I keep an eye on a number of YouTube channels which claim to show the viewer how easy it is to make big money in a short period of time by day trading.
Day trading involves trading in stocks and shares on a daily basis and trying to make a profit from speculation in the share price movement which occurs on an hourly basis.
With this type of trading and buying of shares you are not an investor in a company per se, you are not in for the medium to long haul. You are simply speculating on the movement of the share price on any given day.
Savvy investors know that it is akin to gambling and/or spread betting. They know that it is impossible to make a good living and it is not much different from going to a casino or downloading the Paddy Power gambling app and indulging yourself.
But the hopes and dreams of the huge number of (mainly) young men are so strong that they will not countenance the idea that they are being sold a pipe dream, perhaps even a scam.
They are so completely consumed by the promises on offer that they will not open their mind to the possibility they are being sold snake oil, that the representations and promises are nonsense.
And they are consistently being told by the video makers that success will follow if they just keep plugging away, if they don’t give up, because it is just a matter of acquiring the experience and intuition and the ability to recognise “patterns” in share price movements.
They just need to hang in there for a little longer.
Think about this for a minute.
These guys are being persuaded that if they keep persisting and spending their money it will all come good in the end when they have learnt their lessons.
What if it doesn’t? What happens then?
Obviously they will have lost their money, all of it.
The idea that if you persist with unwavering zeal and commitment to some endeavour you are bound to succeed in the end is patent nonsense.
You won’t. You might even fail spectacularly and lose every red cent you have.
Because there is a time to quit, a time to recognise that this is not working and to continue on this path is bound to end in failure.
The same principle applies to many aspects of a person’s life, it is simply not the case that quitting means you are a quitter.
Quitting in the right circumstances, when it is obvious you are heading for catastrophic failure, when it is clear your course of action is mistaken or misconceived, is the smart, rational thing to do.
One of the great skills to acquire in your life is the ability to determine when to persevere and when to quit. Because you will face this decision often and repeatedly in a lifetime.