ZF Capital

The market forces you, if you’re going to succeed, to be completely honest with yourself. If you’re losing money, you are forced to confront that reality. It’s an objective reality, it’s right in front of you, and you have to acknowledge it. The market weeds out people who are unable to be honest with themselves.

Trading is one of the most self-revelatory things that a person can do. If you allow yourself to be really open, it’s like going through psychotherapy everyday.

– Robert Koppel

Trading has taught me different things about myself at different times according to how the situation has gone. It has taught me that I can be very disciplined, that I don’t have to have external constraints imposed on me. It’s taught me that I’m very self-reliant. Often I can put together the jigsaw puzzle, even though some pieces are missing and will have an insight into a trade that other traders don’t perceive. Sometimes I realize I’ve been arrogant in the way I’ve done something.

It’s interesting how trading teaches us something about ourselves that we don’t necessarily want to know but the information is always very instructive.

– Robert Koppel, The Tao of Trading