- 1998: Volume 7, No. 4 No Return on Deposits

Are you burnt out and washed up? Have you been hung out on the line to dry? Or are you headed in that direction? Even the most successful of trading careers can end up with nothing. Perhaps you are saying to yourself, "This can't happen to me. I've got everything covered." Just in case you don't, here are some warning signs to look for or you could wind up with "no returns."

What's It All About, Ralphie?

"Where did it all start?" Ralph wondered. He had done everything according to his parents' master plan, or so it seemed. They were proud of him when he earned his engineering degree, married the right girl, and put those 2.5 grandchildren on their laps. And he was ambitious, all right. He was the top salesman for the engineering firm where he worked. There were drawbacks, of course, his work required him to be on the road five days a week, but that was merely a price he paid for success. He had delivered the big diamond, the Rolex, the house with the pool, and the expensive, private schools for the kids. So, why was his wife always angry with him? Okay, there was the blonde in Des Moines and that redhead in Tucson. But, there was no way his wife could be aware of them, or was she? And why should his drinking and smoking bother anyone? A guy's got to have an outlet for the tension, right?

Ralph got religion when he discovered the commodities markets. All of his activity adjusted to accommodate the demands of trading. He asked for a desk job at his company and was home every night to live by the computer doing his research until that day that he was ready to go into full time trading. Ralph was a natural! He did everything by the book and, as a result, his income doubled. Of course, he had to have the bigger house, the yacht, some cocaine lines for his ten minute evening break at the pool andÉoh yes, his brand new shiny, twenty-year-younger, trophy bride.

The divorce took two years to be finalized. In the process, Ralph lost most of his toys, his wife of 20 years, and the respect of his children. The alimony and child support payments made it impossible for him to maintain his rich life style. But, the biggest financial burden was his new bride whose expensive tastes resulted from his training. While Ralph continued to work hard at his trading, he paid for his new wife to get her law degree. The increased stress from the added financial burdens eventually became too much for him. His trading fell apart and he began to emotionally unravel when he could not meet his many obligations. When he began living off of his trading account, Ralph's life was on a fast downhill slide. The final results were a double bypass operation, diabetes, and a severe case of hemorrhoids. When his new bride discovered that he was not the fun-loving person she had married, she left him for a younger man. Presently, Ralph is living in a modest apartment with his income from a few real estate investments and wondering what life is all about.

While this story sounds like it comes straight out of Soap Opera Digest, the only part that is not true is Ralph's name. You may even think that you know the real character, because his story, with a few modifications, has become a fairly common one among traders.

Camino Real

The characters in the play, Camino Real, by Tennessee Williams, have much in common with the traders I have met who have come to the end of their careers with no returns. Each of the characters in this play lived his or her life to the fullest without considering the consequences; for example, Margarite Guitier, lived her life as a femme fatale and became just a withering flower, Jacques Casanova, lived his life as one of the great bon vivants, but faced the same end, and Don Quixote who took his daily walks down Camino Real with only his memories of the quest.

Williams placed all of his characters on a street whose name can represent either the road to riches or the end of the line, depending upon its pronunciation. The implication of this double meaning is that a shift in perspective can change an individual's entire reality. Had these same characters been able to shift their perspectives and see the consequences of their actions, rather than living in a dream world, they would have wound up on the road to riches instead of at the end of the line. This is the lesson for traders, as well.

The question to ask yourself is, "Do you see yourself on the road to riches or is the path you are travelling taking you to the end of the line?" The road you are on was determined by the choices you made at each step of the way. Each of us has made some very good choices and some very bad choices in our life's journey. If we are self-disciplined and guided by good information and a set of positive values, ethics and goals, we will make many more life-rewarding choices than life-depleting ones.

When you know the facts of life, you are more likely going to make better choices along the way, right?

The Facts of Life

• If you want to work for someone, most established companies want young people with experience, energy and enthusiasm, and are less likely to want to hire people who have gone out and tried business for themselves.
• If you want to work for yourself and be an entrepreneur, it takes discipline, capital, and the ability to handle risk and be a self-starter.
• Very few people can successfully maintain a trading career when they are under a tremendous amount of stress.
• Women and men of high quality and resources want to be with their counterparts.
• If you continuously borrow on your body's energy reserves without making deposits back into those reserves, you will pay the price in the loss of your body's ability to function at its optimal capacity. This loss in vitality and health can cost you everything that is important to you.

When you live life on the edge with no thought of the ultimate consequences in negative action, there will be a price to pay. So, watch out for the warning signs.

