asies soar is trading.
Just the other day, a friend told me that he expected to support himselftrading his $6000 account. When I tried to show him the futility of his plan,he quickly changed our topic of conversation. He is a bright analyst, but herefuses to see that his “intensive farming” plan is suicidal. In his desperateeffort to succeed, he must take on large positions — and the slightest wiggleof the market is sure to put him out of business.
A successful trader is a realist. He knows his abilities and limitations. Hesees what is happening in the markets and knows how to react to them. He5. FANTASY VERSUS REALITY 13
analyzes the markets without cutting corners, observes his own reactions, |and makes realistic plans. A professional trader cannot afford illusions.
Once an amateur takes a few hits and gets a few margin calls, he becomesfearful instead of cocky and starts developing strange ideas about the mar-kets. Losers buy, sell, or miss trades thanks to their fantastic ideas. They actlike children who are afraid to pass a cemetery or look under their bed atnight because they are afraid of ghosts. The unstructured environment of themarket makes it is easy to develop fantasies.
Most people who have grown up in Western civilization have several sim-ilar fantasies. They are so widespread that when I studied at the New YorkPsychoanalytic Institute, there was a course called “Universal Fantasies.”For example, most people have a fantasy in childhood that they wereadopted rather than born to their parents. A fantasy seems to explain theunfriendly and impersonal world. It consoles a child but prevents him fromseeing reality. Our fantasies influence our behavior, even if we are not con-sciously aware of them.
In talking to hundreds of traders, I keep hearing them express several uni-versal fantasies. They distort reality and stand in the way of trading success.A successful trader must identify his fantasies and get rid of them.
The Brain Myth
Losers who suffer from the “brain myth” will tell you, “I lost because Ididn’t know trading secrets.” Many losers have a fantasy that successfultraders have some secret knowledge. This fantasy helps support a lively mar-ket in advisory services and ready-made trading systems.
A demoralized trader often whips out his checkbook and goes shoppingfor “trading secrets.” He may send money to a charlatan for a $3000 “can’tmiss,” backtested, computerized trading system. When that self-destructs, hesends another check for a “scientific manual” that explains how he can stopbeing a loser and become a true insider and a winner by contemplating theMoon, Saturn, or even Uranus.
The losers do not know that trading is intellectually fairly simple. It is lessdemanding than taking out an appendix, building a bridge, or trying a case incourt. Good traders are often shrewd, but few of them are intellectuals. Manyhave not been to college, and some have even dropped out of high school.
Intelligent and hardworking people who have succeeded in their careersoften feel drawn to trading. The average client of a brokerage firm is 5014 INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
years old, is married, and has a college education. Many have postgraduatedegrees or own their businesses. The two largest professional groups amongtraders are engineers and farmers.
Why do these intelligent and hardworking people fail in trading? Whatseparates winners from losers is neither intelligence nor secrets, and cer-tainly not education.
The Undercapitalization Myth
Many losers think that they would be successful if they could trade a biggeraccount. All losers get knocked out of the game by a string of losses or a sin-gle abysmally bad trade. Often, after the amateur is sold out, the marketreverses and moves in the direction he expected. The loser is ready to kickeither himself or his broker: Had he survived another week, he might havemade a small fortune!
Losers take this reversal as a confirmation of their methods. They earn,Save, or borrow enough money to open another small account. The storyrepeats: The loser gets wiped out, the market reverses and “proves” the loserright, but only too late —he has been sold out again. That’s when the fantasyis born: “If only I had a bigger account, I could have stayed in the market alittle longer and won.”
Some losers raise money from relatives and friends by showing them apaper track record. It seems to prove that they would have won big, if onlythey had had more money to work with. But if they raise more money, theylose that, too —it is as if the market were laughing at them!
A loser is not undercapitalized—his mind is underdeveloped. A loser candestroy a big account almost as quickly as a small one. He overtrades, andhis money management is sloppy. He takes risks that are too big, whateverthe size of his account. No matter how good his system is, a streak of badtrades is sure to put him out of business.
Traders often ask me how much money they need to begin trading. Theywant to be able to withstand a drawdown, a temporary drop in the accountequity. They expect to lose a large amount of money before making any!They sound like an engineer who plans to build several bridges that collapsebefore erecting his masterpiece. Would a surgeon plan on killing severalpatients while becoming an expert at taking out an appendix?
