Brene’ Brown, PhD, a Sociologist and Researcher gave a TED talk, (Technology, Entertainment and Design) which garnered over 8 million viewers and of those about 2.5 million on YouTube.  Her talk was about vulnerability and shame.  She has been studying and writing about these topics for many years.  She gave an inspiring speech that led me to share some thoughts designed to help your trading

I often talk about courage and the need for courage in your trading.  But what is courage? Consider this, people think that “bravery” is courage, and of course acts of bravery can involve courage; the firefighter who runs into the blaze on the momentum of her training; the police officer who stops criminals in the act just doing his job; the soldier who fights for his country… these are examples of bravery.   But, courage is something that can potentially happen to each one of us every day.  In other words, the person who is shaking in her boots in her church, synagogue or mosque to give a welcoming speech and feels terrified, but does it anyway; courage is the nerd at a mixer who is standing in the corner, sees an attractive woman and despite his feelings of social inadequacy goes over and introduces himself; courage is saying I love you first.  And, courage is the trader who despite his strong desire to give in to the urge to move a stop, chase or prematurely exit the trade, but, instead takes a deep breath and remains invested in learning and keeping his commitments.  Courage is standing up for something important and feeling fearful to the point of immobility but doing that thing despite the fear.  Courage is also embracing ambiguity in the service of curiosity, growth, vulnerability, risk and exposure.  What greater example of the risk to self-esteem, ego-involvement, the need to be right, the fear of being wrong and the shame quotient than trading.  It’s about “daring greatly” and its inextricable connection to successful trading and life.  You’ve got to be clear about your intention setting, uncovering your limiting beliefs and clarifying your values which must be brought into the mix if you are going to muster the strength to be willing to fail.

But, how do you muster that courage?  How do you move into the face of potential failure and the subsequent shame?  It’s through the willingness to be vulnerable.  And, to be vulnerable is to be courageous.  They work hand-in-hand.  Identify what matters most in your life and put it in the service of what matters most in the trade.  Stand up to the possibility of ego involved disaster and the  catastrophe of loss due to the uncertainty and remain “connected” to the roots of your passion; that is, your family, your friends and/or a community cause that captures your imagination and your heart.  The connection is where the rubber hits the road for us as human beings.  Whenever we stay connected and remain cognizant of the importance of that connection; that is, the connection to your spiritual beauty, connection to your loved ones, your connection to life we then are embodying our true selves, we are then developing the capacity for courage.  Brown says that we must “get into the arena” be willing to embrace the uncertainty and the possibility of failure, in order to be able to experience the exhilaration of success.  The interesting thing about success is that it is very expensive.  I’m not talking about the expense of hard work, or determination to keep practicing, or the investment of time and energy in the preparation.  No, the cost that I am speaking of is the cost of putting it all on the line and accepting the risk in the heat of battle and that you may fall on your face and…fail.  This is the cost that so many are unwilling or unable to accept.  This is the cost that immobilizes the trader in the face of their plan, strategy and set-up where they fail to pull the trigger and stand back in the sidelines and watch the price-action hit what would have been their target.  This is the cost that keeps you from letting your winners run, or allowing the market to prove your plan right or wrong.  This is the cost that sustains mediocrity and robs you of those moments when after venturing into the arena, scared to death, you throw caution to the wind, fight your hardest, remain steadfast to your rules in the trade, and…”win.”

Yes, vulnerability is very scary and uncomfortable.  Unfortunately, most people will use blame to assuage their shame at not following through.  They blame the dog, the spouse, the kids, the markets, the news feeds; everything and everybody but themselves.  They are unwilling to take responsibility and be accountable for “their” actions or lack thereof.  What they don’t realize is that they are using blame, as a way to discharge the pain and discomfort that comes from the shame.  In other words…”it’s not my fault.” But, know that even though it does not feel like it at the time, vulnerability is not a weakness; It is powerful.  Actually, emotional risk and uncertainty are the most accurate measures of courage.  Vulnerability is the birthplace of creativity, innovation and change.  Consider for a moment how hard change is.  One of the reasons is that in order to change you must be willing to venture into the uncertainty of trying something different; that is, something that could be a bust and at that moment the ego is saying…”You’re going to do WHAT?  Are you kidding?”  So, we maintain the status quo and keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different result.  And, even further in the back of their minds are the limiting beliefs of, …”I’m not good enough and/or who do you think you are?”

