You can make money as a part-time investor. There’s no doubt about it. Only, you’ll never make as much money as a professional investor.

You see, the professional makes investing his career. Through hours and hours of experience, he becomes a master of the trade, often gaining and losing it all several times over.

But he never stops.

Regardless of the tragedy or triumph he faces, the professional investor continues, learning, experimenting, and all the while building his empire. He can’t imagine doing it any other way.

Take the movie Cinderella Man, for instance.

At the surface, it’s just an inspirational boxing movie, but if you look closer, I believe it’s a story of what it means to be a professional.

A Professional Cannot Divide His Attention

In the beginning of the movie, James Braddock is penniless, beat up, and seemingly at the end of his career. He’s working every available shift at the docks, but he can’t scrape money together to pay for enough food. Hungry and with a broken hand, he goes his last fight and does so poorly that they revoked his license.

Why?

You could say it’s because he’s hungry and out of shape, and you’d be right, but the reason he’s in that condition is he’s unable to focus exclusively on boxing. Where many of the other fighters are training full-time, he spends all of his time on the docks, struggling to survive.

Later in the movie, he gets a chance to go back into boxing full-time, and suddenly he beats everyone in his path like they’re nothing. Not because he’s received any special revelation, but because he can focus on his profession.

Investing works the same way.

Yes, you can make some money investing part-time, but you’ll never make as much money as a professional investor. You won’t have the experience, resources, or time. The only way you’ll be able to compete is to quit your job and throw yourself into it full-time.

A Professional Investor Accepts the Sacrifices

When Braddock decides to fight Max Baer, everyone tries to dissuade him. Baer has killed two men in the ring, and they’re afraid that the aged Braddock will be the third. They show him a film of Baer delivering the final deadly blow. And what does he say?

“You think you’re telling me something? What, like boxing is dangerous, or something like that?”

Braddock knows the risks, and he’s willing to accept them as part of his profession. Later, he responds to some reporters:

“You don’t think double shifts or working nights on the scaffolds is just as likely to get a guy killed? … In my profession, and it’s my profession, I’m a little more fortunate.”

Professional investors take the same approach. They stake the prosperity of their entire family on their investments, and they recognize it could all end in bankruptcy.

Yet they’re not worried. Why? Because there’s risk involved with everything, whether you’re working a job, investing in stocks, or risking it all on a multimillion dollar real estate deal. They know the risk of their occupation, and just like Braddock, they meet it head-on.

Professional Investors Win through Courage and Perseverance

If you’ve watched the movie, you know that Braddock becomes the heavyweight champion, but quite arguably, he’s not the better boxer. He’s just more persistent and courageous.

In one of the earlier fights, another boxer connects with a vicious uppercut, knocking out his mouth guard. Most fighters would’ve just quit, but he just grins, blood trickling from his mouth, picks the mouth guard up again, and wins the fight.

Investing works the same way. Sooner or later, you’ll take a risk and lose, taking a metaphorical uppercut to the face. Except, what are you going to do? Lay down? No, you’re going to get back up and finish what you started.

It takes a tremendous amount of courage to do this, and everyone will recognize it. If people see you take a financial hit, losing a tremendous amount of money, but your back on your feet again in a year, you’ll gain a lot of respect.

Not Everyone Wants to Be a Professional

I admire Braddock, but I don’t envy him. You couldn’t pay me enough money to get in a boxing ring with a heavyweight champion. Now, would I like to take some boxing lessons and do it to stay in shape? Sure.

Similarly, some folks have no desire to be a professional investor. They can’t imagine risking everything they own. They can’t put themselves or their family through the stress. They’re not in this to get famous; they just want to stay financially fit

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

You just have to decide for yourself which one you want to be.