A trader who wants to survive and prosper must control his losses. You do5. FANTASY VERSUS REALITY 15
that by risking only a tiny fraction of your equity on any single trade (seeChapter 10, “Risk Management”). Give yourself several years to learn howto trade. Do not start with an account bigger than $20,000, and do not losemore than 2 percent of your equity on any single trade. Lean from cheapmistakes in a small account.
Amateurs neither expect to lose nor are in any way prepared for it. Thenotion of being undercapitalized is a cop-out that helps them avoid twopainful truths: their lack of trading discipline, and their lack of a realisticmoney management plan.
The one advantage of a large trading account is that the price of equip-ment and services represents a smaller percentage of your money. A man-ager of a million-dollar fund who spends $10,000 on computers and semi-nars is only 1 percent behind the game. The same expenditure wouldrepresent 50 percent of the equity of a trader with a $20,000 account.
The Autopilot Myth
Imagine that a stranger walks into your driveway and tries to sell you anautomatic system for driving your car. Just pay a few hundred dollars for acomputer chip, install it in your car, and stop wasting energy on driving, hesays. You can take a nap in the driver’s seat while the “Easy Swing System”whisks you to work. You would probably laugh the salesman out of yourdriveway. But would you laugh if he tried to sell you an automatic tradingsystem?
Traders who believe in the autopilot myth think that the pursuit of wealthcan be automated. Some try to develop an automatic trading system, whileothers buy one from the experts. Men who have spent years honing theirskills as lawyers, doctors, or businessmen plunk down thousands of dollarsfor canned competence. They are driven by greed, laziness, and mathemati-cal illiteracy.
Systems used to be written on sheets of paper, but now they usually comeon copy-protected diskettes. Some are primitive; others are elaborate, withbuilt-in optimization and money management rules. Many traders spendthousands of dollars searching for magic that will turn a few pages of com-puter code into an endless stream of money. People who pay for automatictrading systems are like medieval knights who paid alchemists for the secretof turning base metals into gold.16 INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
Complex human activities do not lend themselves to automation.Computerized learning systems have not replaced teachers, and programs fordoing taxes have not created unemployment among accountants. Mosthuman activities call for an exercise of judgment; machines and systems canhelp but not replace humans. So many system buyers have been bumed thatthey have formed an organization, Club 3000, named after the price of manysystems.
If you could buy a successful automatic trading system, you could moveto Tahiti and spend the rest of your life in leisure, supported by a stream ofchecks from your broker. So far, the only people who have made moneyfrom trading systems are the system sellers. They form a small but colorfulcottage industry. If their systems worked, why would they sell them? Theycould move to Tahiti themselves and cash checks from their brokers!Meanwhile, every system seller has a line. Some say they like programmingbetter than trading. Others claim that they sell their systems only to raisetrading capital.
‘Markets always change and defeat automatic trading systems. Yesterday’srigid rules work poorly today and will probably stop working tomorrow. Acompetent trader can adjust his methods when he detects trouble. An auto-matic system is less adaptable and self-destructs.
Airlines pay high salaries to pilots despite having autopilots. They do itbecause humans can handle unforeseen events. When a roof blows off an air-liner over the Pacific or when a plane runs out of gas over the Canadianwilderness, only a human can handle such a crisis. These emergencies havebeen reported in the press, and in each of them experienced pilots managedto land their airliners by improvising. No autopilot can do that. Betting yourmoney on an automatic system is like betting your life on an autopilot. Thefirst unexpected event will destroy your account.
There are good trading systems out there, but they have to be monitoredand adjusted using individual judgment. You have to stay on the ball—youcannot abdicate your responsibility for your success to a trading system.
Traders who have the autopilot fantasy try to repeat what they felt asinfants. Their mothers used to fulfill their needs for food, warmth, and com-fort. Now they try to re-create the experience of passively lying on theirbacks and having profits flow to them like an endless stream of free, warmmilk.
The market is not your mother. It consists of tough men and women wholook for ways to take money away from you instead of pouring milk intoyour mouth.6. MARKET GURUS 17
The Personality Cult
Most people give lip service to their wish for freedom and independence.When they come under pressure, they change their tune and start looking for“strong leadership.” Traders in distress often seek directions from assortedgurus.
