In the recent Forbes article, I took a look at what I called the "real reason" why traders don't succeed. No, it's not having the wrong "setups" and it's not having the wrong mindset.  What sinks traders is what sinks most startup businesses. Indeed, if you view trading as a startup business and evaluate it on the four criteria in the article, you might wonder how, possibly, the average trader could succeed.

The building blocks of success start with talent, but of course, all of us know talented people who don't go on to become successful. As Goethe suggests above, it is when talent is expressed and exercised that we experience our greatest fulfillment. The opposite of fulfillment is frustration. If frustration is our dominant emotion, in trading or in any other endeavor, we know that we aren't making optimal use of our talents. As a psychologist, I feel fulfilled. As a mechanic, I would be frustrated. It's all about being what I'm good at.  

When our talents find expression, work energizes and inspires us, and that helps us build unusual skill. What makes traders successful is finding an approach to markets that so engages their strengths that it supercharges their learning curves. When work is frustrating, it drains us of energy. When work is fulfilling, it invigorates us.  

A career is something we choose to do. A calling is what no one can keep us from doing. What the average trader calls a "passion for trading" is merely a set of ego needs to make money and find success. That passion dies down quickly when the challenge of the learning curve is faced head-on.  When trading taps into our talents, that is when we find a calling in markets. It is the sense of calling that accelerates our learning, creating unusual skill.  

Unusual skill married to great talent creates a world-class performance.

This is why we can often identify great traders by observing what they do outside of market hours. If trading truly expresses talent and embraces a calling, it doesn't really matter that markets aren't open. They love working on their game. They love the challenge of finding opportunity and learning from experience. What makes a trader successful is not a passion for trading; it's a passion for all that goes into profitable trading.