One thing that you must come to grips with is that the change you seek cannot happen until and unless you become aware of your issues and problems. Yes, you may be aware of the fact that you are getting results that you don’t want, but that is not enough. You must become aware of your underlying self-sabotaging thoughts, emotions and limiting beliefs that drive what you do. If you don’t you will continue to do the same thing and you’ll get the same result. You must increase your ability to be “self-aware.” I have often talked about the critical importance to being in the moment, for the moment, fully available, fully present and in the now; in order to be in the now you must be cognizant of where you are, what you are doing, how you are doing it and what is going on inside of your body and head. You’ve got to be sensitive to changes in your feelings, not just your emotions. Emotions like anxiety, fear, greed and anger are not always known to you. They can be triggered by an unconscious thought, such as; “…if I lose in this trade that means that I am stupid.” This unconscious thought might give rise to a surge of anxiety initially and after the loss, self-loathing; but the emotions may not be identified by your conscious mind (your awareness) because you are not in touch with them. Rather, what you feel, for instance, is a tension in your gut, a pressure in your head, or a pain in your back. These feelings are directly related to the unconscious emotion, but you are not aware of the connection. So, you barrel ahead feeling something in your body, which itself may or may not be in your awareness, and for the most part oblivious to the pattern of behavior that has been initiated like turning on a switch to chainsaw that has no handler – it can cause a lot of damage.

So, when we talk about increasing the awareness of your issues and problems, it is more than that. You must develop sensitivity to the signals that your body and mind are sending to you that something is wrong and requires your attention. For example, when you are about to enter a trade and you feel a knot in the pit of your stomach, it may not just be that undigested pork sausage sandwich that you ate for dinner last night. In fact, it probably isn’t most of the time. Your subconscious attempts to communicate with you early and often as it relates to engaging in important efforts (like trading) where you are out of alignment and working against your best interests. Actually, when you feel any discomfort, it is usually connected to a part of your inner self that is attempting to express itself. Your personality is made up of a number of distinct parts, which is why you are often in conflict. This conflict is a reflection of differing notions, belief systems and values that are vying for expression. How often have you “decided” upon a plan of action in your trading only to “second guess” and renege on the plan…then to find that the second guessing caused you to lose. Or, how about making a decision to lose weight, get up early, or put together a Macro Trading Business Plan and part of what you tell yourself is that “you either don’t really need that” or “that you’ll do it as soon as you get a “round tuit” (I’ve got some of those for sale by the way – they are in high demand).

Becoming more sensitive to the signals (internal thoughts, emotions, feelings, etc.) means that you must stop and “listen” to your body. It means that you must be willing to invest the time and energy to get to know you. It means that you must be willing to get outside of your comfort zone and be uncomfortable in the service of your highest and best goals and your A-Game. I remember one of my students decided not to involve themselves in an exercise in one of my classes. When I asked him why he had not done the exercise he said that he didn’t want to “remember” the trade and go there. I told him; “…but, that is exactly the point!” You must be willing to confront the unpleasant thoughts, emotions and memories to find out what is at the core of your conflicts, bad patterns and limiting beliefs. What you resist persists. Using mindful practices like self-reflection, introspection, meditation, and just asking the question “why” after each answer to the question “what is going on with me right now?” will help you immensely in your quest to connect with your highest and best trader.

We are here to help you reach and sustain your A-Game. We teach you tools to help you become more sensitive and self-aware so that you can change the bad behavior and begin to get the results that you deserve.