Trading Toward the American Dream
I don’t know about you but, so far, this year has been very busy for me. Dealing with the current state of the economy, politics, trying to understand the new paradigm of American commerce, more politics, the housing dilemma, stocks go up big…then go down big, more politics…well, you get the message. From the moment we wake up in the morning until the time we go to bed at night, there seems to be some kind of controversy going on and, frankly, it’s getting tiresome. We struggle daily to make more money so we can buy more things and many times it appears that our 20th Century pursuit for a life of personal happiness and material comfort has become a real chore for us in the 21st Century.
Traditionally, Americans have tried to attain what became known as the American Dream through hard work and cautiousness as it pertained to their personal finances. This approach helped our grandfathers develop a solid financial foundation that insured a comfortable life and a tranquil retirement. But in the past few decades those values have been pushed to the sidelines in favor of a “get it now” financial attitude tied to a “get rich quick” philosophy. Our population seems to be constantly searching for instant riches through state sponsored lotteries, game shows, pro sports, show business or litigation. Many psychologists actually believe that the idea of quick riches has served to deteriorate our traditional American work ethic.
A few decades ago, the vision of the American Dream was essentially universal. You attained it by earning and saving enough money for an education for yourself and your children, a home in the suburbs, a dependable car, through a first-rate job to sustain the dream. But today it’s different for each one of us – today the dream is how you personally define it. For many of you, trading is a method of attaining the dream but remember that trading is not a get rich quick scheme but rather a technique of adding to your personal wealth in a methodic manner.
Trading will allow you to adjust your personal prosperity at your own pace based exclusively on your own parameters – things like risk tolerance and your specific financial goals. But never doubt that you will have to work industriously and deliberately in order to excel in your trading. It takes some planning, some preparation and some education. It also takes a calculated work ethic to attain a positive end result. There is no “get rich quick” plan – it’s going to take some time and you have to be prepared to expend the energy necessary to attain a successful final outcome. A winning trading experience represents how Americans used to reach for the dream – with a determined and unwavering resolve while developing a sense of self-reliance and confidence in their plan.
Ideally, we might all feel more secure and content if we could go back in time and live a less complicated life but that’s not going to happen. It is time to develop a new principled strategy that will insure growth in the short-term and in the long-term.
Today, American society seems to be extremely focused on the intrinsic power of the almighty dollar and, many times, totally discount the joy we can find in our lives for reasons other than material gain. We should remember that while money is an important aspect of life, it certainly isn’t something that genuinely brings joy – you can have lots of money and be totally miserable. I believe it’s time for us all to redirect our attention and values to the things that are truly important in life in an effort to not just attain, but enjoy, our personal American Dreams.
