Many years ago, my sister got married in the Czech Republic and I travelled overseas to attend. This was the first time I had ever left Australia, and everything was new and exciting for me. It was a wonderful experience and I had a great time. I also realised that there are many, many things that I don’t know, so it was a good learning experience as well.

On my way home, I stopped over in Dubai to catch up with my cousin who worked there, and I stayed in the Burj Al Arab hotel, which was an awesome experience. The hotel itself is obviously nice, but the thing I will always remember was the level of service provided. Every single staff member, on every single floor, knew my name and greeted me with a smile. If I needed anything – towels, more fruit, room service – it was there in a flash. They really went out of their way to make you feel like royalty.

When I met up with my cousin the next day, I told him about the friendliness of the staff: how they always greeted you with a smile, how they were always offering to do things for you, and how they would always shake your hand and look you in the eye before they left. “They’re so friendly,” I said!

“No they’re not,” my cousin replied. “They just want tips!” To demonstrate, he asked a member of the hotel for directions somewhere, and sure enough, when the man had finished giving directions, he raised his hand to shake my cousin’s hand. As they did so, I saw my cousin slip a note into the man’s hand, which was very eagerly pocketed.

Now in Australia, tipping is not really a part of our culture apart from restaurants and the hospitality industry. There’s an old joke that says the difference between an Aussie and a canoe is that a canoe will sometimes tip! I also assumed that since the hotel charged a couple of thousand dollars a night, they could afford to pay their staff enough money that they wouldn’t need tips! Like I said, there were many things I did not (and still don’t) know! They were simply outside of my awareness. I needed someone more experienced and familiar with the culture to point things out to me.

I had a similar experience when I first started trading. There were so many things that I didn’t know. I didn’t know about the different markets that I could trade. I didn’t know how to analyze a market, or identify a market turning point, or figure out which way the market was going (all useful skills to have!). I also didn’t know that once news comes out it’s often too late to trade it, or that fundamental analysis, while useful for a long-term investor, is almost untradable for a shorter term trader.

The point I’m making is that whenever you start something new, there are always so many things that you don’t know. And not only do you not know them, you don’t KNOW that you don’t know them! In trading, it’s a good idea to have a mentor or coach to help you find your feet in the beginning. For me, I was fortunate enough to have the Safety in the Market Trading Tutors Support Service, along with the instructors, to help me on my way. Even now, more than 15 years after I was a student, I could still email the support team if a question came up.

If you’re a Safety in the Market student, whether you’re brand new and just joining us or whether you’re returning after a break of 20 years or more, remember that you can always contact our Trading Tutors Support Team with any questions you’ve got, or if you want to run anything past them.