Expressing who you are or what you do as a trader with a symbol could be a daunting task.
The ambiguity hits another dimension when you fully understand that any image used (animate or inanimate) has its merits and demerits.
For example, if you decide to use a rock to represent the strength or longevity of your business, also remember that a rock could also be associated with stagnancy.
Do you understand where I am coming from?
Left for me, I would rather spare myself all the stress involved and settle for a symbol using the letters of my name or establishment to express my ethos.
That has always been my idealogy until I got a paradigm shift watching a wildlife documentary that focused on this majestic bird called the eagle.
After the documentary, I embarked on a little research on the eagle, and I discovered that for as long as the earth has existed, cultures, nations, and religions have always used this bird of prey as a symbol of strength, courage, wisdom, etc.
For example:
One of the strongest nations in the world (United States of America ) uses the bald-headed eagle as the national symbol of freedom.
The native Americans also saw the eagle as a sacred bird, due to its unique ability to fly higher than any other bird. In their culture, the eagle symbolized courage, wisdom, and strength.
Back here in Nigeria, the eagle appears in our coat of arms where it symbolizes strength.
In several religions, the eagle has always been wildly regarded.
The reason for this is not only because of its majestic looks but the fact that it possesses some of the finest traits that has made the eagle one of the most successful birds of prey in the wild.
In our profession as forex traders, there is a common quote which says:
Less than 10% of forex traders are successful.
Believe it or not, most statistics point out that this fact is not far from the truth.
When you compare this fact to the survival rate of the eagles in the wild, from the moment they hatch from their eggs to adulthood (5 years), you will find out that researches point out that roughly 10 % of the eagles survive
While these facts may completely destroy any ounce of desire to become a trader, truth is:
Forex trading is an insanely difficult career to embark on, and it is so because the psychology wrapped around this profession has to be built from scratch independently by each trader.
Just like the eagle, we as forex traders are predators, and our inability to make money in the market means our untimely demise in the profession.
So, why do we need to take a cue from the eagle?
1. Survival of the fittest
Eaglets are siblicidal.
In other words, from the day the eaglets hatch, there is a huge tendency that the stronger eaglet will peck the weaker sibling(s) to death!
Call it barbaric, call it a crime against animal-hood, call it whatever you want to, but the fact remains that:
This behavioral pattern in the eaglets ensures only the strongest eaglet will survive to adulthood. In most cases, only one eaglet survives this gruesome act.
Some studies also buttress the fact that the parent in most cases does nothing about it even when present in the nest.
Now, before you go ahead and judge the eagle, trading is pretty much the same way.
We are all trader-cidal (if there is any word like that)
To survive in trading, it simply means, you have to steal money from another trader’s accounts.
Even if it means:
-Stealing the money of a retired pensioner or
-Stealing the money of a trader who took a loan or
-Stealing the money of another trader who has refunded his account for the umpteenth time
Trading is a zero-sum game.
For this reason, it’s advisable that every new trader has to become that strong eaglet.
This can only be achieved by mastering the art of trading and also mastering oneself.
2. Independent
Though the eagle is naturally endowed to become a formidable hunter, the eagle is still weak and helpless at the point it hatches out of its egg, just like every other bird.
The eagle may be congenitally predisposed to becoming a bird of prey, but its parents still have to provide a period of mentorship before it emerges as that bird we all admire.
Averagely it takes the eagle 6 months to a year before the eagle becomes fully independent. At this point, the eagle will no longer depend on the parent’s kill for a meal and the young eagle will move further away from its parent’s nest.
One of the reasons why most new traders do not survive their trading career long enough before they become profitable and independent traders is because of their need to always be spoon-fed.
These days I come across more traders who want to get fed with trading signals rather than learning the art of trading.
This behavioral pattern comes in different forms.
Some traders outrightly opt for paid trading signals without the intent of learning how to trade properly, while other traders look for trading groups on social media where they can feed off the seemingly better trader’s trade call.
There is absolutely no confidence in these set of traders despite the fact that they have everything to become fine traders.
These traders in most cases contribute to the proverbial 10% traders that never make it.
