A Trader Journal

Change yourself, change your trading.

Stone Cutter and Trading

This is a simple story of a stone cutter. It is also an empowering story that I think many traders can feel and see themselves in.

How does a stone cutter break open a giant boulder? He starts out with a big hammer and whacks the boulder as hard as he can. The first time he hits it, there is not a scratch, not a chip - nothing. He pulls back the hammer and hits it again and again - 100, 200, 300 times without even a scratch.

After all this effort, the boulder may not show even the slightest crack, but he keeps on hitting it. People sometimes pass by and laugh at him for persisting when obviously his actions are having no effect. But a stone cutter is very intelligent. He knows that just because you don't see immediate results from your current actions, it doesn't mean you are not making progress. He keeps hitting at different points in the stone, over and over again, at at some point - may be on the 500th or 700th hit, may be on the 1004th hit - the stone doesn't just chip, but literally splits in half.



Was it this one single hit that broke the stone open? Of course not. It was the constant and continual pressure being applied to the challenge at hand. It is the consistent application of the discipline of CANI (Constant And Never ending Improvement), the hammer that can break open any boulder that is blocking the path of your progress.

My progress as trader was (and is) never linear i.e., no visible progress for weeks, months (and on some - years) and then suddenly few aha moments that nudge towards a bit more better trading and better trader. The cycle then starts again. You can see now why I find the above story empowering.

What is your experience on this road? Can you share any stories that you found helpful and empowering as a trader?

"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock,the stream always wins - not through strength, but through persistence." - Buddha

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