Finding a MENTOR / Course - Things to Look Out for

[angelaktariel 10]

I think if I did it, it would be local and w/ someone that I knew first. I'd want the face-to-face interaction.

 

As someone, who is still new, and has gone through mentorship, while I received a very educational training, the face-to-face interaction would have been the most beneficial thing.

 

I realize that everyone learns different, however nothing beats learning the basics and than watching someone actually trade and explain why he/she made those decisions. To me, that would have been the most helpful.

[Guest forsearch]

Some may, in fact, be looking not for a mentor but a coach:

....

(John Forman)

 

Don't know why DB would obfuscate the source of this article at the bottom of a lengthy cut-and-paste, but here it is for anyone looking for it....

 

SOURCE:

The Value of Coaching And The Difficulty in Finding One

by John Forman - Apr 24, 2006

 

-fs

[bootstrap 47]

Bootstrap what you are talking about sounds similar to the prop shop model (another way to fleece would be traders). Do you really think a successful trader would teach you to trade (the way you want to learn rather than the way they want to teach) for absolutely nothing, next you' will be saying they should fund your account (oh wait you are saying that!) Do you also expect a wage while you learn? come on do you really expect that to happen?

 

the first thing that i tell any would be trader is never pay anybody for anything. do i really think a successful trader would teach you to trade your own way? yes i do. in fact i have done it and know several others that have done it as well.

 

did i ask for anything in return? yes i did. i asked that they give me an honest try.

[BlowFish 10]

I see how a good mentor can help you help you find and refine your style and of course deal with the real issues (behaviour). But if you where lets say a VSA trader I am not sure why you would get involved with mentor who practised MP or Fib or point and figure and I can't see that they would change to teach you.

 

That does raise an interesting point does a mentor need to even be a practitioner themselves? I say yes where as a coach does not. It's kind of picky semantics I guess.

[cowpip 10]

the first thing that i tell any would be trader is never pay anybody for anything. do i really think a successful trader would teach you to trade your own way? yes i do. in fact i have done it and know several others that have done it as well.

 

did i ask for anything in return? yes i did. i asked that they give me an honest try.

 

That is exactly right.

[bootstrap 47]

I see how a good mentor can help you help you find and refine your style and of course deal with the real issues (behaviour). But if you where lets say a VSA trader I am not sure why you would get involved with mentor who practised MP or Fib or point and figure and I can't see that they would change to teach you.

 

That does raise an interesting point does a mentor need to even be a practitioner themselves? I say yes where as a coach does not. It's kind of picky semantics I guess.

 

 

i will say that most students will seek out someone who is trading the style/strategy that they are interested in.

 

but you don't have to change your style to teach someone how to trade a style that is different from your own. the learning process is still the same. and if you teach someone a strategy different from the one you are currently using, you just may learn something new too.

 

you still have to walk them through the personal stuff. why do they want to trade? what is the goal? why does a particular style/strategy appeal to them?

this piece usually takes the longest to get through, and is usually where the wanna bees move on.

 

they still have to pick the time frame, a market to trade, how does a random entry/exit strategy perform in the chosen time/market, identify market characteristics to exploit, design the basic entry and exit rules, position sizing, whether to scale in/out, what can be done to improve the strategy, can it even be improved, how much money is needed to trade it successfully.

 

you can use a simple strategy to show them how each step works, but the steps can be applied to any strategy that they want to learn.

 

Chris

[BlowFish 10]

Very good points Chris. Actually it would be churlish to argue with any of them. I guess a mentor should help guide you to the correct questions to be asking yourself rather than offer 'answers'.

[arifwise 10]

to be a trader or to be a winning and consistently every day, every month and every year making good money ? please confirm your choice.

 

thats sound easy but it is the first decision you have to make in order to live in abundance.most traders are trading due to outer influence...not from within their heart. Do this first and decide how wealthy you want to be.

 

may you be bless and be a truth seeker every moment.....

[zdo 20]

I guess a mentor should help guide you to the correct questions to be asking yourself rather than offer 'answers'.

 

BF, you guessed right!

 

Mentors bring forth wisdom not via answers but via questions. That is the way to qualify a mentor. A true mentor will NEVER offer or respond with advice. Rather than offer 'answers', a true mentor only helps to guide you to the correct questions to be asking yourself. Very few potential mentors realize this, even fewer learn how to actually do it consistently. This ‘answers’ business also explains why so few truly qualify to be mentored… the great majority are looking for guidance and answers and avoid the tough questions that take years to answer… Combine these and it becomes obvious how modern psychological counseling and the ‘coaching industry’ is a pitiful charade of true mentoring.

 

Two egos must truly step aside – and to withstand the failed and successful ‘tests’, they must commit to stepping aside multiple times…Such a process involves certainty of some discomfort and the risk of great discomfort. Such work may start with trading among the dominant concerns but it also requires that whole life issues be opened and examined – issues of bodies minds souls and spirits.

 

… a mentor can not be mentoring if need or want to charge money. Just as the old souls passed on wisdom via oral traditions in pre tablet times, true mentoring is not an exchange or a ‘trade’

… when passing a torch with two hands one does not hold out an empty hand for recompense…

 

http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/3/how-much-would-you-pay-to-3619-2.html#post32448

 

http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/f30/the-right-coach-mentor-3335.html#post29096