How much do you ask of yourself ? Do you know? When I work with a trader, or anyone else who wants to achieve a higher level of performance and success, I attempt to determine how much that individual is willing to ask of himself.

This is what I have found:
 
How much you ask of yourself is equal to how much you will receive in return.

I call this ‘The Law of Ask and Receive.’  It is as immutable as the ‘Law of Relativity’ or ‘Law of Gravity.’  I believe that most of us know this instinctively, but most people do not know exactly how much they ask of themselves.  The answer can be a revelation for those who fall on either end of the spectrum – those who ask far too much and those who ask far too little.

The ‘Ultimate Asker’
Over the past two decades, I have worked with a top achiever I will call ‘James’ who is at the top of his field.  He is recognized internationally, and has been written up in the leading journals and delivers keynote addresses at the leading conventions.  He runs a major organization with countless people depending on him for their livelihoods.  His leadership style consists of leading by example, so the people who work for him are eager to be worthy of his respect.  As a result, they model James’ amazing productivity and commitment and work up to their own maximum potential.

Behind the scenes is the story I know about James that others on the outside cannot see.  I know that he works into the wee hours of the night and is up at 6:00 am the next morning.  He begins his day working out with his trainer so that he has the strength to make it through another grueling16-hour day.  I have seen him work through excruciating pain while lying in a hospital bed.  In fact, he recently told me that he has not had a pain-free day in over twenty-five years.  James asks so much of himself that it is awe-inspiring.  The result is that he has also received a commensurate compensation and his level of professional achievement is the envy of those around him.

The Other End of the Spectrum
There are countless traders I have worked with who ask the same level of performance and commitment from themselves as James requires of himself.  They ask that much from themselves because they also want and expect that much in return.  Instinctively, they know that they cannot ask for that which they are unwilling to pay.

Unfortunately, there are a fair number of individuals who do not understand the rules of the game – and Pat is a good example.  Pat is a trader who complains endlessly about the time that he has been forced to devote to his trading business to bring it to the minimal level of productivity.  Pat asks very little of himself, but he expects great returns for every small thing that he does.  You will never see Pat pushing himself through pain or discomfort or his current level of achievement.  He always has an excuse or reason for not going beyond minimal effort.  His family and past employers have never been able to depend upon him to take on new challenges or make a grand effort in pursuit of excellence.

This low personal expectation of effort for an expectation of maximum return has been a lifelong pattern for Pat.  Like many children, Pat was raised and educated in a very touchy-feely environment where he was required do very little and to ask very little of himself.  But, he was always excessively praised and rewarded for the smallest effort.   The result of this low expectation/high compensation method of childrearing is that Pat is, in his current stage of development, unable to ask anything of himself.  At the same time, he is infected with a nearly terminal sense of entitlement.

To be expected, his level of reward has tended to be low, which causes him to feel a toxic mixture of frustration, anger, petulance, disbelief and self-righteous indignation.

The ‘Silver Mean’
Most traders are not even close to the bottom of the personal-expectation spectrum.  For a trader, the mid-point should not be confused with the ‘golden mean.’  Expecting just enough of yourself to achieve the mid-ground is usually not sufficient to achieve it if you aspire to be a trader.  An average good trader is actually quite an exceptional individual.  It requires a great deal of commitment to become an average good trader.

To become a ‘Master Trader’ requires the level of “asking” that James demonstrates daily.  A Master Trader must be willing to ask for his best effort and more, to not be satisfied with what he has already done but to be willing to ask himself to climb that next step, and then the next.  The path is not easy.  It never was. 

So, I challenge you to ask yourself the following:
• How much do I ask of myself?
• What do I expect in return?
• What more am I willing to ask of myself?
                 
And – what one step will I take today that I have never taken before?