Trader Profile: Alpha Centauri

The entity known as Zeefreaks recently posed a question to us mentors, 

What does it take to be a success 
(in this world of trading)?

This was in response to a recent post on the ZF page. I find that it would be hard for my system to answer this question sufficiently in my current form so my system will reactivate the cyborg unit automaton for this purpose.  

Starting transmission...

Before I begin, I would just like to say that honestly, I do not consider myself to be a success yet. Success is relative. Much like perfection, the important thing is the journey. 

And to understand the journey, I feel like we have to start at the beginning. 

The dream

Ever since I could remember, I never wanted to conform to the norms of society. I never dreamed of having a 9-5 job or working in a company all my life. There were always loftier goals: living free from office politics, never answering to a boss or a client. However, life happens and reality sets in. So I went through the motions of working for a company yet the dream never died. In my off hours and weekends, I started several companies and worked on side projects to look for a way out of the rat race. Not all of these endeavors ended well. But the dream was always there.

I was then introduced to the world of stock market through a friend. The allure of earning more than other mortal men has appealed to my very being. Of course, it started with just tips and rumors. It was hit and miss. But then there was always something at the back of my mind that troubled me with this technique. My dependence on these tipsters or insiders weighed heavily on me. What happens when they are gone? There had to be a better way. 

Enter the Zeefreaks program.

The sacrifice

It was stated before of how hard it was to go through the ZF course. It was certainly not fun and games, people. It was 3 months of 3 hours daily of grueling study of charts, concepts and more charts. It was essentially and literally reprogramming our minds to how we viewed the market. 

After the hours of study, there were even more hours of seatworks, exams and lively discussions of more charts. This meant giving up family dinners and meetup with friends. Weekends spend charting and reviewing. Even sleep deprivation since my shift started at 4-5am. You could say that my life revolved around charts since then. It was a major change and needed total commitment but I immersed myself and totally loved every minute of it. 

The transformation

My performance throughout the course was up and down. Mostly down. But I stuck to it and didn't give up even when doubt started to creep in. I learned to trust the process. I went back to my notes and reviewed some more. Backtested again and again. 

There was a sort of manic drive to be better. If others were able to do it, why not me? What can other people see in the charts that are not visible to me? There was no proverbial light bulb switching on. I had to train my eyes and mind to see the little things, the small indicators, the patterns that were oblivious to all but a select few. I would remember the days when I felt helpless watching stocks fly with me just wishing I had those. That feeling would make me refocus and study some more. 

Once I got my first few winning trades, my confidence was restored. All that time spent was not wasted. It was just part of the process. Just keep pounding the rock as I said before. Those winning trades just helped to ignite a spark within. To experience that high of being able to spot winners on your own. 

The ongoing journey

So again, I do not consider myself a success. I like to think of the end of the course as my 'rebirth' in the stock market. So you could say that I have only been trading for about 6 months. A newbie to say the least. 

Maybe I'm a little bit better equipped to deal with the market than before. There is still a long way to go before I reach my 10,000 hours. I am still constantly improving my craft. Tweaking the defects, plugging the holes, documenting the results. I have yet to reach my final form. I am still feeding my newfound addiction. 

And so this is my story.

Alpha Centauri of the ZF tribe. 

Just another fictional character in the world of the Philippines stock market. 

What's yours?


Ending transmission...