Despite the injury of Christiano Ronaldo, Portugal managed to beat France 1-0 yesterday in the European Championship final with a goal in the extra time from substitute Eder.
Eder became the hero of the match at the 109 minutes when he managed to score from around 25 meters with a low shot leaving the french goalkeeper Lloris helpless.
Learn to defense before you learn to attack
What is fascinating here is that Portugal took a lot of criticism throughout the entire tournament for showing not very attractive football and playing defensively. Fact is they didn’t score much but they also didn’t lose. We as traders can learn a lot from this style of playing. I have said it not once, learning how to protect your investment and your profits should be top priority that comes before learning how to win pips. Because even if you win 100 pips a day but at the same time lose 150 pips a day you won’t make much money at the end right?
Playing offensive will win you games, playing defensive will win you titles.
Believe in your skills
Many were crying and at the same time many were ecstatic when Christiano Ronaldo got injured and had to join the substitutes at the bench. Portugal had two options ahead of them: total mental crash as their biggest star is not there or play even better now that he is gone. What have they done? The whole team played like one big superstar. They got even more motivated and focused. The eleven on the field knew they had what it takes to become the champion even though France was at home.
This is another great example for us the traders of the world. There is no one, anywhere that should let you QUIT your dream of becoming a pro trader. The only one stopping you from becoming what you want to become (be that may a trader or any other profession) is you. Make it your goal but most of all do it right. Don’t fall for the $97 robots that will make you a millionaire in a month. Find the right educational materials and study.
Rely on yourself and your trading decisions. This is the only way you can beat the market. This is the only way, you will know what, how and when it went wrong. This way you can improve and learn from your mistakes. Following something or someone blindly will make you some money for some time, until this someone is gone and then you are back to step 1. Or alternatively it will blow up your account and you even won’t know what happened and why it happened.
Study, develop your trading plan, practice, become profitable, stick to the plan and repeat the last steps.
Portugal The “Losers” Team
Isn’t it ironic when you think about it? Everyone called Portugal the losing team, the not scoring team etc… BUT at the end Portugal took the trophy home. I’m going to make the analogy to trading again as these real live examples trigger the inspirational switch in me. Criticism when constructive is something that I love and look for from my students, followers, readers and so on. Baseless criticism on the other hand is something i’m not a fan with.
It is very easy to point at people/person when they are down (no that Portugal was down) nagging their mistakes. Losers are usually the ones who nag and blame others for their own failure. It is never the loser’s fault – never! Losers are the ones who would give up the moment they have a chance: “No, this is not working out for me…I quit to the next tiny obstetrical that will make me quit again.” This is losers mentality.
Does Portugal look like a loser to you? Maybe not the most attractive football but you won’t win the Cup playing “nice and beautiful” alone. The mentality of a winner is most distinctive in tough times. When the ship is sailing smooth and there is no wind to rock the big boat you can’t really say who is who. Difficult moments define us as people and show our real character. These moments are the ones that count.
Even if you are not a football fan I hope that you will extract the important points made here. You must learn to solve issues when it looks impossible. You must know how to never quit and always keep up no matter how hard the situation is. You must wake up the leader and winner within you if it is still sleeping. We all have it in us but not everyone manages to reach to it. Can you?
Yours,
Vladimir