Brown shares that shame breaks down along gender lines.  For women, they must be organized, do it all, do it perfectly and do it now.  On the other hand, men must not be seen as weak, so of course vulnerability is out of the question much of the time since it is interpreted as a weakness.  Also, we can see it in how guilt and shame is approached in the language.  With guilt we say “I’m sorry I made a mistake.”  With shame the underlying often unspoken comment is, “I’m sorry, I AM a mistake.”  One way to counteract shame is through authentic connection and empathy.  In fact, Brown says that empathy is the antidote to shame and when we are in the struggle of the arena the two most powerful words that someone can say are…”Me too.”  There again, it is the critical importance of connection that is operative.

Over and over again, fear, doubt and anxiety while trading are driven by the false evidence appearing real.  It is when our stories about what it means to lose and the mythology that swirls deep in our ego entrenched beliefs about ourselves cause us to interpret events in ways that have us running to the hills in order to dodge the shame of failing.  At those times we are deathly afraid of the very thing that will help us to eventually learn, grow, and thrive in our trading and that is our ability to be vulnerable and embrace the risk of failure.  At that fork in the road we have a choice, to either go to the left, give into the fear and attempt to sidestep the shame (which cannot be avoided with that choice) or go to the right and choose to be open and embrace the risk, to be vulnerable and with that also embrace the potential for victory; a victory that can only be experienced through that choice.  So, my challenge to you and to us is to pledge to be accountable in that moment and be courageous through the power of being vulnerable…be willing to be uncomfortable in the service of your highest and best trading goals and keep your A-game at the platform.  So as Brown says “dare greatly.”  The most terrifying is joy… because you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.  When we lose our tolerance for vulnerability,  joy becomes foreboding.  We try to beat vulnerability to the punch, so many put off joy because they are dress rehearsing tragedy, we become afraid to experience the joy because of our fear that it may be taken away.  The antidote is to practice gratitude.  Be grateful and thankful in and for this moment … and every moment…this trade and every trade.  Also, get my book “From Pain to Profit: Secrets of the Peak Performance Trader.”

Happy Trading

 

Noel felt a little anxious about it at first but he took a deep breath and noticed that actually he was OK. The trade that he was executing had taken a turn as the price action was creeping toward his stop. He had placed a limit order on the 5 minute chart of the NQ after noticing a drop-base-drop on the 240 minute chart into an untested Demand Zone where he had drawn the level and had placed his stop 2 points below the distal line of the Demand Zone. He felt confident that the trade would play out since his odds enhancers were lining up to about an 8; but the price action seemed to be a little uncooperative. That’s when the anxiety began to increase; but that deep breath reminded him to maintain perspective which quieted his mind and calmed his system. However, it wasn’t always like this as he remembered how reckless he’d been in the past. Before, while dealing with this type of situation his heartbeat would thump like a disco drum, his hands would shake uncontrollably and his emotions would set off like a four alarm fire. Now, after he had incorporated meditation into his daily routine over the past year he did not react by becoming fragmented, frustrated and frazzled. He had developed a capacity for emotional strength and endurance in the trade.

Bringing your “A” game to your trading platform and ensuring that you are in the Now of the trade is crucial to getting the results that you want. You’ve got to be able to focus with intention and attention to decrease the pain associated with being out of control. There is great value in being aligned, centered and grounded in order to optimize all of your system’s resources toward seeing reality for what it is, being on the right side of the order flow, and following the price action’s lead. Among the many ways that help you with alignment, centeredness and being grounded, few are as powerful as meditation. Noel discovered for himself what research had established over the years, that meditation is a powerful tool for establishing physiological, mental, emotional and behavioral benefits. For instance, with consistency meditation has been shown to sharpen attention, lower heart rate, lower stress levels, ease anxiety, increase patience, induce calm, and reduce susceptibility to fear and greed to name a few.

