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decides to buy. Three months later, he has made a 60 percent return on his investment. |
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Not wanting to risk his profit, he decided to sell. Rather than allow himself to feel good about this trade, all he thought about was how he should have bought double the amount of shares. He worried that maybe it will keep going up and that he sold too soon. He also told me that it came too easy, that he didn't have to work hard enough for his gain. He didn't allow himself to enjoy the good trade he made. Because of this, he didn't use it to help build his sense of confidence for future trades. |
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This is the paradox of perfectionism: Perfectionists want things to be magically easy to accomplish, but at the same time they are mistrusting of themselves if they accomplish something too easily. Since they basically don't trust whatever talent they have, they are suspicious of anything that they don't have to work very hard to attain. This makes for a frustrating no-win situation"If things come too easily, I won't value myself, yet I expect to be able to do everything expertly without much effort." |
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6. The perfectionist often fears being found out as an impostor. When he or she does temporarily measure up, the perfectionist only succeeds in pushing away the fear of failure for a while longer. This is part of the reason why the perfectionist feels so little true satisfaction and joy. Failure is always lurking just around the corner, with the next performance, promotion, or evaluation. |
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Fear of Being "Found Out" |
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This fear of failure is related to the perfectionist's often stated feeling of being a phony or feeling like an impostor. They feel they are deceiving others; that they are not as competent or worthy as they appear to be. Impostors know they will sooner or later be found outit is only a matter of time. They almost wish it would be sooner so they could give up the anxiety-tinged charade. |
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For some perfectionistic online traders, one way this surfaces is the fear that steep losses and the deliberate attempt to cover them up will be discovered by others. Feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment block discussion when traders get in over their heads. Since the outcome in trading is very clearmaking money or losing ittraders who exacerbate poor trades by borrowing on margin and getting further in debt may question their competence as a trader. They may feel like a phony, not a skilled trader or investor. |
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