Have you ever noticed that some people often espouse certain “values” that they hold dear? In fact they will set themselves apart from others by intimating that they are somehow better because they have different values. This seems especially true of politicians who pontificate about how their family values inform their behavioral decisions while engaging in cheating on a spouse, or violating ethical rules and/or criminal laws. Now, my intention is not to vilify our politicians even if it is pretty easy; but to show how pervasive this notion of not walking your talk is across the landscape.   Take any demographic or group of people. As you look closer into the difference between what they say they are going to do and what they actually follow-up on are often quite different. This is true for everybody, this writer included.   Part of the issue lies in how we discuss this notion. When someone says that they have values, they often mean that they have a personal standard of behavior that has relative worth, merit or importance as in “I value being in good health. Or, I value my friendships.” Then, when an opportunity to follow-through with this value comes up like eating a healthy meal, exercising, or being dependable when a friend asks to be picked up in the middle of the night; the person fades into the woodwork and is nowhere to be found. They fail to do what they noisily said they would. In other words, in that instance they balked and became hypocrites.   What was actually happening when they pledged allegiance to the value is that they were talking about a “principle.” This distinction is lost to most folks.

A principle is a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning. It is what you hold as a standard to aspire to. On the other hand, a value is what and how you are living. If you “value” family relationships you are exhibiting behaviors that truly support healthy, nurturing, honest and compassionate connections with all of your family members. If you “value” good health you are regularly exercising, eating healthily and getting proper rest. Now, if your values are incongruent with your behavior, that doesn’t mean it’s time to curl up in a depressed heap; it just means that you want to be more specific in clarifying your values in order to use those principles that you thought were values as aspirational goals and objectives. Once you make this distinction you can orient the principle so that you have a set of tasks, intentions and objectives to take the newly identified principle and in time turn it into a value that you are living. In this way you are centering your actions on endearing and enduring principles that function as guidelines for decisions and choices in your trading and in your life.

Principle centered trading is setting your process on a course of rule based protocols, routines and documentation that is guided by a higher standard beginning with your macro purpose. When your purpose is connected to the what-matters-most in your life this not only sets the groundwork for connecting the energy of what you are most passionate about to the mechanics of trade rule follow-through and commitment keeping, it is also articulating and defining your standards of performance as guided by your principles. This helps you in real time when you come to that fork-in-the-road and you choose the direction in which to proceed. You can choose to go to the left, violate rules, break promises, go off the cliff to crash and burn; or you can choose to go to the right while keeping your highest and best trader at the platform as you trade in your highest and best interests.

Principle centered trading also involves becoming self-aware in order to increase your overall awareness of internal unconscious thoughts, limiting beliefs, and behaviors that are below the radar.   In fact, most (well over 90%) of what goes on in your brain/mind is out of your awareness; and you can’t change what you can’t face and you can’t face what you don’t know. Becoming self-aware does not mean self-absorbed as that is an ego function which supports arrogance and hubris. Self-aware simply means that you are monitoring what you are telling yourself; that is, your internal stories and mythology that in many cases are far from reality. Additionally, it is aiming to reframe, redefine and restructure negative self-talk that conjures erratic and negative emotions which in turn drive behaviors that are not supportive to follow-through and commitment keeping.

So, the next time that you are loosely talking about your values you may want to stop and consider whether these are truly values that you are living or principles to which you aspire. Remember, this distinction can be proactively used to support your purpose, goals and objectives in a more focused, organized and congruent way. How you perceive; that is, the “process” of seeing is just as and in some ways more important than the “what” you see. Critical thinking that is self-challenging, introspective and self-reflective while guided by high principle centered trading will support the building of a mindset which optimizes resources and brings them to bear on manifesting your purpose and achieving your goals.

The dictionary defines accountable as being held to account for an outcome. Additionally, if you were to look up responsible, it would define this term similarly. I take a different view. Allow me to explain. To be responsible is to accept or have someone anoint you as the person who “can” respond to an event, issue or situation. On the other hand, to be accountable is to be held to actively “account” for the results that have transpired. I can be responsible for a trade going sour. But, that does not mean that I will necessarily do something to ensure that I’ll use the feedback to adjust and do better next time. Conversely, if I am held “accountable” for these results then I am more likely to be emotionally and cognitively invested in that outcome so that I will adjust my behavior accordingly to achieve the desired results. In my mind, one is more passive in nature – responsible; and the other is more active in nature – accountable. So, what does that means for your trading? Everything!