When I was growing up in the former Soviet Union, children were taughtthat Stalin was our great leader. Later we found out what a monster he hadbeen, but while he was alive, most people enjoyed following the leader. Hefreed them from the need to think for themselves.
“Little Stalins” were installed in every area of society—in economics,biology, architecture, and so on. When I came to the United States and beganto trade, I was amazed to see how many traders were looking for a guru—their “little Stalin” in the market. The fantasy that someone else can makeyou rich deserves its own discussion later in this chapter.
Trade with Your Eyes Open
Every winner needs to master three essential components of trading: a soundindividual psychology, a logical trading system, and a good money manage-ment plan. These essentials are like three legs of a stool—remove one andthe stool will fall, together with the person who sits on it. Losers try to builda stool with only one leg, or two at the most. They usually focus exclusivelyon trading systems.
Your trades must be based on clearly defined rules. You have to analyzeyour feelings as you trade, to make sure that your decisions are intellectuallysound. You have to structure your money management so that no string oflosses can kick you out of the game.
6. MARKET GURUS*
Gurus have been with us ever since the public entered markets. In 1841, theclassic book on market manias, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and theMadness of Crowds, was published in England. It is still in print today. Itsauthor, Charles Mackay, described the Dutch Tulip Mania, the South SeasBubble in England, and other mass manias. Human nature changes slowly,
"This section originally appeared as an article, “Market Gurus,” in the September 1990 issue of Futuresand Options World. London, U.K. ©1990 by Alexander Elder.18 INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
and today new mass manias, including guru manias, continue to sweep themarkets.
Guru manias spring up faster now than they did centuries ago, thanks tomodern telecommunications. Even educated and intelligent investors andtraders follow market gurus, like the devotees of the false Messiahs in theMiddle Ages.
There are three types of gurus in the financial markets: market cyclegurus, magic method gurus, and dead gurus. Some gurus call important mar-ket turns. Others promote “unique methods” —new highways to riches. Stillothers have escaped criticism and invited cult following through the simplemechanism of departing this world.
Market Cycle Gurus
For many decades, the U.S. stock market has generally followed a four-yearcycle. Significant bear market lows occurred in 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974,1978, and 1982. The broad stock market has normally spent 2.5 or 3 yearsgoing up and 1 or 1.5 years going down.
A new market cycle guru emerges in almost every major stock marketcycle, once every 4 years. A guru’s fame tends to last for 2 to 3 years. Thereigning period of each guru coincides with a major bull market in theUnited States.
A market cycle guru forecasts all major rallies and declines. Each correctforecast increases his fame and prompts even more people to buy or sellwhen he issues his next forecast. As more and more people take notice of theguru, his advice becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you recognize ahot new guru, it pays to follow his advice.
There are thousands of analysts, some of whom are certain to be on a hotstreak at any given time. Most analysts become hot at some point in theircareers for the same reason a broken clock shows the right time twice a day.Those who have tasted the joy of being on a hot streak sometimes feelcrushed when it ends and they wash out of the market. But there are enoughold foxes who enjoy their occasional hot streaks, yet continue working asusual after their hot streak ends.
The success of a market cycle guru depends on more than short-term luck.He has a pet theory about the market. That theory—cycles, volume, ElliottWave, whatever—is usually developed several years prior to reaching star-dom. At first, the market refuses to follow an aspiring guru’s pet theory. Then6. MARKET GURUS 19
the market changes and for several years comes in gear with theory. That iswhen the star of the market guru rises high and bright above the marketplace.
Compare this to what happens to fashion models as public tastes change.One year, blondes are popular, another year, redheads. Suddenly, last year’sblonde star is no longer wanted for the front cover of a major women’s mag-azine. Everybody wants a dark model, or a woman with a birthmark on herface. A model does not change — public tastes do. .
Gurus always come from the fringes of market analysis. They are neverestablishment analysts. Institutional employees play it safe and neverachieve spectacular results because each uses similar methods. A marketcycle guru is an outsider with a unique theory.
A guru usually earns a living publishing a newsletter and can grow Tichselling his advice. Subscriptions can soar from a few hundred annually totens of thousands. A recent market cycle guru was reported to have hiredthree people just to open the envelopes with money pouring into his firm.
