Virgin founder and ground-breaking entrepreneur, Richard Branson, didn’t finish high school. Bill Gates dropped out of university to found Microsoft. JK Rowling was living on government benefits when she wrote her first Harry Potter novel. She also had 12 rejections from publishers before her first book was published.
Daniel Kibel, founder and director of CM Trading shares his insights into financial independence
In most cases, the world’s most successful people start out as faces in the crowd; just seemingly unremarkable individuals going about their lives every day like everyone else does – working, paying bills, dealing with personal issues and surviving the drudgery that everyday life can sometimes be.
So, what changed? How did JK Rowling go from living on benefits to being richer than the Queen of England? How did Bill Gates go from mild-mannered college drop-out to billionaire?
Their paths may have been very different. But the common denominator shared by most self-made people is that they were able to break the barriers that stopped them from moving forward. And in spite of adversity, they ran at those barriers like juggernauts, unexpectedly smashing expectations and creating their own opportunities.
The journey to a successful trading portfolio requires a certain mindset, too. And openness, imagination, commitment and belief in oneself (with just the right measure of humility) are very good places to start.
Fear is not the enemy
We all fear different things. Some are terrified of public speaking. Others fear loneliness and some are petrified of crowds. These phobias may seem irrational. But in most cases, they have a very real trigger or root. So, they can be conquered if they are understood.
Similarly, on the road to financial independence, learning is the most powerful tool we have available. And while the world of trading forex, stocks or commodities may look terrifying and unfamiliar from the outside, once you’ve conquered the fear through applied knowledge, it’s really not that scary anymore.
This is why I’m passionate about providing a “safe space” where people can learn and exchange ideas with experts who have conquered fear and broken their own barriers. The journey to understanding begins with mentorship. Chances are, any person you ask who has done well in their life will say that someone inspired or taught them at some point.
“No time” is no excuse
Successful people are often tired. That’s because they pursue their goals in spite of what life throws at them. Success rarely happens overnight. It took JK Rowling six years to finish Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Richard Branson started his business in the mid-60s and made his first million around 1972. Bill Gates worked many long hours and was rejected around 900 times before anyone showed interest in his idea. That’s not to say you can’t reach your goals faster than you expect, but patience is key.
Even if you have a full-time job, a family and responsibilities, you can diarise a bit of time every day to work on your business, idea or trading portfolio. At the end of the day, it’s just a bit of short-term fatigue vs big long-term rewards.
Learning takes time. In my very specific experience, trading involves skill and understanding. Taking the time to learn, even just a bit, every day, will gradually chip away at those barriers to profitability. And in the end, it will all be worth it.
Wash, rinse, repeat
Like any other profitable venture, trading requires practice, learning and commitment before rewards can be reaped and barriers broken. Making time in your busy life to learn and keep working towards your goals may seem like an endless struggle at times.
But when it does, you could try and remember these inspiring words from JK Rowling: “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.”
So go forth, fail, get up and learn, then repeat. That’s how we become juggernauts in our own right. Use your imagination, set your goals and never be afraid to ask questions. “