I was doing my homework from "The Complete Penny Stock Course" section 1.5 and I thought this would be a great, vulnerable, and honest post that shares a bit about my story. It's very honest and maybe like 16.5% TMI, but watching the videos of Tim's millionaire students and their stories inspired me to be transparent. Cheers.

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Identify and write down your personality traits and compare how these fare against that of a successful trader. Be honest.

How I'm comparable...

My personality is very suited to trading in some ways, but in other ways it is not.

I am a very analytical thinker and very open minded. I take everything in my life as a premise that I'm operating under until better evidence is presented. What's nice about this disposition is that I can be FULLY invested in a premise/value/approach/etc but when I see that it's not working, often I have no issue trying something new, opposite or counter-intuitive. I actually tend to think that brilliance often happens where you would least expect it, so I think I am much more hesitant than the average person to dismiss something out of hand until I have all the facts I need.

So that dichotomy of needing solid proof to believe, contrasted with a strong ability to change my mind when evidence presents itself, is what I'm betting will help me on this journey.

I'll add that I'm a software developer and I actually enjoy losing myself in code and logical problems. This is good and bad. Good because I don't have a fear of complexity. Bad because I can easily slip into over thinking. Being comfortable with complexity is different from seeking it out and unfortunately I sometimes do both.

How I differ...

Ok, now comes the personality traits I have that put me at a disadvantage. When I get frustrated sometimes I can just completely shut down. I have spent days in my bed under the covers during my adult life (probably more like months). I teeter in between consistency and unreliability if I'm being honest. My periods of focus and open mindedness have rewarded me more than I ever thought they would but my bouts with depression and my seemingly annual habit of "falling into a rut" stops from me making true, consistent progress in life.

I started college with all A's on my first engineering exams. Questioning my teachers, grinding to understand concepts, spending hours on hours absolutely hammering concepts into my brain. I had never been so sure that I was intellectually "special", right up until I started partying. I never, technically, made the decision to quit college, but I started drinking much more and joined a frat (which was a great decision post-academia for life-long friends/networking, but during my freshman year it was probably the biggest mistake I made that semester). I got away from my habits of going to the library after class. The habit of going to the gym 5 times a week. The habit of finding people to explain what I had learned to (to make sure I truly understood it). I stopped being me. Because girls were pretty and I was 18, in shape, and on my own for the first time in life.

I won't write my whole story here, but I've done this about 2 times after college in my adult life. Started/landed an amazing job (one of which had me move to Silicon Valley for a Senior-Level position at LinkedIn at 26), and utterly squander it. The real story is deeper and more detailed than this. However, I'll say this, if I had good coping mechanisms and the knowledge I possess today, I would be probably $500,000 richer. I still, literally, have the e-trade account where my LinkedIn stock was given to me (RSUs but still.. it was nearly $200k). Because of the way I exited that job, I couldn't keep a cent. And I still, literally, have the email where they basically told me "Yea, you're not gonna be rich. At least not with this job."

I had everything I needed to succeed. I just wasn't consistent enough.

Fast-forward today. All of that was almost 10 years ago. I've changed a lot but I still need to protect myself against "falling into a rut". I'm miles ahead of where I was in my 20s. Now my "ruts" last for a day or two, but I know how to bounce back and act in accordance to my values even when I don't feel motivated to. But it's still hard. It's always hard. But it's a challenge I look forward to facing head on and conquering.

How I can improve

I have been on a system of waking at 7am, exercising, reading technical books/taking notes, and generally improving myself every single day (weekends included). What I need to do is STICK TO THE PLAN. I made a promise to myself earlier this year to do my best at anything I chose to do. This has changed my life. I have lost nearly 35 pounds. I have more in my savings than I've ever had. I routinely push myself out of my comfort zone and consistently schedule (and take) time to relax and recuperate.

I have to stick to this. It's an organized life that I've been leading and it's about to ramp up as I train/study. I won't get into detail but I have been doing a very specific routine for literally 44 days as of this moment. Recently, I've played with the idea of breaking some of my rules (for instance, I have a rule that once daily, I MUST find something that I have been putting off and DO IT). As my will erodes so does my fulfillment. Honestly, I truly love life when I do my best, when I take the hard way and stick with it. I may have squandered some opportunities but I still remember the feelings I felt after putting in undeniably hard work for a year or so and achieving a goal. Now that I'm in my mid thirties it's time to take this further. I can/will stick to my routine and fold some of the suggestions from the book into my process (for instance, my routines/rules don't have me scheduling family time or grocery time but I probably should create that habit).

Also I need to be ready to adapt, and plan how what I need to do when I feel a "rut" coming on or when I realize I'm in one. I haven't done something this comprehensive in a while. It really looks like it will be another full-time job. This could add new levels of stress to my life if I'm not careful. Thankfully I have lots of things I can do to unplug. I play piano for relaxing, I have non-technical books, I go on walks, I have really good friends to talk to, and so many other ways to address feelings of melancholy. I need to plan for that, just like I plan for trades. I need to take it slow. I NEED TO TAKE IT SLOW (I'm speaking to myself here lol). I need to optimize myself. Thankfully I've got experience doing that. Now I just need to do one thing.

Never quit.