An Interview With Sara Connell
… Free time is so scarce nowadays that I wish I had made better use of my time in my youth. Also, today, I realize the importance of having a balanced life, and although I make sure that I balance my time fairly between family, hobbies, and duties, I wish I had acquired this skill earlier.
Books have the power to shape, influence, and change our lives. Why is that so? What goes into a book that can shape lives? To address this we are interviewing people who can share a story about a book that changed their life, and why. As a part of our series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Andrea Unger.
Andrea Unger is a full-time professional trader, President of The Unger Academy and author of The Unger Method. Andrea is the only Four-Time World Trading Champion (2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012), he’s an honorary member of SIAT (Italian Society of Technical Analysis, a branch of IFTA) and speaks throughout Europe, America, Australia and Asia. Learn more on his website or connect with him on Facebook @AndreaUngerOfficial or Instagram @unger_academy.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Let’s talk about what you’re doing now and how you achieved the success that you currently enjoy. Can you tell our readers about the work that you’re doing?
When I first started as a trader in 1997, I barely understood the basics of the stock acquisition process. Since then, I have evolved and adopted systematic trading, developed and perfected my method, now known as the Unger Method, becoming the only four-time world trading champion, having won the Robbin’s Cup championship in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012. Following my performance on the international stage, I noticed the keen interest of fellow traders in learning how I built such a successful and sustainable approach to trading. People were willing to invest their savings to be trained by me, and so in 2015, I launched the Unger Academy, a place where one can learn what I do and how I generate and maintain high returns on investment.
By 2017, we received confirmation that the Unger Academy was on the right track when Stefano Serafini became World Trading Champion. In 2018, we proved to the world again that the Unger Method was probably a highly effective training program, when Petra Ilona Zacek made us proud by winning the world champion title. The secret behind the success of our students is that I share everything I have learned over the last two decades with them. My goal is to enable traders to replicate the Unger Method and thus fly with their own wings.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
1 . Commitment. When I do something that I like, I dedicate myself with passion and try to look at all possible aspects. I don’t just think of the goal, but about the whole path leading me to that goal. If I were not committed to what I do for a living, I would have given up trading a long time ago.
In the beginning, I lost a lot of money due to a discretionary approach, just like many beginners do. In the end, I was able to get back on my feet because I loved trading, and deep down, I knew that someday I would reap the fruits of my efforts.
2. Humility. By staying humble, I can listen and give due consideration to the views of others around me and thus read warning signals better. In contrast, arrogance can lead to disastrous decisions in trading. I always remind my students that markets are dangerous, and while wrong decisions can be monitored and corrected, vanity cannot.
Many traders, especially beginners, because they have experienced a few successes, soon start to believe that they are superior to others. Too many times, I have seen people losing all their savings with this kind of attitude. So, if you want to keep making money on the markets, make sure you always keep your feet on the ground.
3. Possessing a Scientific Mindset. Having a scientific mind has helped me figure out things schematically throughout my career. I like to organize everything, and math is the most remarkable example of organized thinking in my eyes. It provides a step by step method of calculation that leads to a unique solution and, in most cases, as in my case, offers a rational explanation of complex events in the trading world, and this is also why I test all my trading strategies against their past performances, to know how far and how fast to go.
What’s the WHY behind the work that you do? Please share a story about this if you can.
Two whys drive me in everything that I do. The first thing that led me to become a mentor is that I really enjoy teaching. When I was at the university, I considered becoming a professor, but was dissuaded by a trusted professor who told me how full of politics teaching can be. I don’t know if that is the case everywhere, but that part of it didn’t interest me.
So, feeling a bit frustrated, I went into the industry to become a technical marketing specialist. There I enjoyed preparing materials for all the sales force so that they could decently promote the products produced by the company, but it was not enough to fulfill my desire to teach.
As I gained confidence as a systematic trader, I quit the industry and became a full-time trader. As I won the world trading championships, the number of acknowledgments of my method increased, and more people were coming to me. Even before I won my first world trading championship title, people came to me for advice and guidance as they could see that my trading method was providing great results despite adverse circumstances.
I understood that conferences and workshops would not be enough to teach people how to build trading systems and position sizing techniques. Thus I created the Unger Academy to provide them with the materials and assess the impact of my method on their returns.