3. Vision
The eagle has a powerful vision which helps it locate it’s prey even when they are flying at a high altitude.
The fact that they can locate a rabbit over 3 km away shows you that our eyesight is nothing compared to theirs.
As traders, we have just one prey to catch, and that is…
Good trades in the market. We need to make money off the market in order to feed ourselves and our families.
A poor vision is what most new traders possess when it comes to the art of picking viable setups while scanning through the market.
Most new traders struggle with this aspect because of three major reasons:
- Poor or half baked trading strategies and/or
- Poor trading psychology or
- Both
In order to be a consistently profitable trader, you need both.
If you have a great hunting or trading strategy but lag in the psychological aspect of trading, you will struggle as a trader.
If you also have great trading psychology but lack a decent trading strategy, you will also fall prey to those traders who have worked on both their psychological and trading strategy
Having a good trading vision means knowing how to hunt down good trades without putting yourself in harm’s way if the prey you are hunting turns against you.
The processes involved in building a good trading strategy varies with different traders, but I will tell you that a common practice among most traders is:
- Identifying high probability patterns
- Understanding the overall direction of a trend
- Knowing how to time entries in the market
- Having a decent money management system in place
- Knowing where stop losses should be and
- Knowing where to take profits
All these points listed will mean nothing if they are not wrapped around having a satisfactory trading psychology.
If you just jump into trades without factoring these points, I tell you, your vision is no better than that of Austine Powers.
4. Opportunistic
Yes, the eagle is one dogged hunter to be admired, but did you know that the eagle is an opportunistic predator?
Meaning if it’s convenient for them, they would prefer stealing a meal from another bird or squabble over a carcass rather than hunting themselves.
This helps the eagle save a lot of energy and time rather than trying to scout for prey.
Too many traders forget to realize that the best setups in the market are not difficult to locate. Most times high probability setups are perceived within seconds of scanning through the charts.
For this reason, to be consistently profitable as a trader, you have to learn the art of becoming an opportunistic trader, which in my opinion takes years for many traders to master.
The reason for this is that, to perpetually get viable trades in the market, you have to be more of an observer than a trader.
If you still struggle with this ideology of folding your hands and doing nothing for the most part of the week, don’t feel guilty for you are not alone. Being a busy body and bragging about it has always been a major part of our culture.
One thing the eagle does not take for granted is the energy it expends while scouting for prey, and If there is anything a trader can learn from this habit is the preservation of capital
So how do you teach a trader to be less active and more observant in the market?
Only time can really pass down such invaluable knowledge.
5. Fearless
Though the eagle is an opportunistic hunter, this bird of prey is also fearless when put to the test.
In some rare cases, the golden eagle hunts down mountain goats that are over six times it’s own body weight.
How do they manage to hunt such prey when they are disadvantaged by size?
The simple answer is technique.
The eagle waits for the mountain goats to climb up the cliff where they become vulnerable and then pulls them off the cliff with a surprise attack. Gravity does the rest and the mountain goat turns eagle’s meal.
In the last few weeks, I have noticed many traders express fear in various forms.
Some traders complain about the market being highly manipulated by the market makers and others continue to nag that both fundamental and technical analysis are useless in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
If there is anything that could cripple any trader’s performance in the market, its the word called “FEAR”.
The moment you start doubting your trading abilities for whatever reason, I can assure you that everything you know or worked in the market, goes down the toilet.
So how do we remain fearless like the eagle?
The answer is “Technique”
When your fundamental and technical analysis seems to lag or work less than they use to, as a trader you are faced with two options.
- Stay off the market or
- Reduce your trade size while trading only your ace setups
In conclusion
Always remember that the name of the game is called “longevity”.
It’s not how much you make and lose in short bursts, but how long you can stay in the market, with your trading capital intact.
The market moves in cycles. You could have a week, month, even a year of low probability setups, only to stumble across a period of high probability trades that could fetch you profits for months.
The eagle has continued to re-define longevity by being one of the longest living birds of prey. In the wild, they could live for up to 25-30 years and in captivity, they live longer.
So the next time you spot an eagle, show them some respect, they are traders in animal form, searching for kills in the wild.
