If I asked you to list the things that you want, my bet would be that your list would cover a lot of ground. No doubt in addition to the many items that would be good for you, if you’re anything like me there would be a number of items that might not be so good for you. For instance, food items on that list might include ice cream, cake, candy or burgers with lots of fries and let’s not forget the occasional big gulp. Of course, it doesn’t stop there, you may want to have that extra cocktail or you may want to drive a little too fast, or sleep in when you have important matters scheduled, or move that stop, exit prematurely or chase that trade.   Now, what do all of these things have in common? All of these behaviors, in addition to not being very good for you, leave you feeling better…even if for only a brief period. Granted, some of these behaviors could be considered mild compared to others; that is, until we look a little closer. Sugar, fats and chemicals found in processed foods have been shown to put your health at high risk. Alcohol and it’s dangers have been well documented. When you get behind the wheel you are driving a weapon and speed kills. Missing important appointments need no explanation.   And, must the dire consequences of rule violations be spelled out. Now, before you think that I’m trying to be some kind of killjoy let me assure you that I’m just as guilty of all of these from time to time and I’m a firm believer in moderation…even moderation. But, this is not my point. The point here is that human wants can vary greatly; and they can have competing interests. Of course there are those who encourage you to go after those things that you want. But, OK, wait for it…it’s not about what you “want” it’s more about what you want “most” as in what-matters-most.

So, as you identify and clarify those wants, keep in mind that the crucial factor lies in what you want “most.” The “most” list includes personal growth, healthy relationships, integrity, honesty, and those behaviors that build capacity for emotional strength and endurance.

I had dinner with one of my good friends last night and one of the topics of conversation revolved around entropy. Loosely, entropy is a measure of the amount of energy in a physical system not available to do work. The amount of entropy is often thought of as the amount of disorder in a system. Entropy is often used roughly to refer to the breakdown or disorganization of any system: For example, “The committee meeting did nothing but increase the entropy.” (Dictionary.com). We have all experienced entropy. The point here is to realize that this condition is not only possible but highly probable. To begin with, you must use your journal and document those thoughts, emotions and behaviors (internal data) and market situations (mechanical data) that lead to this happening in order to anticipate the future occurrence of the breakdown and successfully address it. By knowing what can bring it on and remaining vigilant and diligent you are able to incorporate mental and emotional tools to combat it.

This is paying attention to and embracing what you want “most.” It takes an understanding that our systems never remain constant. Just as we get older we tend to breakdown, it becomes imperative to consistently and constantly do those things that support the system by optimizing our internal and external resources; for instance, meditation, visualization, affirmations, nutrition, and exercise to name a few. These should be activities of daily living (ADL’s) just like bathing, brushing your teeth, and paying your bills.

So, your consistent success is not about what you want but what you want most. Focus on your best interests and aim to stay there.

Among the many things that are important to achieving your goals, here are 4 particularly powerful keys to the success kingdom. They are major components to getting the results you want. Let’s list them briefly:

1. Visualization

Goals are extremely important as you begin, and goals are designed to help you objectify and prioritize your steps to become consistently successful. However, the precursor to setting those goals is to “see” your destination specifically and clearly. This vision is an outgrowth of the “why” you are doing it in the first place… your purpose. It ties the what-matters-most in your life to the what-matters-most in your aims to get there. This is where your passion is put in the service of propelling you toward that destination.

2. Belief

The next key is to have your beliefs in alignment with your vision. You’ve got to believe in your ability to learn, to be curious, to maintain a course of action and to generally believe in yourself. Now, this doesn’t mean that there are no challenges. On the contrary, you’ll want to uncover any limiting beliefs lurking just below the surface and neutralize and extricate them. In the same vein, nurture your positive beliefs by being self-aware and monitoring your thoughts in order to dispel any negative “out-of-alignment” thinking and turn that thinking around. Of course, you’ll want to have confidence (belief) in the plan that you construct as well.

3. A Strategy or Plan for Actualizing the Vision

A strategy is a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major aim. When you do anything (good or bad) you are using a strategy. Many fall into bad patterns and habits that stem from negative programing in their past. They are caught in strategies that don’t work; and they use them over and over expecting a different result. It’s crucial to develop your strategy for making that vision a reality. This goes for your personal thoughts, emotions and behaviors as much as it does for your goal setting, planning and execution of the plan. You’ll want to create a strategy for how you will prepare and engage a mindset with an attitude that has altitude; meaning that you employ mental/emotional tools to ensure that you remain on target, on task and on purpose in your follow-through.

4. Managing your state

An internal state is a condition of thinking and emotions. It is a mindset that encompasses beliefs, internal pictures, biases emotions and memories. For instance, consider the emotion anxiety. It stems from thoughts that are anxiety producing. Internal states are what govern your days and your results. It is critical to “manage” your internal states using mental and emotional tools to engender patience and relaxation.

There you have it. Your goals are serious business and you’ll want to give yourself every edge. Your best is the only thing that will create the conditions for consistent positive results. Let’s face it, results is the name of the game.

Have you ever experienced doubt…or worry, or fear, or any of the other negative emotion that can sideswipe your results? Of course you have…you are human; and as a human you are an emotional being. Now, as an emotional being, you cannot take emotions out of the trading equation. Yes, it is possible to distance yourself from negative emotions that can distort your judgment and distract your thinking through training and consistent work at it; but to think your will ever be “totally” in control and/or devoid of emotions is an exercise in futility. It is far more effective to learn to “manage” emotions in order to maintain focus. Managing emotions is not easy, it means that when you get to that fork in the road and you have a choice between going left or choosing.

