I love this because it is SO applicable to trading…

“He was just in the right place at the right time” is the phrase often used to describe someone that appears to have gotten lucky, but the truth of the matter is entirely different…

You see, being in the right place at the right time simply isn’t enough – there is more to the apparent “Luck” that occurs for certain people, 4 keys in fact

Here’s a story that illustrates this perfectly

Conrad Hilton was born on December 25, 1887. He was the eighth child in the family. His father, August Hilton, ran a small business – a grocery store. We can not say that the store were bringing a lot of money, but the family did not starve and Conrad successfully received a higher education in the Mining Institute. He was an engineer by profession, but it did not attract him much. Since childhood Conrad Hilton wanted to become a bank manager. He saw himself among the people who were tossing millions of dollars. But the war came.

In 1917, Conrad went as a volunteer in the army. Eighteen months later, he returned back home and found out that his father had died in a car accident. Conrad had to take care of his future on his own. However, it was not so easy to start the business, which he was dreaming about. Conrad Hilton suffered one failure after another. When he was 31, his first bank went bankrupt, which lasted less than a year. The young man had a purse of 5000 dollars at that time and a head filled with dreams of banking. But Hilton was not destined to run a banking business.

Having arrived in Cisco, TX 31-year-old Hilton stayed at nondescript Mobley Hotel. Young entrepreneur immediately noticed queue that lined up, hoping to get a room. But there were no available rooms and the owner was so tired of the work and did not even plan to expand. Customer had to go looking for a place to sleep in the other hotels. The owner just wanted to retire. It was one of those situations when a person is at the right time and in the right place.

This was his first hotel and he went on to build one of the most successful hotel companies ever.  In 2007, an investment group Blackstone, led by Stephen Schwarzman, bought out the entire Hilton family hotel business for $ 26 billion dollars.

The first key to being ‘lucky’ is to be in the right place at the right time

The thing is, Conrad Hilton wasn’t the only one in the hotel on that day or during the months preceeding it.

There were probably hundreds of other people that were also “in the right place at the right time” and had the chance to see the opportunity Conrad saw.

The third key is knowing what needs to happen to capitalize on the opportunity

There may have been others that stayed in the hotel and saw the opportunity just like Conrad did, but they didn’t know what to do about it

Even if you are in the right place at the right time, you recognize that you are, and you know what needs to happen, even that isn’t enough

The fourth key is having the skills and the resources to take action and make the success story happen

Now this is the point where many traders run into trouble

They see that there is tremendous opportunity in trading, certainly much greater than the standard 401k-type investing where 7-8% annual return is doing pretty good.

They know that they can become a trader with relative ease (note that I didn’t say trading was easy) because of the low barriers to entry, and that the technology is available to trade from home and enjoy the ‘lifestyle business’ that trading offers

So they’re covering the first 3 of 4 keys to being ‘lucky’

1. They’re in the right place at the right time
2. They recognize the opportunity
3. They know that they need to open an account, fund it, and get involved

But unfortunately, most traders don’t recognize (nor does anyone seem eager to tell you) that being a successful trader requires more than just resources (capital) and a system and some discipline

The HUGE difference is having the skills required to BE a truly independent and self-sufficient, successful trader

There are several skill sets you simply must have to make this a successful, long term venture

One of the most important is making your trading consistent (yes, this is a skill set, and not just willpower and ‘psychology’) while dealing with a very dynamic and often unpredictable environment (the markets)

What most simply don’t know, is that there actually is a very specific process to achieving consistency that’s been used in other industries for years, and it works amazingly well for trading too

And no, we’re NOT talking about discipline or clever tricks to get you to stick to your system

We’re talking about practical, tangible, real-world matters

So many traders have never even heard of this, never know that they’re missing this critical skill, then wonder why they struggle, often for years…

If you haven’t already seen it, I strongly recommend you check out “The Science of Consistency Applied to Trading:  How to Make Your Trading More Consistent So You Make More Money, Regardless of How You Trade”

This is one of those things that turns out to be the game-changer so many seek.

If you have seen it, it’s worth a second look, because in addition to ‘how to make trading work’, this truly is the path to predictable profits.

You’ll be glad you did!

Cheers

Brian