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TRADING LESSONS FROM AA
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TRADING LESSONS FROM AA

Almost any drunk can stay sober for a few days. Soon, the urge to drink overwhelms him again and he returns to the bottle. He cannot resist his urge because he continues to feel and think like an alcoholic. Sobriety begins and ends inside a person's mind.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has a system for changing the way people think and feel about drinking. AA members use a 12-step program for changing their minds. These 12 steps, described in the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, refer to 12 stages of personal growth. Recovering alcoholics attend meetings where they share their experiences with other

recovering alcoholics, supporting each other in their sobriety. Any member can get a sponsor—another AA member whom he can call for support when he feels the urge to drink.

AA was founded in the 1930s by two alcoholics—a doctor and a traveling salesman. They began meeting and helping each other stay sober. They developed a system that worked so well, others began to join them. AA has only one goal — to help its members stay sober. It does no fund-raising, takes no political positions, and runs no promotional campaigns. AA keeps grow­ing thanks only to word of mouth. It owes its success only to its effectiveness.

The 12-step program of AA is so effective that people with other problems now use it. There are 12-step groups for children of alcoholics, smokers, gamblers, and others. I have become convinced that traders can stop losing money in the markets if they apply the key principles of Alcoholics Anonymous to their trading.

Denial

A social drinker enjoys a cocktail or a glass of wine or beer but stops when he feels he's had enough. An alcoholic's chemistry is different. Once an alcoholic takes a drink, he feels an urge to drink more, until he gets drunk.

A drunk often says that he needs to cut down on alcohol, but he cannot admit that his drinking is out of control. Most drunks deny that they are alcoholics. Try telling an alcoholic relative, friend, or employee that his drinking is out of control and damaging his life and you will run into a wall of denial.

An alcoholic often says: "My boss fired me 'cause I was hung over and came in late. My wife took the kids and left 'cause she had no sense to begin with. My landlord is trying to kick me out of the apartment 'cause I'm a little behind on the rent. I'm gonna have to cut down on my drinking, and everything will be all right."

This man has lost his family and his job. He is about to lose the roof over his head. His life is spinning out of control—but he keeps saying that he can cut down on his drinking. This is denial!

Alcoholics deny their problems while their lives are falling apart. Most of them nurse the fantasy of being able to control their drinking. As long as an alcoholic believes that he can "control his drinking," he is headed downhill. Nothing will ever change, even if he gets a new job, a new wife, and a new landlord.

Alcoholics deny that alcohol controls their lives. When they talk of reducing drinking, they talk about managing the unmanageable. They are like a driver whose car spins out of control on a mountain road. When the car careens down a cliff, it is too late to promise to drive carefully. An alcoholic's life careens out of control while he denies he's an alcoholic.

There is a stark parallel between an alcoholic and a trader whose account is being demolished by losses. He keeps changing trading tactics, acting like an alcoholic who tries to solve his problem by switching from hard liquor to beer. A loser denies that he has lost control over his course in the market.

Rock Bottom

A drunk can begin his journey to recovery only after he admits that he is an alcoholic. He must see that alcohol controls his life and not the other way around. Most drunks cannot accept this painful truth. They can face it only after they hit rock bottom.

Some alcoholics hit rock bottom when they develop a life-threatening illness. Others hit rock bottom after being rejected by their family or losing a job. An alcoholic needs to sink to a point so low, so deep down in the gutter, so unbearably painful that it finally penetrates his denial.

The pain of hitting rock bottom feels intolerable. It makes an alcoholic see how deeply he has sunk. This pain penetrates his denial. He sees a stark and simple choice — either turn his life around or die. Only then is an alcoholic ready to begin his journey to recovery.

Profits make traders feel powerful and give them an emotional high. They try to get high again, put on reckless trades, and give back their profits. Most traders cannot stand the pain of a string of severe losses. They die as traders after hitting rock bottom and wash out of the markets. The few survivors realize that the main trouble is not with their methods, the trouble is with their thinking. They can change and become successful traders.

The First Step

An alcoholic who wants to recover has to go through twelve steps — twelve stages of personal growth. He needs to change how he thinks and feels, how he relates to himself and others. The first step of AA is the hardest.

The first step an alcoholic has to take is to admit that he is powerless over

alcohol. He must admit that his life has become unmanageable, that alcohol is stronger than he is. Most alcoholics cannot take that step, drop out, and go on to destroy their lives.

If alcohol is stronger than you, then you can never touch it again, not a sip for as long as you live. You have to give up drinking forever. Most drunks do not want to give up that pleasure. They destroy their lives rather than take the first step of AA. Only the pain of hitting rock bottom can supply the motivation to take that first step.

and every time you hear the word "alcohol," substitute the word "loss" for it. You will feel as if the people in the meeting are talking about your trading!

One Day at a Time

You have probably seen bumper stickers on cars that say "One day at a time" or "Easy does it." Those are AA slogans, and people who drive those cars are probably recovering alcoholics.

Planning for life without alcohol can seem overwhelming. That's why AA encourages its members to live sober one day at a time.

The goal of every AA member is to stay sober today and go to bed sober tonight. Gradually, days become weeks, then months, then years. AA meet­ings and other activities help each recovering alcoholic stay sober, one day at a time.

Recovering alcoholics receive — and give others — invaluable support and fellowship at these meetings. They are held at all hours, all over the world. Traders have much to learn from those meetings.

An AA Meeting

One of the best things that a trader can do is go to an AA meeting. I especially recommend it to a trader on a losing streak. Call Alcoholics Anonymous and ask about the next "open meeting" or "beginners' meeting" in your area.

A meeting lasts about an hour. You can sit in the back of the room and listen carefully. There is no pressure to speak, and nobody asks for your last name.

Each meeting begins with a long-term member getting up and speaking about his or her personal struggle for recovery from alcoholism. Several other members share their experiences. There is a collection to cover expenses—most people give a dollar. All you have to do is listen carefully, and every time you hear the word "alcohol," substitute the word "loss" for it. You will feel as if the people in the meeting are talking about your trading!

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