Did You Bring a Bucket?

I have recently experienced some negative and discouraging remarks regarding stock market education programs. It's amazing to me that one person would have extreme successes and another experience extreme frustrations. These two people have been trained in the same stock analysis process, the same technical analysis indicators, and even the same trading strategies by the same instructors. Yet both people are different and their results vary.

How much any one gets out of a lecture depends also upon the size of the bucket he brings to get it in. A big bucket can get filled at a very small stream. A little bucket gets little at the greatest stream. With no bucket you can get nothing at Niagara.

That often explains why one person says a lecture is great, while the next person says he got nothing out of it.

- Ralph Parlette
The University of Hard Knocks

I've listened to The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker many times and there is one line that always caught my ear. He talks about these same two people and how one person might have a tiny leak in their toolbox (and I'm pointing to my head right now). From this one line I knew that I needed to keep my toolbox loaded with the right tools and not let them leak out.

I'm thinking now that it's not only about having a leaky toolbox. It probably also has to do with opening up that toolbox and letting new tools get inside. Being open to new ideas and new opportunities is a big part of not only personal growth but financial growth as well. Once you open up to the fact that anything is possible, you suddenly see all of the new possibilities.

A big part of any stock trader's success is their own outlook on their ability to make money in the stock market. Having the right mental attitude absolutely makes the difference between a successful trader and a frustrated trader. It's called trading psychology and most (if not all) of the books on investing will spend many pages on this area.