At investment conferences, a guru is surrounded by a mob of admirers. Ifyou ever find yourself in such a crowd, notice that a guru is seldom askedquestions about his theory. His admirers are content to drink in the sound ofhis voice. They brag to their friends about having met him.
A guru remains famous for as long as the market behaves according to histheory —usually for less than the duration of one 4-year market cycle. Atsome point the market changes and starts marching to a different tune. Aguru continues to use old methods that worked spectacularly well in the pastand rapidly loses his following. When the guru’s forecasts stop working,public admiration turns to hatred. It is impossible for a discredited marketcycle guru to retum to stardom.
The reigning guru in the early 1970s was Edson Gould. He based his fore-casts on policy changes of the Federal Reserve, as reflected in the discountrate. His famous mule of “three steps and a stumble” stated that if the FederalReserve raised the discount rate three times, that showed tightening and ledto a bear market. Lowering the discount rate in three steps revealed a loosen-ing of the monetary policy and led to a bull market. Gould also developed anoriginal charting technique called speedlines — shallow trendlines whoseangles depended on the velocity of a trend and the depth of market reactions.
Gould became very hot during the bear market of 1973-1974. He vaultedto prominence after correctly calling the December 1974 bottom, when theDow Jones Industrials fell to near 500. The market rocketed higher, Gouldpresciently identified its important turning points using speedlines, and hisfame grew. But soon the United States was flooded with liquidity, inflation20 INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
intensified, and Gould’s methods, developed in a different monetary environ-ment, stopped working. By 1976, he had lost most of his following, and fewpeople today even remember his name.
The new market cycle guru emerged in 1978. Joseph Granville stated thatchanges in stock market volume preceded changes in prices. He expressed itcolorfully: “Volume is the steam that makes the choo-choo go.” Granvilledeveloped his theory while working for a major Wall Street brokerage firm.He wrote in his autobiography that the idea came to him while sitting on atoilet contemplating the design of floor tiles. Granville took his idea from thebathroom to the chartroom, but the market refused to follow his forecasts.He went broke, got divorced, and slept on the floor of his friend’s office. Bythe late 1970s, the market started to follow Granville’s scripts as neverbefore or since, and people began to take notice.
Granville toured the United States speaking to overflow crowds. Hearrived on stage in a carriage, issued forecasts, and chided “bagholders” whowould not recognize his theory. He played piano, sang, and, on occasion,even dropped his pants to make a point. His forecasts were spectacularly cor-rect; he drew attention to himself and became widely quoted in the massmedia. Granville became big enough to move the stock market. When heannounced that he was bearish, the Dow dropped over 40 points in a day—ahuge decline by the standards of that time. Granville became intoxicatedwith his success. The market surged higher in 1982, but he remained verybearish and kept advising his dwindling band of followers to continue to sellshort. The market rocketed higher into 1983. Granville finally gave up andrecommended buying when the Dow doubled in value. He continued to pub-lish a market newsletter, a shadow of his former successful self.
A new guru entered the spotlight in 1984. Robert Prechter has made aname for himself as an Elliott Wave theorist. Elliott was an impecuniousaccountant who developed his market theory in the 1930s. He believed thatthe stock market rallied in 5 waves and fell in 3 waves, which in tum couldbe subdivided into lesser waves.
Like other market cycle gurus before him, Prechter had been writing anadvisory letter for many years with modest success. When the bull marketpenetrated the 1000 level on the Dow, people began to pay attention to theyoung analyst who kept calling for the Dow to reach 3000. The bull marketwent from strength to strength, and Prechter’s fame grew by leaps andbounds.
In the roaring bull market of the 1980s, Prechter’s fame swept outside thenarrow world of investment newsletters and conferences. Prechter appearedon national television and was interviewed by popular magazines. In October6. MARKET GURUS 21
1987, he appeared to vacillate, first issuing a sell signal, then telling his fol-lowers to get ready to buy. As the Dow crashed 500 points, mass adulationof Prechter gave way to scorn and hatred. Some blamed him for the decline,others were angry that the market never reached his stated target of 3000.Prechter’s advisory business shrank, and he largely retired from it.
All market cycle gurus have several traits in common. They becomeactive in the forecasting business several years prior to reaching stardom.Each has a unique theory, a few followers, and some credibility, conferred bysheer survival in the advisory business. The fact that each guru’s theory didnot work for a number of years is ignored by his followers. When the theorybecomes correct, the mass media take notice. When a theory stops working,mass adulation of a guru tums to hatred.