The Warning Signs

• Broken Agreements
• Not having a plan-not following the plan
• Not having the right resources
• Neglecting loved ones
• Addictive behaviors
• Excessive stress
• Poor maintenance of body parts
• Avoidance of psychological issues
• Giving enough quality time to all important areas of your life

With Three You Get Solitaire

Jeff had it all: all of the trappings and all of the warning signs. Naturally, his family did not understand him. When you look through healthy eyes, it is difficult to understand addictions. It was difficult for his wife and parents to watch their loved-one depressed in the morning after being on a high in the evening, only to see him behave rationally after adding Prozac to the mix. But one could argue that Jeff's bankroll was getting very healthy. At thirty-five years of age, Jeff could handle it. But it is important to note that each body has its breaking point and each mind has its point of no return. When you get older, it takes longer to recover. However, some people do not get a second chance. It is amazing how a small fortune can be wiped out in a very short period of time. Medical bills or a lavish lifestyle have proven to be good at rapid withdrawals.

What will Jeff have to show when he is wheeling his I.V. down the corridor into the game room to play Solitaire?

Depositing Into the Right Account

Occasionally, I have the opportunity to help someone reverse this process of endless withdrawals and begin making deposits into their life account. This reversal happened with Ivan, the boy genius. For Ivan, everything came too soon, too fast. Reality struck one day when he called me to say that he was falling to pieces. Ivan's facade of "energy personified" combined with his exceptional trading results had placed him in the position of managing millions. Unfortunately, Ivan was not ready to handle the responsibility physically or emotionally.

Fortunately, Ivan is in his twenties and motivated to change. We put him on a regimen of healthful living. Ivan's colleagues now have respect for him and, more importantly, he has respect for himself. While the transition from his old habits and choices was difficult, Ivan finds it easier to reach his destination now with people who support him on his new healthy course in life.

Here is a successful strategy for putting deposits back into your life account to bring the balance high enough that large, emergency withdrawals will not close your account: keep a daily log of good and bad choices. Then begin to make better choices and watch your account grow.

Counting Your Healthy Deposits

• What are you doing to relieve stress on a daily basis?
• How is your relationship with yourself and others?
• How many supportive and positive relationships do you have in your life?
• Do you make good choices in food and liquid?
• What are the choices you make for the thoughts you have?
• How do you exercise your body to keep it flexible and strong?
• What information do you add to your brain every day to keep it mentally agile?
• What keeps you motivated and excited to participate every day of the week?
• How have you handled the issues of the past to make them resources instead of baggage?
• How do you spiritually expand to make your life more enriched?
• What philanthropic things have you done lately to support your prosperity consciousness?
• What rewards have you given yourself lately that make you feel like you have accomplished something special and what rewards do you have to look forward to?
• What decisions have you made lately that will result in a positive effect in the future?

Denials for Bigger Rewards

When people learn how to deny themselves temptation and immediate gratification for long-term rewards, they make deposits into their life accounts. The net results of these deposits are easy to calculate compared to the net results for the withdrawals that are made by those who do not say "no" to themselves. In your own life, you can see the comparable account statements. For example, did you ever track those kids who were hanging out on street corners while your nose was in the books? Or how about the ones who dropped out of school to explore an early adulthood while you were going to college? Then there were those early pregnancies, and experiments with drugs while you were enjoying family outings. Later on, there were choices of business deals you elected not to participate in because they looked a bit shaky or illegal. You said "no," when everyone else was cheating on his wife. You could have been one of the millions who plunged into the markets without a business plan, but you did not. Instead, you chose to take the professional approach. You could have been like the others taking on too many material responsibilities when you were not ready. You chose security first as you added and appreciated each step to achieving comfortable affluence. You could have chosen to overly stress yourself and your family in order to have more material comforts. But you decided to balance your time and enjoy each part of your life.

There is a saying, "The one who dies with the most toys wins." This saying can only be true if you enjoy your toys along the way.

Conclusion

Life offers us many opportunities for failure and success. Many of these opportunities for success are available to us by knowing that certain choices are more likely to make deposits into our account and provide for a comfortable and fruitful life while other choices are more likely to make withdrawals and lead us in a less favorable direction. It is important to look at the probable number of years we have in this life and make the best choices for life as a whole. Make the choices for yourself that you would for a dear friend if he were to ask you what direction to take. While solitaire is an absorbing game for some, it's a lonely one without a payoff. So, make sure it is the game you want to play.