This Advice Saved My Trading Career… and It Can Change Yours

“You’re going to get fired every day. But don’t listen. Come back tomorrow, and everything will be fine.”

That was the advice I got back when I first started my career in 1984.

I was a clerk in the pits of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. This was back in the days when traders would gather at a stock exchange and shout out orders in real time.

At the time, I was around 21 years old and fresh out of college. But most floor traders didn’t go to college, which meant my colleagues had four years’ experience ahead of me.

So I answered phones, wrote orders, and ran the orders out to the pit to execute them. Then I’d get back on the phone and report the fill to the customer.

But it was easy to make a mistake. Back then, trades were executed with hand signals and yelling.

And on the first day, I got thrown right into the fire.

My boss gave me signals for what trades to do from the pit. I had a sheet to reference, but it was like having to learn sign language in minutes.

I’d look up at the screens with the current stock prices, and it looked like scrolling gibberish.

Inevitably, I messed up an order, and my boss went ballistic. He told me I was an idiot and fired me.

Without another clerk giving me the advice above, that might have been the end of my trading career…

But this experience taught me a vital lesson. And that lesson applies to anyone who wants to succeed in trading the markets…

The Power of Perseverance

The next day, I got to work early.

My boss walked in and had a cup of coffee and a bag of McDonald’s, like everything was normal. He started asking me what I did last night and was in a normal, upbeat mood.

But that day, he asked me a question about adding fractions together. I didn’t know the answer. So I guessed.

Bad move. I guessed wrong. He went ballistic and fired me again.

Suffice to say, it was a high-strung and high-intensity environment.

But as miserable as it was getting fired and coming back with my tail between my legs – I kept coming back.

That perseverance made all the difference in the end.

So, here’s my advice for anyone who wants to make it as a trader…

Try, Try Again

No matter how many times you lose money… make a mistake… or “get fired,” so to speak…

Dust yourself off and figure out what went wrong. Then try again.

Maybe you put too much money into a trade and couldn’t stick it out when the market got volatile…

Next time, try putting just 2–3% of your trading money into the trade.

When you have less money at risk, then it’s easier to ride out any turbulence.

Or maybe you entered too many trades… and lost track of what was going on.

Next time, start slower.

Pick one stock or sector to focus on, and trade only that till you know it like the back of your hand.

Specializing in a stock can help you spot trends and learn how it reacts to economic events.

And so on.

The important thing is to keep learning. Don’t let yourself get discouraged and give up. 

I got knocked down more times than I can count. But I got back up, every single day.

That allowed me to succeed in the markets over a 40-year career, making millions along the way.

And with my help, you can transform your trading… and your financial life as well.

Happy Trading,

Larry Benedict
Editor, Trading With Larry Benedict