Do You Have an Unconscious Fear of Success?

Psychologically, it appears that both of these tremendous athletes let the hype of reaching their goals get into their heads. Consequently, they froze up and changed their success formulas at the last moment. Instead of getting up to the plate without an agenda, which they did for most of their careers, now they have added a new element of pressure: To hit a home run on the next at-bat, in front of their home crowd.

Never before had these goals seemed so tangible and obtainable. They both felt as if home-run-caliber swings were necessary to obtain their goals quicker. However, the best hitters in baseball will tell you that home runs come when you just try to hit the ball hard and stick to basic fundamentals of swinging a bat.

Traders I have worked with have set very high goals for themselves from a financial standpoint. They are acutely aware of how close and far they are from reaching these lofty and predetermined goals on an hourly and daily basis. In essence, their trading day becomes so pressure-packed that they can even feel as stressed as A-Rod and Bonds appeared leading up to their achievements.

In previous columns, I have underscored the importance of minimizing the magnitude of individual trades and even individual trading days, in favor of focusing on their long-term trading goals. Athletes usually perform on a grand stage, while traders must look themselves or their desk manager in the face every day, whether they achieve their goals or not.

Touring the Unconscious

When I examine why top-performing individuals struggle at the end of a long journey, it seems that they tell me they worry at some deeper level that they will lose interest in their lives or their jobs. They may perceive the attainment of a long-standing goal as being stressful or frightening, because they have spent so much of their waking hours obsessing or fantasizing over the outcome.