Every man is a commando

If we had to choose a general totem animal for the male sex, it would probably be the pit bull, because a pit bull is the kind of animal that will not let go of whatever it bites into, and neither will a man. This is an evolutionary necessity: from a survival point of view, that trait proved to work.

Professional soldiers report that they develop tunnel vision during situational shooting exercises. SWAT officers tell of tunnel vision during operations reaching such a degree that they get shot and do not react, because carrying out the task excludes even that from the picture. We could bring countless examples of this kind to support how effective the concentration typical of men really is.

The only measure of trading

Let us row over into the waters of trading. The markets are complicated, over-complicated even, and yet the measure of trading is extremely simple. We can put our strategy, our behaviour and our personality to the test very easily, simply by answering one question: can we make a consistent profit from trading, that is, can we live on it? The answer can be “yes” or “no”.

If it is “yes”, we know the craft. If it is “no”, the picture has not come together yet. That holds even for someone who could give a multi-hour professional lecture on trading, woken from their sleep if need be, or who becomes a well-known teacher - the fact is that a significant proportion of teachers were never able to make a living from trading.

Why can they not change it?

Male traders generally know why they cannot make a living from trading, and in many cases they see the reason precisely. And still they cannot change it. The reason for that lies in exactly the survival ability, tuned to its peak by evolution, that makes every man a commando: focus.

They need an adviser who is not concentrating, or who is focused on something else, and who therefore sees what the commando - driven forward by the fire of completing the task - fails to notice.

If it is true of you that you cannot make a stable living from trading, please give some thought to the idea that the principle of the outside observer could bring a change in that.