They were right

Forget about listing those books, I thought about it and I think everyone should find the books on their own. The authors are listed, it isn't rocket science. Anyway they were right. The authors that is.

One thing in common with all the investment books I've read is that the author always makes it clear that this industry "isn't for everyone." They don't really say why and I didn't pay much attention figuring that whatever they were alluding to I could handle it. I understand now what they meant.

The stress. Managing money is one of the most stressful things you can do, you could even compare it to the job of a doctor; managing life. Ranking army officials and stock traders are said to have many psychological similarities.

Lately the stress of the market has been literally hurting me. I decided this is what I want to focus on for the majority of my life and put an immense amount of pressure on myself to succeed. My investment philosophy is long term, and with the recent market events you can guess how terrible my portfolio is doing. The stress of watching money that I can't afford to lose vanish into thin air is what they were talking about.

I can only imagine what losing other people's money or not being able to support a family because of a downturn in the market must be like. I'm glad I learned this lesson early and I understand now why rule number 1 is "Don't lose money" and why rule number 2 is "Remember rule #1". It is because the stress that rule saves you allows you to continue in the business and gives you the most valuable asset to any investor. Time.