trading results. Now I also appreciate that emotions such as gratitude, love, and forgiveness affect how well I trade. Van and his staff have helped me transform not only my trading but my life. Most significantly, I am about to leave a desirable position at a highly regarded company and trade independently for a living. Such a move would have been unthinkable before Van's work helped me comprehend my nature, my place in the universe, and the practice of excellence in trading. For this, I am deeply
grateful.
