Why I Do This

Over the last few years, I’ve gotten this question soooooooooo many times, I thought it would be best to write an article about it so people can understand and make their own conclusions about such a poignant topic.
The general question is one below someone recently emailed me;

If you can make money from your systems, why would you take the trouble to teach it, or teach at all when you can just make money trading?
I’m sure you as someone in the trading and learning process at one point thought of this question, or wondered about it yourself.
For the record, it’s a legitimate question as a whole, depending upon how it’s being asked which I will explain shortly, but here is my answer below;
About 12+ years ago, I decided I would only do that (for work) which I was passionate about.  If I am going to spend 1/3 or 1/2 of my life working, then it better be something I am seriously passionate about. Although I have a lot of little passions, there are only a few I feel intensely passionate and think about daily. They are listed below;
-Trading
-Teaching/Training Traders
-Yoga/Meditation
-Philanthropy
-Zen Archery/Iaido
Beyond this, I cannot imagine doing anything else in my life as my daily work.  Does that mean something new couldn’t come down the line which I would not do?  Of course not as I’m always open to what life presents.
But, if I was stuck on a deserted island, with food, shelter, a laptop and internet connection, I would still be trading, and still training traders.
Why?
Because I am that passionate about it and love it to death. Passion is a fire that ignites something inside others.

It is the same thing John Coltrane had when he played till 4am (after doing a 3hr set earlier).
It is the same thing Michael Jordan had when he went back to the gym just 2 days after winning the NCAA championship (as a freshman).
If you have this, it will be what helps you overcome some of the greatest obstacles for your success – and trust me, you will face them in trading.
Retirement and Passion
I was once asked by a deca-millionare businessman who still worked 45+hrs a week at 50yrs of age – what is retirement?
Doing what you want everyday when you want?  If so, then I am retired because I love what I do.  
This is what he told me a long time ago and it stuck with me ever since.  Today, I feel the same and understand what he meant.
I realized a long time ago, when I’m doing something I am passionate about, I put my whole being and 110% into it.  When things get tough, I see the big picture.  When things are going well, I remain focused and keep my head down.  When things are boring and sometimes rote, I find enjoyment in doing it and perfecting my skills.
Simply put – when I do things I am highly passionate about – I am more apt to put my entire being into it then something which I have no real interest in – regardless of the money.
Life is short.  I have no idea how long I’ll be here on this planet, so I only want to be doing the things I am totally passionate about.  It would be torture for me to do some office job where I hate my boss and my work, just for the money, even if it was 10x more than what I make now.  I cannot tell you how many business opportunities I have passed up which had the potential for a lot of money.  But they didn’t excite me at all.
I feel very connected and in touch with who I am, and to do something just for the money (even though I hated it) would be torture for me.  It would be disrespecting my being and who I am.  I learned a long time ago not to care about the money, and just do what I love 110%.  When I do that, the results will come, and even if the money didn’t come, I’d still be happy doing what I love everyday.

Money
It is always really sad to me people seem to think the sole motivation for doing something/anything should be money.  More than likely, the person asking this question is NOT doing what they love right now – and likely doing something just for money.  Most people ask and think, ‘if you can make more money trading than teaching (which is true – my comment), then why teach?‘
If money was the SOLE or TOP motivation in my life for doing something, then I would just trade.  But its not.
So why do you teach/train traders?
Three simple reasons;
1) I do not want to spend 8hrs a day just pushing buttons to make money – that is the equivalent of being a human ATM machine
2) My energy is most creative / involved / expressed when I have a very dynamic day in terms of activities.  Just doing one thing doesn’t help me to activate all my creative ideas
3) I have a vision of training 10,000 traders to become profitable.  If the success rates are as stated (about 25%), I want to break them all.  I want to help others find a method to become abundant so they can do what they want in life, and have the time they want to spend it with whom they can.  I treasure the lifestyle and choices I have.  If I can give a tool which can help others have this – then I’ve done some good work

It’s as simple as that.  This is why I teach and I am passionate about it.  When I’m doing something I’m passionate about, it helps to activate my entire being along with all my creative energies and natural intelligence.  Not activating these day in day out is torture to me or falling backward.  I feel like I am cheating myself (and others).
Trading, archery, yoga, meditation, philanthropy and training traders helps me to bring these things forward.  Trading is one of the top things on my list, but it just so happens teaching others to trade successfully is also on that list.
Now just because someone wants to push buttons all day for 8+hrs a day trading, doesn’t mean its a bad thing.  If that is what they are passionate about, then fire away.
But for me, I have a different vision of my lifestyle and my time.  Time to me is more precious than money, and you will find that with most wealthy/abundant people.  So if I can make a lot of money trading with less time, while getting to do a bunch of other creative activities, then why not?
It’s sad people think if you can trade, then you would not teach.  They use this old saying;
Those who teach don’t know, and those who know, don’t teach.
Most don’t even understand where that came from or what it means.  It came from the Tao Te Ching and was based on their philosophy of teaching through your natural being and actions, part of their wu-wei principle.  Then it got applied to martial arts as many taoist things did, but was misrepresented.  If there were no teachers in martial arts, how would we ever learn martial arts?  Channeling?  Good luck with that!
Eventually, it got applied to trading, likely through some distrust of people who teach but with no real understanding of the actual saying.
Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and many other athletes (from other sports) who make millions from playing basketball, teach training camps (and get paid for it).  Does their pay from these camps = what they make playing their sport?  No.  So why do they do it?
Because they want to help others learn their craft, share their joy and what they know.  Would you ever tell them they are a fake because they teach kids how to play basketball?  No.  Do you think they are only teaching little kids to play because they are only motivated by money or cannot play?  No, so why is this the same with trading?
Sure, there are some suspect people out there who likely cannot trade, who are more marketers than traders, are scammers, or can only trade marginally.  But some can and still like to help others for their own reasons.
Eventually, you get to a point in your life where the money comes in more than you expected, and then you face a fork in the road;
-You either keep working just to make more and more money (path of the ego)
-Or you try to figure out what good you want to do with your life and skills
I chose the latter, although less to do with the money, and moreso because I have no choice at this point – I have to do what i’m passionate about.  Anything less would be disrespecting my being, my skills, my natural intelligence and would not help me manifest these latent energies I feel inside.

So hopefully this answers the questions once and for all, but even moreso, gives you an understanding of who I am, why I do this and an inside to what makes me tick.
All the best.
Chris Capre
2ndSkiesForex.com
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Trading Rule #1 – Know Thyself
Mindset of A Successful Forex Trader
7 Signs You Know You’re Maturing As A Trader