When you recognize that a successful new guru is emerging, it is prof-itable to jump on his bandwagon. It is even more important to recognizewhen a guru has reached his peak. All gurus crash—and by definition, theycrash from the height of their fame. When a guru becomes accepted by themass media, it is a sign that he has reached his crest. The mainstream mediais wary of outsiders. When several mass magazines devote space to a hotmarket guru, you know that his end is near.
Another warning sign that a market guru has reached his peak occurswhen he is interviewed by Barron’s— America’s largest business weekly.Every January, Barron’s invites a panel of prominent analysts to dispensewisdom and issue forecasts for the year ahead. The panel is usually made upof “safe” analysts who focus on price/earnings ratios, emerging growthindustries, and so on. It is highly atypical of Barron’s to invite a hot guruwith an offbeat theory to its January panel. A guru gets invited only whenthe public clamors for him, and to exclude him would diminish the prestigeof the magazine. Both Granville and Prechter were invited to the Januarypanel when each man was at the crest of his fame. Each guru fell within afew months of appearing on that panel. The next time a market guru is onBarron’s January panel, do not renew your subscription to his newsletter.
Mass psychology being what it is, new gurus will certainly emerge. Anold cycle guru never fully comes back. Once he stumbles, the adulation tumsto derision and hatred. An expensive vase, once shattered, can never be fullyrestored.
Magic Method Gurus
Market cycle gurus are creatures of the stock market, but “method gurus” aremore prominent in the derivative markets, especially in the futures markets.22 INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
A “method guru” erupts on the financial scene after discovering a new ana-lytic or trading method.
Traders always look for an edge, an advantage over fellow traders. Likeknights shopping for swords, they are willing to pay handsomely for theirtrading tools. No price is too high if it lets them tap into a money pipeline.
A magic method guru sells a new set of keys to market profits. As soon asenough people become familiar with a new method and test it in the markets,it inevitably deteriorates and starts losing popularity. Markets are foreverchanging, and the methods that worked yesterday are not likely to worktoday and even less likely to work a year from now.
In the early 1970s, Chicago market letter writer Jake Bernstein becamehot by using market cycles to call tops and bottoms. His methods workedwell and his fame spread. Bernstein charged high fees for his newsletters, ranconferences, managed funds, and produced an endless flow of books. Asusual, the markets changed, becoming less and less cyclical in the 1980s.
Peter Steidlmayer was another method guru whose star rose high aboveChicago. He urged his followers to discard old trading methods in favor ofhis Market Profile. That method promised to reveal the secrets of supply anddemand and give true believers an ability to buy at the bottoms and sell atthe tops. Steidlmayer teamed up with entrepreneur Kevin Koy, and their fre-quent seminars attracted upward of 50 people who paid $1600 for a 4-dayclass. There appeared to be no conspicuous examples of success amongMarket Profile devotees, and the founders had a nasty falling out.Steidlmayer got a job with a brokerage firm, and both he and Koy continuedto give occasional seminars.
Oddly enough, even in this era of fast global links, reputations changeslowly. A guru whose image has been destroyed in his own country canmake money peddling his theory overseas. That point has been made to meby a guru who compared his continued popularity in Asia to what happensto faded American singers and movie stars. They are unable to attract anaudience in the United States, but they can still make a living singingabroad.
Dead Gurus
The third type of a market guru is a dead guru. His books are reissued, hismarket courses are scrutinized by new generations of eager traders, and the6. MARKET GURUS 23
legend of the dear-departed analyst’s prowess and personal wealth growsposthumously. The dead guru is no longer among us and cannot capitalize onhis fame. Other promoters profit from his reputation and from expired copy-rights. One dear-departed guru is R. N. Elliott, but the best example of such alegend is W. D. Gann.
Various opportunists sell “Gann courses” and “Gann software.” Theyclaim that Gann was one of the best traders who ever lived, that he left a $50million estate, and so on. I interviewed W. D. Gann’s son, an analyst for aBoston bank. He told me that his famous father could not support his familyby trading but earned his living by writing and selling instructional courses.When W. D. Gann died in the 1950s, his estate, including his house, was val-ued at slightly over $100,000. The legend of W. D. Gann, the giant of trad-ing, is perpetuated by those who sell courses and other paraphernalia togullible customers.