Larry Wilson in his book “Play to Win” asks whether your orientation to life is a play to win strategy or playing not to lose. A playing not to lose strategy is based on the need to remain in your comfort zone and constantly look for temporary emotional relief by giving in to impulsive behavior and hoping you get the results you want. Things must come easily when playing not to lose. People with this strategy are constantly looking for the magic bullet or the quick fix that will create results out of thin air with no regard for their development. The philosophy of playing to win on the other hand is about the notion that life is growth, that courage and meeting the challenge are the harbingers of success. It is about commitment to excellence and a belief that learning (both about the market and your unconscious faulty ego driven beliefs) is critical for both professional and personal effectiveness. The core maps of playing not to lose are driven by fear, greed and other negative emotions. These emotions are attached to deep seated limiting beliefs about yourself and out of these limiting beliefs come thoughts. When you are playing not to lose you are trading not to lose and it also means that you are tentative and unwilling to “put it on the line” so-to-speak; making your effort your best effort.

Trading to win also entails the search for objective reality and, holding on as you would a life jacket in a stormy sea. A trading not to lose strategy is closed with limited alternatives; it blames others or outside influences first and seldom looks inside to identify issues that are negatively affecting results; this strategy promotes irrational thinking.   The trade to win strategy owns all results by using techniques like journaling to find out what is and is not working. The trade to win trader is prepared to use protocols and effective routines in order to ensure sustainable success. This strategy is intellectually and emotionally honest along with garnering the enthusiasm and energy necessary to vigorously address weaknesses, but you can’t address a weakness that you either don’t know or don’t understand. Trading not to lose encourages erratic and illogical behaviors while looking for the easy win. The trade to win strategy recognizes that trading necessitates losses and that effective long-term winning. The trade to win strategy is winning the psychological war one battle at a time – “going as far as I can with all that I’ve got” in a growth oriented, fun, honest and healthy way.

Your issues, obstacles, and problems that plague your life must be treated like an infestation in your home, you want to know that the cockroaches are there so you can weed them out and get rid of them. You’ve got to be willing to dig deeply to find out; you must pull back the layers of the mental onion and face your issues so that with the right mental and emotional tools you can successfully resolve them. A “don’t bring me no bad news” outlook is going to turn you into a Sisyphus, the Greek mythological character that was doomed to roll a boulder up a mountain only to never reach the top. You’ll never reach the top of your goals but will be doomed to push that boulder (your issues) until you run out of either energy or money and it’s usually the latter first; that is if you are unwilling to look at your ego driven unconscious faulty beliefs. The smart trader accepts the challenge and realizes that trading to win is about the long haul.

So, you must decide which life strategy you are willing to undertake in the service of your trading. Will it be the courageous and comfort-zone expanding trading to win, where you are committed to growth and excellence? Or, will you reach for the easy button with a strategy based on not wanting to get outside of your comfort zone; avoiding challenging yourself and living by default with blinders on. The choice is always yours. Remember, trading to win is where you are going as far as you can with all that you’ve got!

Part of the definition of “rule” is that it is a “governing action” or “procedure.” When you consider governing action it really encapsulates the way that rules relates to results. This is because rules are essential to the process. Rules can be said to govern because they represent the procedures and parameters of your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, strategies, setups, entries, stops, management, and exits. In this way well thought-out rules make the difference between reaching your goals or not.

Now, the other thing to consider as we discuss rules is that humans live by the stories that they have constructed from early in life much like a script to a play. These stories or scripts can be termed rules as well. They form the foundation of your behavior. In fact, as humans grow, they develop a set of typical response patterns to reoccurring events. These typical responses or patterns of behavior could be termed a list of rules that you live by. For example, if you are driving, there are rules to follow for both safety and the orderly movement of traffic. These lists of “rules” are reflected in your every decision. So, not only are rules essential to reaching your goals, it is also important to have rules that are in your best interest.

For the most part, core, belief connected rules are out of your awareness. You make important choices based upon these life rules and when you get results that you don’t want, changing those results can be very difficult if you’re not also changing the rules that those results were based upon. In other words, if your choices go unchallenged then the awareness of why you made the choice remain out of conscious touch. However, once the rule is identified, it can be challenged and modified. Also, as you challenge each rule you uncover other assumptions that were used to base that rule upon creating a myth rather than truth. The interesting thing about mythology is that if you believe it to be real, it is not mythology, it is truth to you, even as it doesn’t serve you. In fact, this simple yet powerful “myth” can cause your downfall even though it can serve you in other parts of your life. This ineffective rule leads to behavior that is not your A-Game. It can be termed a “Fool’s Rule.” So, it’s important to ensure that your rules support your A-Game and that’s why you’ll want to have a list of rules you can follow to reaching your goals.

Remember, your A-Game from your highest and best self is all that matters to your results. The road to reaching your goals is not a place to venture into unprepared and unfocused. Reaching your goals is a mental game, and if you don’t have mental and emotional tools it is like driving without a steering wheel – you’ll not only lose your way, you will crash and burn without them. So, let your rules be your road map to consistent results.