Building Your Trading Support System

It's best to start small and show your loved ones all the positive sides of your trading obsession. When they see you double that $5,000 account in a few months, they'll get excited about the possibilities. It fact, they may even encourage you to get more aggressive and add money to the account.

Communicate the systematic aspects of your trading style to your family. At first, whenever you describe your latest trades, they'll be conjuring up images of Las Vegas. So let them know how you're using mathematics, risk management and a scientific approach to the markets.

Tell them about your winners as soon as they happen. Describe them in detail and explain how you'll reproduce these results over and over again. By the same token, discuss your losers as learning experiences and show how you'll avoid the same fate because of your wonderful ability to learn from your mistakes.

But don't discuss too many of your losing trades. This will cause great stress, and the family will start obsessing about your ultimate failure. Remember that trading is one of the few disciplines in which losing is a natural part of making money. Don't expect anyone to understand this paradox except you and other traders.

Free at Last

Discuss the numerous freedoms associated with quitting the rat race and going out full time. Surf over to Expedia and pull up a few vacation packages in Hawaii or Europe. Tell your family how successful traders get to set their own schedules and take fabulous trips whenever they feel like it.

Once they've realized the virtues of your obsession, level with them and admit the remote odds for your success. Present the possibilities for failure with stark realism so they won't be shocked if and when that actually happens. Then tell them how you're up to the challenge and possess those special talents required to beat the odds.

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Alan Farley is a professional trader and author of The Master Swing Trader. Farley also runs a Web site called HardRightEdge.com, an online resource for trading education, technical analysis and short-term investment strategies. At time of publication, Farley had no positions in equities mentioned in this column. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Farley appreciates your feedback and invites you to send it to [e-mail]. Also, click here to sign up for Farley's premium subscription product The Daily Swing Trade brought to you exclusively by TheStreet.com.

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