You are responsible for your trades. If you execute it, then you own it; but that doesn’t mean that you will “accept” responsibility or hold yourself accountable for the results. Many traders blame everything and anyone for their results. These traders also continually seek outside themselves for the answers to their issues and shortcomings. What’s more is that they crowd their charts with so many indicators and tools that the price action can barely be seen. These are symptoms of a lack of alignment and integrity in trading. It is also indicative of a failed approach to achieving long term objectives.

In order to be consistently successful you must be self-aware while in the trade; that means you are focused with intention on what matters most in the trade. It means that you are in the moment, for the moment, fully available and in the now of the trade. Self-aware also means that you are tracking your thoughts, emotions and behaviors because these internal variables are what drive your execution. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge you have, if your internal data is conflicted, confused and confounded, you are not going to execute according to plan while maintaining your rules. That requires that you be diligent and vigilant about what is going on both inside of you and outside. You must be accountable for your thoughts, emotions and behavior at every juncture of the trade. You must be active in this pursuit if you are to be deliberate and trade by design in a “rule based” protocol. If you hold yourself accountable you are more prone to identify what is working and what is not working both internally with regard to issues that surface in your trading and with your strategies, set-ups and procedures (protocols). What’s more, you can’t identify what is working or not working unless you are documenting your mechanical data (everything that has to do with market information) through a Trade Log; and documenting your internal data (thoughts, emotions and behaviors associated with the trade) in your Thought Journal. This is true accountability.

So, take control of your process first by holding yourself accountable for all of your results. Remain self-aware in order to weed out and root out negative issues that are caused by limiting beliefs and unruly emotions that lead to conflicted executions and rule violations. You can’t change what you can’t face and you can’t face what you don’t know. If you do this you will get closer to your A-Game, which is what you must do if you want to begin to get the results that deep down you know you can and deserve. You can be the trader that you always wanted to be, but you’ve got to do the inner work.

When you trade it is of paramount importance to have a macro plan (a business plan) that outlies things like your goals, the markets you will trade and the strategies that you’ll employ as you continue to build your trading skill levels. As well, you’ll want to have a micro plan for each and every trade outlining for instance your levels, entry decisions, stops and exits. This planning process cannot be overstated. It is just as important to have a plan for your physical and fiscal health in retirement.

Fitness, whether you are talking about physical, mental or fiscal is going to involve optimizing resources, a focus on what matters most and willingness to relentlessly follow-through; and that goes double for preparing to retire into your golden years. Standing on the precipice of senior citizenry is not for wimps. In fact, if you don’t jump in of your own accord you will be pushed in if you live long enough. Your senior years can either be the best time of your life, or if you’re unprepared as so many in the US are today, it can be the worse time of your life. Naturally, as you age your body will begin to lose much of its luster. Age related illnesses have a way of standing outside the door unannounced. Aches and pains, arthritis, Parkinson’s, MS, leukemia, Alzheimer’s, dementia, depression and cardio-vascular disease are just a few of the plethora of ailments that plague older folks. Additionally, income levels plummet and become fixed as rising prices shoot for the moon. On the contrary it is important more than ever in your life to approach your last few decades on the planet with fierceness and a relentless pursuit of being the best that you have ever been. Here are some things to consider:

Have a purpose for your life. Just because you’re older doesn’t mean it’s time to give up. Identify the legacy that you want to leave for your progeny both fiscal and otherwise. I don’t believe anyone said at the end of their lives, “I wish I had spent more time at the office.” Your macro purpose is your compelling reason for living in your golden years. Of course, having a reason that revolves around just being able to go one more year might be what you’re thinking about. But, I would go further. As you think about your legacy that you’ll leave behind, you may want to consider part of that legacy being in a denomination that can be used as legal tender. Also, the well-being of your children and grandchildren may be just the thing to focus on with a little more intensity. So, making sure that you are exercising and eating in a healthy fashion in order for you to remain active with them can go a long way towards keeping your body and mind healthy. The point is that you’ll want to connect with what matters most in your life in order to use passion to fuel your everyday enjoyment.

Make a list of what fulfills you. This could include hobbies, traveling and becoming connected with a competitive team. Make a schedule for them and keep it. These will enhance your life. When you focus your energies on activities that you gain great pleasure from your body releases endorphins that not only help you to feel good, but they also lower stress levels and bolster your immune system.