My second why is my passion for systematic trading, which gave me the freedom I could not find in my previous job as an approach to markets. Since everything is automated, I can do what I want with my time, although I am always learning new ways to innovate rather than take a walk in the park or go to the beach. Without systematic trading, I would not have enjoyed this level of feeling, and I would not have achieved success in the trading world.
Awesome! Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. I’m an author, and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Can you please tell our readers about “The Book That Changed Your Life”? Can you share a story about how it impacted you?
If I have to pinpoint just one book, I’d choose the Trading Game: Playing by the Numbers to Make Millions by Ryan Jones. This book is unique because it introduced me to the power of money management and position sizing and how to do it. The author shows his readers the methodology you need to make money in trading.
The book really opened doors for me. I was suddenly able to see problems from a different angle and thus find solutions. Before reading the book, I could not make up my mind, especially when taking huge risks. When I read the book, I changed my approach in general. Until today, this book remains a founding stone of who I am.
What moment or series of events made you decide that you wanted to take a specific course of action based on the inspiration from the book? Can you share a story about that?
Trading Game opened my mind to how to address the problems that I faced trading. It was a bit like the missing brick in the wall. Once I reviewed all my strategies to take full advantage of position sizing techniques, I was able to further improve my own trading method. That was a significant change in trajectory, and it was an intense moment in my life.
Can you articulate why you think books, in particular, have the power to create movements, revolutions, and true change?
Books create emotions. They go in-depth into the mind of people and find their way inside their hearts. In my case, a good book can go to the extent of transforming lives for the better. Although not all books will have the same impact on people, and not everybody will take the time to meditate on what they have read, as leaders, we all have a duty towards ourselves to find the time to identify a good book and take the time to sit and read.
A book has many aspects, of course. For example, you have the writing style, the narrative tense, the topic, the genre, the design, the cover, the size, etc. In your opinion, what are the main, essential ingredients needed to create a book that can change lives?
This is a tough question to answer. In my opinion, there are no real ingredients. When somebody writes a book, what is essential is whether the author has something to transmit to the world. The topic can be anything. It can be a book on philosophy, a book about love, or a thriller. As long as the author has enough materials to transmit emotions to people, I think he or she will be successful with their audience.
I don’t believe there’s any secret sauce to success as a writer, but you have to ensure that you have the fundamentals right. You have to be a good writer. You have to be able to transmit your inner ideas and emotions that will move people throughout the book. Writers should also keep in mind that readers’ moods and the socio-economic context in which they live also play an important role.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started My Career” and why?
- How to identify what is worth my time. I have always done things with a scientific mindset in my professional life. I plan and do in-depth research before implementing and delivering, but at the same time, when I like something, I go for it. And, as those willing to explore opportunities as they come to them know, this approach can also cost time and money. I wished somebody could have been by my side to help me identify the opportunities worth spending time on, I would have saved considerable resources, and I would have been in an even better position than I am today.
- To learn things I didn’t know when I had the time. Free time is so scarce nowadays that I wish I had made better use of my time in my youth. Also, today, I realize the importance of having a balanced life, and although I make sure that I balance my time fairly between family, hobbies, and duties, I wish I had acquired this skill earlier.
- To not be afraid to commit to a long journey. Sometimes, I hesitated and postponed life-changing decisions because I knew it would take me long before I could reap the benefits, but today, I am pleased to have taken this path.
- To always be humble. As I mentioned earlier, humility matters a lot to remain successful in the long run. So, this is why I believe young professionals especially need to be reminded that they have to be humble enough to consider the views of the people around them, which requires one to pay attention and be patient. They have a duty to themselves and their organizations to adopt an inclusive approach to management.
- Plan everything. The last but not the least thing that I would say is essential in the early stages of one’s professional career is planning. Youth should not just dream but plan their future thoroughly. Today, I believe that to be successful, one should not focus on the goal but the path leading to the destination, and I wish I had done this earlier.
The world, of course, needs progress in many areas. What movement do you hope someone (or you!) starts next? Can you explain why that is so important?
I hope to see more solidarity, especially towards poor countries. We have the chance to live and work in countries that provide us with good opportunities, but there are countries in the world where people are dying because they don’t have food. I think we can make a difference in the fight against poverty if we put our minds and resources together. I think if people come together, we can make a lasting change.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us and our readers. We know that it will make a tremendous difference and impact thousands of lives. We are excited to connect further and we wish you so much joy in your next success.
Andrea Unger Of The Unger Academy On The Book That Changed His Life was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.