The apprentice on the electronic highway. Parzival. The road to mastery. The long distance journey. Miyagi the master, instant results, the road less travelled. The desire for instant wealth.
the road less travelled
Mastery in any endeavour takes time and hard work. In trading there is no "theory for everything". Translated this means there is no shortcut to instant success. There is however "the road less travelled", the time honoured path that leads in the end to mastery. It requires time, determination, commitment and patience. It's the path of apprenticeship, learning on the job, of taking the time and having the patience to achieve a thorough understanding of the subject matter.
the brick in the wall
Learning trading is similar to building a brick wall.
Requirements. Know-How, Materials, Skill, Tools. The tools required. A shovel, wheelbarrow, cement-mixer, float, trowel, spirit level, plumb-line, plumb-bob, pointing tool. Then the materials. Reinforcing steel, aggregate, sand cement, plasticiser. The Know-How. First dig a trench for the footings. Assemble the reinforcing steel in the trench. Prepare the aggregate, mixing it according to a standard formula. Pour the footings. Wait for several days for it to set. Now mix the mortar. Then lay the first layer of bricks. Then the second, and third, and so on. Very boring and tedious. Most people only want to lay the last course of bricks. Wanting instant answers. Instant walls. The key to success is learning how to build the footings, mix mortar, lay one brick at a time. In the end you will have a brick wall. Few are willing to go to the trouble. After learning how and what and why of each process, you will "know" how to build a brick wall. A solid gold shovel won't help. It's the same with trading.
the psychotherapist
On a recent trip to the supermarket I reached the check out with my one item which the obliging check-out operator immediately placed in a plastic bag. On my querying this as the supermarket has a policy of not providing plastic bags for less than two items, the operator replied: “it's automatic, I've been doing it for twenty five years'”. This small incident demonstrates the influence of habit on our thoughts and actions. Every time we repeat a thought: “I'm no good at maths”, “I can't do mechanical things” or “I'm not intelligent”, we practice that thought, turning it into a core belief about ourselves. We know that if we want to learn a skill such as in a particular sport, learning a new language or playing a musical instrument, the way to mastery is to practise it. With practice we exercise particular neural pathways in the brain, making it more likely that this pattern is repeated in the future. So it is with self-defeating thoughts and negative beliefs about ourselves.
Often, we are not even conscious of these thoughts; we may just feel 'down', 'low', unmotivated and lacking energy, and are not aware of the thought or belief that has generated that feeling. We might try to pull ourselves out of these painful feelings, but if they have been practiced for years or even decades and have become core beliefs about ourselves, they are not so quick to shift. This is where the assistance of a trained and experienced counsellor can be beneficial to help identify the source of these beliefs, to begin to question them and to begin to replace them with truer and more helpful ways of thinking and reacting. This takes time, patience and commitment as these negative beliefs are often deeply embedded and practised on a daily basis. To change their course can be akin to changing the course of the Titanic.
In our society we are more and more conditioned to the idea that there is a quick fix for all that ails us. The idea that there is an instant solution for every problem encouraged by our experience: we can get cherries from the U.S. when it is winter in Australia and all manner of fruit and vegetables out of season; the internet gives us instant access to information, and we live in an era where science and technology have provided many answers - though not all. Sometimes when someone consults me in my psychotherapy practice - usually a younger person - they will say; “just give me the tools”. If only it were that easy.
It brings to mind the film “The Karate Kid”. In this film the young teenager, Daniel, has a problem: he is being bullied by larger boys. He wants a particular outcome: to be able to hold his own against them. He wants mastery over the situation, but he learns that, firstly, he has to master himself. He consults Mr Miyagi, the martial arts master. Mr Miyagi sets Daniel to painting the fence then polishing, firstly with one hand and then with the other. Daniel fails to see that this has anything to do with what he wants to achieve. He wants instant results. He is impatient. He has to learn patience and persistence and to be able to live with doubt. We live in a world that predisposes us to only accept certainty and quick fixes, not an exploration towards a deep and thorough understanding of what is happening. If Daniel had not submitted this discipline, he would not have achieved mastery. It is discipline, coupled with patience and persistence that changes him and prepares him emotionally and psychologically, as well as physically for success. It is the same when we try to change deeply held negative beliefs about ourselves, for it often means changing the premise on which our lives have been built. We need to go back and rebuild the foundation. It is a step by step process towards understanding our past influences and what we made of them, of questioning the truth of these beliefs and of taking small steps towards releasing from these bonds our potential.
