Making a Better Version of Your Self.
In this article we look at examples from trading and sport of how people helped themselves become better versions of themselves, and how this helped them fulfil the potential they had within them.
‘Better’
We all want to be Better, we all we want to do Better, we all want to feel Better, and we all want to look Better.
We seek Better knowledge, Better Information, Better methods, Better Practices.
Better is foundational to who we are. The desire to achieve better drives us forward, motivates us, inspires us.
Becoming A Better Version of Yourself
Imagine a being a boxer who shows early promise.
You win your early fights and move up the ranks quickly.
You fight progressively better opponents until soon you are getting a shot at the world championship.
But on the big day you were not quite ready mentally for the fight at that elite level.
It doesn’t go your way and now you feel a failure.
Your confidence is dented, your pride hurt, your self-esteem bruised.
This is where you now meet your toughest, most resilient, most resourceful enemy, your self.
It’s Not the Mountain We Conquer, it is Ourselves. Edmund Hillary.
The story above was taken from a brilliant podcast with former world cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson.
Nelson describes how he felt after failing to win the world-championship.
He felt humiliated and ashamed.
Nelson makes it clear that he could have ran and hid: He had job offers and other options.
That would have been the easy choice. But Nelson chose to tough it out.
Over the next few years Nelson travelled away from his home and family, sparring and learning to become a better boxer.
In the podcast Nelson talks about the biggest battle, not the battle to train the body, but the one to train the mind.
9 years after failing to win the world championship, Nelson achieved his dream. He eventually went on to become the longest serving world cruiserweight champion in history.
NBA – Kermit Washington
“You are what you can make yourself into”.
Johnny Nelson’s story is echoed in a New Yorker article about LA Lakers great Denver Washington.
The article describes how Washington’s career stalled having been on a sharp upward trajectory through his early years.
After college Washington joined the LA Lakers where his early promise led to him getting plenty of game time.
However his early promise soon started to fade. – During one game, Washington was goaded by an opponent who told him ‘to learn to play the game‘.
Washington could easily have gone the way of many a promising young athlete who fails to scale the heights their potential offers them.
However, Washington made a choice which was to change his career trajectory.
Washington reached out to a well-known college coach and requested ‘private coaching’.
This act may not seem revolutionary in the 21st century, however in the 1970s, pro-players ‘just didn’t do this’.
In the months ahead Washington practiced and developed, working on his game and his mindset. With the coach’s help, Washington was becoming a better version of himself.
Soon Washington’s performances started to improve, and eventually he was virtually the first name on the team sheet.
Washington eventually became an ‘All-Star’ and a ‘Hall of Famer’.
The New Yorker article credits Washington’s act as being the catalyst for the ‘Performance Revolution’ in sport.
Until then, the prevailing sports wisdom was that “you are what you are.” but now it was replaced with “you are what you can make yourself into”.
Better and trading ….
Trading has many similarities to sport, traders may not suffer the humiliating setbacks with the world watching. But there will be many smaller ones which hurt over time.
Whilst the occasional large loss may be fatal, for many traders, it is death by a thousand cuts which is the often the problem.
Traders experience the early years rapid rise, the growth into maturity, but as they move up the ranks they face bigger challenges. The bar is raised.
Traders face the same self-doubt as that which impacts sportspeople, the external critics are not the problem, its the voices inside their heads.
A trader’s biggest enemy is themselves.
Getting Better, requires becoming a better version of yourself.
Both Nelson and Washington went from accepting they were good enough, to seeking to become better.
Sure they focused to what they did, but they also worked on themselves and becoming better version of themselves.
Nelson said, …………
When you become better version of yourself:
- The things you do become far more effective,
- The knowledge you know becomes more useful,
- The skills you have acquired have a sharper edge.
It is not what you do, but who you are and how you are when you do them, that really makes the difference.
Becoming a Better Version of Your Self.
I recently read an excellent blog post by the ‘LoneStockTrader’ Becoming A Great Trader – Start With Who.
The article describes some of the steps he took to help himself become a better trader.
He talks about the people who inspired him and about his self-analysis that he conducted through keeping a detailed trading journal.
What struck me about his efforts, was his focus on his ‘self’ and improving who he was.
He was working to become a better version of himself.
Whilst most people focus on developing their skills or knowledge, they rarely seek to focus on developing their ‘Self’.
The concept of ‘Better’ is about focusing on developing yourself, and becoming a better version of your Self.
Whilst, knowledge and skills make small differences to performance, becoming a better version of yourself is likely to lead to major performance improvements.
Becoming a better version of yourself is a long-term goal, it is unlikely to happen overnight.
Some changes will be immediate, but these need to be internalised. It requires investment of time, energy and sometimes money, but above all commitment.
Postscript
i use to be a trader, having a career of over 20 years.
Then, some 15 years into my trading career, I was selected to join a trial coaching programme at the bank I worked at.
The fruits of this coaching were to yield significant and sustained improvements in my trading performance over the subsequent years.
In 2009, I made a choice to become a coach. I now work with traders and investment professionals helping them to become better versions of themselves.
If you enjoyed this article:
You may enjoy some of our other articles which explores a range of themes related to Human Performance in Financial Markets. This includes, ‘It’s Not the Market You Overcome, It’s Yourself‘ and other posts on our Articles Page.
We are passionate about working with those who want to better themselves.
If you are curious about any aspect of our work, or would like to understand more about how coaching could help you or your business: Then please email me at steven.goldstein@alpharcubed.com.
