Here’s a popular trading statistic that’s thrown around a lot in the retail forex world: More than 95% of traders fail. With such a high exit rate, you’d think that being a good trader is genetic!
But the fact of the matter is that nobody is born a good trader. Successful traders are made, not born. Nothing can prove this concept more than the story of the Turtle Traders.
In 1983, two commodity traders, Richard Dennis and Bill Eckhardt, got into a heated debate on whether being a good trader was a product of genes or if it could be taught.
It was the classic nature versus nurture debate.
Eckhardt believed that exceptional trading came from within and that it could not be taught.
Dennis, on the other hand, argued that anybody could be a good trader through proper forex education.
Their argument got so intense that they decided to put their theories to the test.
Dennis brought in 23 people from all kinds of backgrounds and put them through a trading bootcamp to see how they’d perform with a little guidance. Each recruit was handed a set of trading rules, but when it came down to it, they were on their own in making the calls.
Dennis called his recruits “The Turtles” and handed each of them $1 million to trade with.
In just four years, the group racked up over $100 million in profits. The standout? Curtis Faith, who was only nineteen when he joined.
The Turtles experiment proved that you don’t need to have a “trader gene” to become good at trading and that almost anybody can become an excellent trader with the right tools and lots of practice.
The story of the Turtle Traders is truly a motivating one.
Whenever you feel down and think that you’re just not born for trading, think of the Turtle Traders.
Most of them had almost zero trading experience going in, yet nearly all ended up raking in serious profits under Richard and Dennis. They learned the ropes through experience, trial and error, and sticking to the process.
So take it from the Turtles. Train hard, young padawan. In trading, it is nurture, not nature, that shapes a winning mindset.
