Way of the turtle

228
•
Way of the Turtle

---

was making money when he was losing was that I was trading bet-
ter than he was because I was focusing on the rules and blotting out
any ego issues. He blamed it on not having been given the secrets.
He did not want to face the truth.
Humble Pie, The Best Food for Traders
If you want to be a great trader, you must conquer your ego and
develop humility. Humility allows you to accept the future as some-
thing that is unknowable. Humility will keep you from trying to
make predictions. Humility will keep you from taking it personally
when a trade goes against you and you exit with a loss. Humility will
let you embrace trading that is based on simple concepts because
you won’t have a need to know secrets so that you can feel special.
Don’t Be an Ass
Although I had an easier time than most, perhaps all, of the Tur-
tles, I don’t want to give the impression that I am some sort of ego-
less automaton who was immune to the cognitive biases and a
master of my own psychology. I was not. Here’s a case in point.
Sometime during our second year we were in a big move, and I
once again was loaded with the maximum four units we were
allowed as part of the rules. I asked a few of the other Turtles how
many units they were in, and several of them did not have the full
four-unit position. That meant that they were not making as much
money as they should have been. Thus, my asking them about their
positions was a bit like rubbing their noses in it.
Later that day, like almost every day, I left to catch a commuter
train since I lived in the western suburb of Riverside, Illinois. Sev-
Mastering Your Demons
•
229

---

eral of the other Turtles commuted by train as well, and we all
would leave at about the same time. I remember opening the door
and entering the hallway to hear one of the guys who had left a bit
earlier say to the other something like, “Did you hear him today?
What an ass.”
The thing is they were right. I had been an ass: the worst kind
of ass, the clueless dolt who had been one without realizing it. I
had not stopped to consider how my actions were affecting the oth-
ers. Upon the briefest reflection, it was obvious that I had been
cruel to brag about having something that they did not. I am sure
that it was all the more bitter to have those careless remarks come
from a young punk barely out of high school.
I have thought about that day many times over the last 20-plus
years since I overhead that bit of conversation. It was the day that
I vowed to try to never be an ass again, to spend a little more time
thinking about how what I do and say could affect others before I
acted. I also try to be a bit more tolerant of the clueless asses I
encounter on occasion, mindful of the fact that I too am one from
time to time.