Tilting At Windmills

Part II: The Counterintuitive Shape of Trader Development

Dear Practitioners,

We continue The Counterintuitive Shape of Trader Development with a diagnosis of why so many novice traders fail to break out. Much of this, I argue, lies in identity and in the lifelong conditioning that rewards theory over perception, knowing over seeing. Through the early careers of The Collector and The Warrior, we explore how they became Minimum Viable Traders: narrow, fast, fragile, yet capable of pivot and survival.

Part III turns to the problem of abundance—how too much choice and too little constraint undo the trader before they’ve even begun. It will consolidate the notion of the Minimum Viable Trader and set the stage for the next major phase: the transition toward the Always Viable Trader—and what it truly means to become one.

» Part III follows next week.