Have service in your life; that is, a way to give back. Sit on a non-profit board, volunteer at the local little league or hospital and become a mentor to a youngster. Research demonstrates that when you give of yourself it not only helps the planet and our community; it is one of the ingredients that greatly increases happiness. Giving of yourself in service is one of the most precious gifts that you can share.

Become deliberate in fostering deeper relationships with children, grandchildren, family members, friends and neighbors. This is what life is all about. We are social beings and the more we are interconnected the more social supports we have and the better able we are to manage stress, support immune functions and live happily and healthily. Make an agenda for getting involved with local clubs, meet-ups, religious functions and other activities. Don’t just make time for them; make them one of your priorities.

Now with regard to your money; quiz yourself on questions such as these:

• Where should I be investing my money?
• Am I managing my debt properly?
• What are my options for socially responsible investing?
• I’m retired; how much can I safely spend each year?
• Will my family be provided for in the event of my disability or death?
• Do I have the right kinds and amount of insurance coverage?
• Am I paying hidden fees on investments and other financial products?

• Will I have enough for retirement?

Like anything else, having a plan for your later years is going to place you way ahead of the game. Having a nest egg is only part of the solution. You’ll want to manage your wealth and have an income stream that has your money working as hard for you then as you worked to make it. These are just a few important items to consider as you ponder your transition into senior citizenry; and if you are already there, it is never too late to hone your plan and ensure that you are putting as much in and getting all that you can out of your life. Just as you are planning your trades, trading your plans and aiming to follow all of your rules and keep all of your commitments to yourself as you trade, you’ll want to approach your retirement with the same level of intensity. Your A-Game is important to keep working for you at all times, not just in the trade.

Mental rehearsal is a powerful tool that is used by all manner of peak performers and high achievers across the board; from elite surgeons, to high powered trial attorneys, to world class athletes because they have come to understand the power of imagination. They also understand that it is not enough to simply sit and visualize, you must demonstrate the ability in real time by “practicing” the art and using your muscles in the process. Demonstration is the crucial final step from mental rehearsal to personal evolution. As you practice the desired behavioral strategy (a high level multi-step plan for getting a result) and the more that you “go through the exact motions” associated with the desired result ,you are slowly changing “explicit memory” (memory of how to do things that you can think about and declare like stating your name or your address or gender) to “implicit memory” (memory that is unconscious or behavior that you don’t have to think about as in typing, brushing your teeth, tying your shoes, riding a bike, and playing a musical instrument). Another way to think of it is to look at how you learned to drive a stick shift. You learned each behavior that was necessary individually and then grasped through instruction or watching a model, the whole “behavioral strategy” associated with the desired result of effortless driving. You then practiced … you Tested (tried the particular behavior like pushing in the clutch) then through feedback from the car you knew if it was done correctly – usually a surge forward followed by an immediate stall meant that you needed to do it again – you Operated (looked at the model or reviewed the correct way to push in the clutch), then Tested again (engaged that particular behavior again, in this instance practicing on the clutch); and you tested – operated – tested until at some point you got it and “exited” this process. All the while you had to think about each and every behavioral point in the strategy and you were using “explicit memory.” You did this until you could flawlessly execute the entire stick shift driving strategy. Of course, fifteen years after you “learned” this strategy you may have found yourself driving 65 miles an hour down the freeway while negotiating a cup of coffee, with a burger in one hand, a cell phone in the other still “feeling” capable of manipulating the clutch and stick if necessary. This behavior had then dropped into “implicit memory”, in other words you became unconsciously competent with regard to driving a stick shift car.

Effective routines that are designed around a protocol (a sequentially ordered series of steps toward an aim or goal) or strategy, which then are “tested” using a feedback system that documents and/or verifies that the protocol/strategy is credible that are then done over and over and over again to form a habit are the makings of “skill building.” If you do this process enough the explicitly based memories associated with having to consciously think about everything that you are doing will drop into your unconscious and become implicitly based memories of “how” to get the same successful results; that is planning your trade and trading your plan while following “all” of your rules to a T. When you do this you have “programmed” your system to act and respond in a deliberate fashion, you are then designing the way that you interact with the markets and your general environment.

