Lloyd Blankfein. grew up in the projects. became CEO of Goldman Sachs. ran a balance sheet worth hundreds of billions.
when asked what separated the traders who made it from the ones who didn't:
"the difference between somebody who's really really good and somebody who can't make it is not that great."
"you think of a golf tournament and somebody wins by one stroke and there's six people tied for second. that's a very low margin of victory. and a lot of life is like that."
"the difference between a great actor who will get any part in Hollywood and the second best one who may have to wait tables at night."
"imagine the unfortunate person who's the best athlete his high school ever produced. gets a minor league baseball contract. and from the minor leagues, something like 2% eventually make a living."
"you get into very rarefied air when you're talking about people who are the best at what they do, where the market only rewards people who are in the 0.01%."
this applies to trading. the gap between a profitable trader and someone who blows up isn't some massive talent difference. it's a handful of small decisions compounded over years, position sizing, validation rigor, patience during drawdowns.