The Advantage of Looking Stupid
Most people won’t try because they’re afraid to fail. I’ve made a habit of it.
A friend asked me the other day, “How do you know so much about so many different things, what’s your IQ?”
I didn’t give them a book list or a course. I just said, “I’m not afraid to look stupid.”
That might sound like a non answer but it’s the only answer that matters.
See, embarrassment shaped a lot of my childhood. When you grow up as an adopted kid, you miss out on things. Those unspoken lessons other kids pick up just by being around people like them. Mirror neurons. That’s the science-y way of saying: you learn how to process your emotions by watching people who are wired like you and when that’s missing, it shows.
I had no clue what to do with my emotions. But I did know I wanted to be perfect. Perfect kids don’t get left behind. Perfect kids get picked.
That’s a heavy load to carry—and it kills your ability to take risks.
But here’s the paradox: you can’t grow without failing and failing means looking stupid.
When I was 12, I found BMX. My first love, my escape, my purpose. Something I was willing to look stupid for.
But if you’ve ever watched someone do a backflip on a bike, you know what comes before that: years of crashing. Over and over, into pavement, into fences and into yourself.
That’s the price of doing anything at a high level.
People on the outside see the wins—The podiums—The edits.
What they don’t see is the pain it took to get there. The bruises, the surgeries and the self doubt.
The long stretches of nothing working.
The same is true in trading.
You send your chart ideas to someone you look up to—they laugh. Maybe they tell you the setup’s garbage. Maybe they don’t respond at all.
You stay up all night studying setups. Then you wake up to a gap against you and realize you were sized 3x too big.
You blow up, you cry and you stare at the screen like it owes you an explanation.
It doesn’t.
The market is the greatest teacher in the world—and the cruelest. If you think you're going to learn to trade without looking stupid, good luck.
You’ll need it.
But if you're willing to fall, to be humbled, to look dumb over and over… you just might figure it out.
That was me, many years ago. On my knees, lost a year of gains in 2 days. No confidence. Just the stubborn belief that there had to be a way.
Now I teach what I’ve learned, not because I’m smarter than anyone else.
It’s because I’ve been willing to look stupid longer than most.
And I still am.
That’s the edge.
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