Your state of mind (a neural network of all that you saw, heard, felt, smelled and tasted associated with a pleasurable or painful experience – that is most often connected to several/many other similar networks throughout your brain) has everything to do with your outcomes in trading and life. States of depression, anxiety, fear, self-doubt, anger and greed, to name a few, all have the power to influence your thoughts in very negative ways leading almost invariably to self-sabotage.   On the other hand for example, states of confidence, curiosity, awe, satisfaction, happiness, and optimism can activate your internal resources and align your system to move in the same direction and for the same goals. You can design your states by identifying the behavioral protocols/strategies that will get you the consistent results that you want, visualizing yourself doing those behaviors successfully, and then practicing this process in real time using a demo account in order to test – operate – test – exit the process.   At this point you have established an effective routine that is connected to the protocol/strategy and by doing that over and over and over you go from thinking to doing to “being” the trader that you know is inside of you. The establishment of an A-Game is not an accident. Just like world class peak performers in other disciplines, trading requires preparation, training, mental programming, practice, persistence and perseverance (pardon the overuse of alliteration) in order to trade successfully in the trenches. Trading is world class also; you are competing against millions of other traders out there; many of whom are ready for you…are you ready for them? We help you to develop your A-Game in order to compete in world class markets.

What is it that helps the market wizards maintain focus at these critical times in their trades? It is an unmitigated commitment to focus on their rules. These rules, along with other critical cogs in their trading machinery, are the religion of their business. They are passionate first about doing what it takes to be consistently successful; they abhor gambling in the markets and consider winning to be an equation that honors keeping commitments first. They define success in the markets as a function of percentages over an extended period, not by how much money is made in any one trade. They develop and nurture a powerful desire to follow the successful protocol for getting the results that they want. When you want something with an intense desire, the true nature of your potential is realized through the fire in your passion. It is just a matter of finding and living the passion.

There is a myth associated with self-discipline which essentially states that self-discipline has to do with will power while saying, “I’m gonna make myself do it,” or biting the metaphorical bullet. Does this sound familiar? Well, the problem lies in the fact that this notion about self-discipline taxes the system enormously and often leads to stress, burnout, or illness. Now let me state that will power can work, it’s just that it is not the most effective way to ensure that you do what you say you are going to do. Identifying and accessing passion releases a chain reaction, a magnificent obsession that rages deep inside. This is the self-discipline of being internally driven and attracting into your life that which makes your heart sing. And when you find joy in what you do, you are going ‘to play’ instead of ‘to work’. This kind of desire overwhelms fear, doubt, greed and worry. There is little room or energy for anything to stand between you and your desired results. You simply must have it. Also, with passion, your focus is honed to razor sharpness as your attention to detail rises. You find yourself thinking about it all the time. Do you remember when you first fell in love? You considered every detail, you didn’t want to miss anything, and you thought about her or him all the time. This emotional fixation tunes the body, mind, and spirit to work in the same direction and on the same goal. It brings the intuition, creativity, and spontaneity of the subconscious mind to bear on the desired object. As the saying goes, you become “hungry.” You “want it so bad you can taste it.” You “can feel it in your bones” and “see” the outcome through a mental picture that keeps your drive alive. The mental image gives focus to the desire by providing specifics, like sounds, sights, smells and tastes, making the whole brain come alive with craving. The subconscious is then working as hard for the goal as the conscious is. And it makes a lot of the process appear easy and effortless—it just seems to happen. In other words, passionate self-discipline sets a roadmap or blueprint in the subconscious towards what you want. The roadmap or blueprint to attracting what brings you inner joy includes what is necessary to achieve it, and in the case of trading, rules and money management are woven into the fabric of consistent winning trades. This kind of emotional passion or self-discipline is also purposeful and oriented to the objective. It has a feedback system so that, as reality changes, the goal is modified to fit. After each goal is achieved, a new course is set for achievement. The template changes as requirements change.

Actually, this concept of self-discipline is age-old. Our human system is a wondrous creation of which we are using only about 3%. In fact, Karl Pribram—thought by many to be the father of neuroscience—has supported Clement Stone’s quote, “What the brain can conceive, the mind will achieve.” Of Dr. Pribram’s many contributions and thoughts, there are two that I particularly like:

1) The brain forms images and is governed by images of achievement, and the body cannot mobilize without them. Also, the development of an iron will is forged in the fire of emotion.

2) Neural blueprints are made by both physical and emotional images. This is also the basis for such books as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz.