While on vacation over the 4th of July 2008 we visited Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota in the black hills. You know the place with the sculptures of the presidents of the USA. As we learned about what it took to make this monument I was amazed. It took years of work for many men.
They made small statues 1/16 the size of what they wanted to sculpt on the mountain. Then they took measurements of the small statues and then times it by 16 to get the measurements for the larger work. 90% of the sculpture was done with dynamite. Then they used other methods to get the finished work. The craftsmen became so good that they could come within a couple of inches of the finished surface by using the dynamite.
Mr. Borglum, the artist was 57 years old when he started the project. He lived for 17 years before he died and left his son to finish the project. He had worked on many projects and was taught by engineers how to do this type of blasting with dynamite to get the end result. They had to get rid of the surface granite to get to the granite that was hard enough to sculpt.
Why am I telling you all this stuff? I was thinking of how much the art of trading was like this type of project. It does not matter how old you are when you start but you need to prepare yourself to become a good trader. You need to be taught by someone as to what to look for to make a good trade. You know get rid of the poor trades and get down to the good trends to make the high probability trades. I thought how much like simulated trading the making of small replicas is to prepare you for live trading. First you see what a good trade looks like then expand it to the real thing. It is like when a trader starts out with small trades then works up to know how to stay in a trade longer for the big profits.
The statues still need to be maintained to protect them form the weather. Traders need to practice their craft and maintain their skills to be sharp and profitable. Trading can be fun and you can become lost in trying to become a good trader. But to get the level of fulfillment that successful traders get you will need to put in the time and develop the skill and discipline to be a good trader.