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Babe Ruth on Persistence: Keep Swinging Your Bat

"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run." - Babe Ruth.

Legendary slugger, Babe Ruth was not afraid to swing the bat and miss. He was focused on making big plays at the plate and scoring runs. With his towering home runs and overall batting prowess, Ruth helped lead the New York Yankees to 7 league championships and 4 World Series titles.

Ruth seemed to view strikes, and even the odd strikeout (his home run to strikeout ratio was actually quite low), as a simple cost of doing business. Gains vs. losses. Like all great players, he knew that even the inevitable cold streaks and hitting slumps are a passing phase. Sooner or later, the swing would connect and the hits would flow once more.

You can't win 'em all, as we say in America. But you must step onto the playing field in order to take your shot. So get up to the plate and swing. Persist and do your best. If you're doing things correctly, your wins (hits) will more than pay for your losses (strikes).

More on this theme, as it applies to trading, in our next post. Stay tuned!

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Maximize Your Trading Gains, Not Wins: William Eckhardt Interview

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