The Followers of Gurus
The personalities of market gurus differ. Some are dead, but those who arealive range from serious academic types to great showmen. A guru has toproduce original research for several years, then get lucky when the marketturns his way.
To read about the scandals that surrounded many gurus, try Winner TakesAll by William Gallacher and The Dow Jones Guide to Trading Systems byBruce Babcock. The purpose of this section is simply analysis of the guruphenomenon.
When we pay a guru, we expect to get back more than we spend. We actlike a man who bets a few dollars against a three-card monte dealer on astreet corner. He hopes to win more than he put down on an overturned crate.Only the ignorant or greedy take the bait.
Some people turn to gurus in search of a strong leader. They look for aparent-like omniscient provider. As a friend once said, “They walk with theirumbilical cords in hand, looking for a place to plug them in.” A smart pro-moter provides such a receptacle, for a fee.
The public wants gurus, and new gurus will come. As an intelligent trader,you must realize that in the long run, no guru is going to make you rich. Youhave to work on that yourself.24 INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY7. SELF-DESTRUCTIVENESS
Trading is a very hard game. A trader who wants to be successful in the longrun has to be very serious about what he does. He cannot afford to be naiveor to trade because of some hidden psychological agenda.
Unfortunately, trading often appeals to impulsive people, to gamblers, andto those who feel that the world owes them a living. If you trade for theexcitement, you are liable to take trades with bad odds and accept unneces-sary risks. The markets are unforgiving, and emotional trading always resultsin losses.
Gambling
Gambling means betting on games of chance or skill. It exists in all societies,and most people have gambled at some point in their lives.
Freud believed that gambling was universally attractive because it was asubstitute for masturbation. The repetitive and exciting activity of the hands,the irresistible urge, the resolutions to stop, the intoxicating quality of plea-sure, and the feelings of guilt link gambling and masturbation.
Dr. Ralph Greenson, a prominent California psychoanalyst, has dividedgamblers into three groups: the normal person who gambles for diversionand who can stop when he wishes; the professional gambler, who selectsgambling as his means of earning a livelihood; and the neurotic gambler,who gambles because he is driven by unconscious needs and is unable tostop.
A neurotic gambler either feels lucky or wants to test his luck. Winninggives him a sense of power. He feels pleased, like a baby feeding at a breast. Aneurotic gambler always loses because he tries to re-create that omnipotentfeeling of bliss instead of concentrating on a realistic long-term game plan.
Dr. Sheila Blume, director of the compulsive gambling program at SouthOaks Hospital in New York, calls gambling “an addiction without a drug.”Most gamblers are men who gamble for the action. Women tend to gambleas a means of escape. Losers usually hide their losses and try to look and actlike winners, but they are plagued by self-doubt.
Trading stocks, futures, and options gives a gambler a high but it doesappear more respectable than betting on the ponies. Moreover, gambling inthe financial markets has an aura of sophistication and offers a better intel-lectual diversion than playing numbers with a bookie.7, SELF-DESTRUCTIVENESS 25
Gamblers feel happy when trades go in their favor. They feel terribly lowwhen they lose. They differ from successful professionals who focus on long-term plans and do not get particularly upset or excited in the process of trading.
Brokers are well aware that many of their clients are gamblers. They oftentry to avoid leaving messages for traders with their wives, even when theycall to confirm a trade. Amateurs are not the only ones involved in gam-bling — quite a bit of it goes on among professionals. Sonny Kleinfielddescribes in his book, The Traders, the endemic betting on sports events onthe floors of financial exchanges.
The key sign of gambling is the inability to resist the urge to bet. If youfeel that you are trading too much and the results are poor, stop trading for amonth, This will give you a chance to re-evaluate your trading. If the urge totrade is so strong that you cannot stay away from the action for a month,then it is time to visit your local chapter of Gamblers Anonymous or startusing the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, outlined later in this chapter.
Self-Sabotage
After practicing psychiatry for many years, I became convinced that mostfailures in life are due to self-sabotage. We fail in our professional, personal,and business affairs not because of stupidity or incompetence, but to fulfillan unconscious wish to fail.
A brilliant and witty friend of mine has a lifelong history of demolishinghis success. As a young man, he was a successful