the quick fix
a - we deserve it
Our recent discussion led me to reflect on some of the similarities between what look like on the surface to be our two very different professions. I am finding there are some surprising similarities. It seems that we are both experiencing, in those who consult us, an increasing desire for instant results and the desire for a quick fix. In my psychotherapeutic practice this may be implied, suggested or sometimes fully articulated. A person may come suffering chronic depression, anxiety and/or other emotional difficulties laid down by past traumatic events, often many decades in the past, but they will often times say: 'just give me the tools!' If only it were that simple.While there can be several notivating forces behind this request, I believe that in a society such as ours where we have instant access to almost everything we desire, there is the expectation that life should be easy, without pain or struggle, and that if we want something we should be able to have it, and what is more, "we deserve it". (as the cosmetic ad tells us). An example of this trend is the rising level of credit card debt. Underlying this phenomenon is the idea that if we want it we should be able to have it - and have it NOW. In a society of quick results and instant fixes many people no longer are prepared to do the hard work that is involved in obtaining something of real and lasting value. People seem to want instant information and answers, not a deep and thorough understanding, but in my view they end up with the equivalent of "fool's gold", not real gold. you can't take short cuts in the process of gaining real understanding - the results are just not the same. If I am not mistaken, what I have written here parallels your own experience of many people who approach with a view to you engaging in trading. I look forward to your response.
b - original apprentice
How surprising to see that you refer to the legend of Parzival on your website. The story of Parzival's search for the Grail is one I have been familiar with for many years through my study of myth and symbolism as relevant to my work as a Jungian psychotherapist. I didn't expect to find a reference to it on a website devoted to trading principles. I understand what you say about the visitors to your website firing off questions to you without taking the trouble to read and digest the material. Yes, as I said in my last email, I do experience many people wanting to be given the answers on a platter because they are not prepared to put in the effort to searching for the answers themselves. So, as you say, a person who has only read a few pages of your material will fire off questions to you which are answered several pages later. There is something quite "teenagery" about this kind of response, I think, and it reminds me of Parzival when he comes for the first time into the Grail castle as a young untried youth - "Parzival" means "innocent fool" - and he has no idea of what he is supposed to do and he fails to ask the right question. Thus far he has only the instructions of his mother to go on. From a psychological point of view, perhaps, this is a stage we must ALL pass through before we can mature enough to take responsibility for our own learning and knowing. Parzival's story is the mythic heros journey: the quest for the Grail is the search for that which we desire and value above all else. It is an inner journey and a metaphor for psychological development. The road to the Grail is fraught with difficulty and danger, wrong turns, dead ends and many frustrations. Success in anything requires patience, persistence and hard work. There are no quick fixes in Parzival land.
c - miyagi
I enjoyed reading your response to my last email. It seems that we are "on the same page", as they say. I agree that the story in the movie "The Karate Kid" is relevant to our discussion. As you say, Daniel in the movie wants a particular outcome: he wants to hold his own against the larger boys who have been bullying him. He wants mastery of the situation, but first he has to master himself. This is what he learns when he becomes a pupil of the martial arts master, Mr Miyagi. Daniel wants an outcome, and quickly. Mr Miyagi sets him to paint the fence and then polish, first with one hand in one direction and then the other. It is boring and laborious work to him because he doesn't understand what he is learning. Daniel fails to see that these tasks have anything to do with what he wants to achieve. He wants instant results; he is impatient. He has to learn patience and persistence. From what you tell me this is as true of trading as it is of the psychotherapy process. In both, it seems, in the beginning you will be asked to do things for which the reason is not clear. Like Daniel, there is a need to have radical trust, to have patience and to live with doubt in a world that predisposes us to accept only certainty, quick fixes, and action which would appear to take us directly in the direction of the desired outcome. We haven't the time, we say, for an approach that incorporates a deep and thorough understanding of the matter. However if Daniel had not submitted (a very unpopular word at the moment) to Mr Miyagi's discipline he would not have achieved self-mastery. It is this self discipline coupled with patience and persistence that changes him and prepares him emotionally and psychologically for success. In my view, people simply select themselves out in their preparedness to engage in the above or not. Some will wander about trying this and that approach.
Some will return to the "Grail Castle" at some later date; others never will.
