“Anyone can do it!” I’m sure you’ve heard or seen these words before; perhaps when you decided to become a trader you did so under the notion that anyone could do it. But the truth is not every field is cut out for everyone. Forex is no exception to this rule. Some people have that special something that makes it easier to create a trading edge while others will struggle at it.
Let’s take Michael Burry for instance. He was the former hedge-fund manager who predicted the housing market’s plunge. He forecast that the bubble would burst as early as 2007, and he acted on his conviction by betting against subprime mortgages. Michael Burry is not your average trader. The average trader goes along with trends, Michael Burry looked for unbeaten paths. But unlike a number of traders who go with their “gut” and believe in luck in the market Michael is a researcher.
One of the reasons Michael stays so focused on investing and researching is his challenge with Asperger syndrome. Asperger can make interacting with others difficult and Michael Burry did experience the downside, but for Michael it also has an upside. It allows him to stay highly focused and find details better than the average person. Asperger gave Michael a strong patience that is a considerable asset in the investment world. He could pour over information, reading news, and researching meticulously in a manner that would have most people bored and zoning out from lack of focus. This allowed Michael to find details that others would miss.
Another asset Asperger gave him was the ability to be an outsider and develop his own ideas. Most people want to be in the crowd, and tend to follow the ideas and movements of their peers and the general population, but when you have a syndrome that already makes you feel like you can never really fit in, you start to rely on your own ways of thinking and doing things. It gives you the chance to tread paths no one else wants to go or take risks no one wants to take. Michael did exactly this when he predicted the housing market plunge. At the time of his prediction no one wanted to believe, but he decided to go against majority and as a result came out as the victor. Michael Burry is a perfect example of an investor who has an edge.
In Michael’s case his Asperger’s helped in becoming the investor that his is, but the main point is that in order to be a success in the Forex world you must have an edge. Not all of us have his natural deep focus, in fact most of us don’t. And most are uncomfortable going against the majority to seek other investments and profits. Thus, for any individual to believe that they will automatically become a success in Forex simply because they have taken a course or read all the books on the subject is working under a great delusion. Like any field, certain personalities are better suited. Some may be like Michael who has a syndrome that they can use as an asset, and others have a great deal of dedication to taking themselves “above average” and creating a long term career. But it is inaccurate to assume that anyone can obtain success in Forex. You have to consider your own personality, your own ability to focus, and the lengths you are willing to go to in order to create an edge in the field.
