Rich Dad Stock Blog

How do we become financially free trading stock and options?  Am I capable of becoming a successful trader?  What separates our success from failure? There are four foundational keys for success in any area of your life, in particular, trading stocks and options:

1. Mindset: “We need to believe we can do it”.  Our ego’s do not like to be wrong and it will be a self fulfilling prophecy if we do not wrap our brains around not only the possibility but the probability we can learn a proven system of trading stock and options.  Robert and Kim’s book and games focus on just this.  They share their philosophies and stories of success opening our minds to believe we can do it and how it is done.

2. Education: “We need to learn how to do it”. Unless we learn the steps of successful traders, we will always have either limited success or failure.  For instance, remember when you learned how to drive, you went to drivers ed class, then you got in a car with a mentor right next to you while you applied what you learned.  Your mentor had his own steering wheel and brake to protect you if you made a mistake and helped you build confidence in the knowledge you attained in class.  Now imagine that you didn’t take a class and your mentor didn’t ride next to you but instead gave you the keys and sent you on your way and told you to ‘figure it out as you go.’  Could you learn that way?  Certainly, but the question is, how much failure, loss and emotional distress may you have caused yourself while learning.  Could the horrible experience prevent you from driving again?  Of course, you now have created a painful memory that will always be a block to your learning.  This is the reason why learning proven systems from those who are successfully trading and trusting their guidance is imperative.  Your education and mentor will give you the skills and confidence needed to build a successful trading career.

3. Passion: “Why are we doing it”?  When we are looking to change something we do in life and and learn how to trade a proven system to take us on the fast track to wealth, there is a learning curve.  Trading stocks and options is simple yet it is not easy.  Much like a diet and exercise program, it requires commitment and an understanding of why you are making the change in order to thrive during the learning curve.  If you do not understand why you are committing to learn something new, you will not be able to sustain the change and create the new habit in your life.  For instance, let’s say you choose to start a running program.  We all know if you run consistently you will see the results of better health, stronger mind and body and a self confidence in yourself that results in feeling great about yourself and the way you look and feel.  If you did not know why you were committing to running such as to lose weight, live healthier, attain fitness goals, etc, what is going to get you off the couch several days a week and keep you running?  You have to know why, the why will keep you focused and passionate about the results you are achieving while you just feel like staying in bed.  The same is true for becoming a stock and options trader.  As with anything worthwhile, the learning curve offers moments and days of frustration and unless you can know what is driving you to push through those days when you don’t feel like trading or when you make a mistake, I can guarantee you will want to quit.  When you stay focused on the why, nothing will stop you.  So what is your why?  Is it to spend more time with your family, to travel the world, to have some super cool fun toys or big home?  Is it to give back to charity or financially support an elderly family member that can not support themselves or that you have a passion to work a career that will never pay you enough to support your family but you would love the choice to work on your terms, simply because you love what you do instead of working to get a paycheck.

4. Action: “Just do it”.  As Nike says “Just do it”.  A great idea or dream is only fulfilled when immediate action is taken.  All your wishes, hopes and dreams are just theory until the first step is taken.  All things worth their weight will take belief, education and time but all require that first step, then the next step and so on.  This is where the rubber hits the road.  It is all well and good if you decide to become a trader, believe you can do it, get educated to do it, understand why you are doing it but put it off  When a raindrop hits the water, it creates ripples that seemingly go on forever.  That one single raindrop shapes the water and all things in it moving forward and each continual drop creates consistent change and movement.  You need to learn then put into action what you have learned.  How many times have you decided to start a diet or exercise program on Monday but when Monday came, you didn’t take action?  What results did you get?  None, not until you took that first step and disciplined yourself to continue taking steps.

These four keys will never work without each other.  you can take action and figure it out on your own and with the pain and cost of failure, it has a high probability of keeping you from ever starting again.  Knowing what trading will provide for you and your family is only possible with learning how and doing it.  Believing you can do it and never taking the steps to actually put it into action will always be an unfulfilled dream and certainly learning how to become a trader then not trading will leave you with the knowledge but without results.  In my experience having a mentor accomplishes two things; someone to help you be accountable to yourself and give you the confidence to apply what you are learning.  anyone can become a successful stock and options trader but without these four keys, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Since I have been living these keys in all areas of my life, I have enjoyed the fruits of my labor.  I learned through Rich Dad Poor Dad and Robert and Kim’s other books, that I could do it.  Through Rich Dad Education, I learned the proven trading system that has me on track toward financial freedom, profiting month after month regardless of whether the market is up, down or sideways.  Now that is security.  No one can ever take that from me, free at last.