Tough Lesson On Temper

One of the hardest things to do when I was trading was managing your temper.  You had to keep it in check.  Trading was emotional, and tempers flared.  You got into shouting matches with people and sometimes there were fisticuffs and some physical stuff.  It was a place where to get rid of stress you screamed and sometimes at other people.

One time a guy grabbed me by my neck and I just kept my hands by my side.  Inside I wanted to kill him.

You really did need to let it go.  If you just waited for an opportunity to get even, you would hurt yourself.  You didn’t forget though.  In my example above there was a situation that happened a few months later and I made a trade with him that cost him a lot of money.  That did make it more satisfying.

The same happens in business.  You run into all kinds of people.  If you focus on burying the person that feels like a burr under your saddle you will hamper your business.  People come and go in companies as well.  The best thing to do is keep your head down, build your business, and just please your customers.

If you get an opportunity to compete and crush the business you don’t care for in the course of building your business so be it.  It makes it a little sweeter.   But, it cannot be your sole focus.