Elements of an investor

Mike Norman writes "the most important lesson I've learned -- and the most difficult to learn -- is to master myself and my behavior.

I could dazzle people with my knowledge, but I still couldn't make a dime consistently in the markets.

... I started thinking that maybe the problem was me. I had a "we have met the enemy and it is us" kind of moment. From that point on, I started to focus on what I was doing to sabotage myself and then try to correct it.

Initially, the progress was slow. All of the old habits were taking their time going away. Little by little, however, change was occurring, and with that change came positive results. Soon, the momentum was building in the right direction, and my trading account was growing, too.

Over time, I began to see that the behavioral part is really simple. It can basically be distilled down to four elements: patience, detachment, alignment, and discipline.