Meditation has been used all across the planet throughout history in one form or another with differing configurations; however there is a common theme of calming, centering, aligning and grounding the mind/body. Meditation is a journey with no destination, a journey that enters into the depths of heart and soul to open the self to a deeper conversation with the higher centers of being.
One of the major aims of meditation is to support the mind/body’s ability to be fully present which means the system is living and vibrating in this moment, without internal or external distractions. Being fully present also means that focus is on the task at hand while remaining on purpose, and on target. So often while trading you are thinking about what happened in the last trade, or what is coming up in the next few moments. In other words, you’re everywhere but where you should be, focused on what is taking place right now – the “what-matters-most” of the trade. Distractions can come in the form of negative emotions like fear, greed, and anxiety, all of which can distort perception and make illusions seem real. Consistent meditation hones an appreciation for just “being,” without timetables, goals, effort or hubris. Trying harder yields diminishing returns while surrender and letting go are prescriptions for success; that is, resonating with your highest and best self while remaining mindful.

Mindful meditation is a simple and highly effective approach to establishing a meditative process. Sit down in a chair, or on a pillow, or on the floor and get comfortable while keeping your back straight. If you sit in a chair, put your feet flat on the floor. Now, take your attention and focus it on an external or internal point such as an imaginary candlelight or picturing your navel. The point is not to try to concentrate energy—that would be an act of doing—but to focus the attention and let the mind be free of thinking. Allow the thoughts to come and go with an intention of un-attachment to any thought. The breath is especially helpful by inhaling through the nose and slowly exhaling through the nose in a natural cadence with the lips pursed as if blowing out a candle. The breath is very important, as it is a cleansing action and oxygenates the blood stream while helping to dilate blood vessels and send more oxygen to the brain, which has a calming effect on the entire body.
It is important to be attuned to the process not as “trying” but “being” in order to allow the mind/body to resonate with stillness and quiet. Here is an interesting point, for every hour of meditation, the body gets the equivalent of 4 hours of rest, (now don’t take that as a reason to be a night owl). As you breathe deeply and evenly to the cadence of the count, let go of any thought, care or issue and, when it returns, acknowledge it and allow it to be there without judgment. This may be difficult at first, but just keep the intention strong and, with time, you will be able to sit in quiet stillness with only the sound of your breathing as your thoughts come and go. Eventually your ability to just “be” will become stronger and you may find you are held captive less and less by unruly thoughts.

Practice meditation at the same time everyday to help instill the routine and habit, especially when beginning. It’s a perfect way to start your day before you do anything else. It can rejuvenate, align, invigorate and charge your system, infusing you with a sharpened sense of attention to what matters. It’s also a wonderful way to end the day to wind down, de-stress, realign, shed tension, calm the system, and generally defuse any negative energy. A mediation break at lunch is an excellent tool to maintain balance and focus for the day to weed out distractions and remain on purpose and on task. As you can see, any time might be the best time for you – you choose. Additionally, you may want to develop a two-a-day practice, once in the morning and once in the evening, as a powerful way to instill and maintain a sense of calm intention throughout the day and night.

There is no set time interval to meditate but, generally speaking, 20 to 30 minutes is what many use. For beginners, I usually suggest that they start with 5 minutes and work their way into longer time frames until they are able to remain still and focused for 20 to 45 minutes. A small and non-intrusive timer might be used in the beginning to support your practice.

Your trading deserves the best you can give while activating and accessing all of your internal and external resources. Diligent and consistent meditation will help you to reduce distorted judgment and distracted thinking by building patience and a level of detachment. You’ve got to have mental and emotional tools in your tool belt, otherwise it’s like driving without a steering wheel; you will lose your way and crash and burn without them. Put the steering into your trading. Get my book, “From Pain to Profit: Secrets of the Peak Performance Trader.”

Happy Trading

Paulo breathed a heavy sigh as he thought about the next day’s preparation.  He was still attempting to recover from today’s session, which was emotionally whipping him as my grandfather used to say, “…like he stole something!”  He felt frazzled, frustrated and fragmented; and he knew that his research and preparation for tomorrow’s trading was crucial.  Paulo also knew that his state of mind was not conducive to the sharp focus of his A-Game, which was required to reduce distorted judgment and distracted thinking.  He actually had a number of mental/emotional tools that he could use when his emotional temperature was too extreme for making prudent decisions.  But, he was so disgusted with the results from this day’s trading, which included several losses, two rule violations and a premature exit that he just wanted to chuck it for now.  However, just then his thoughts turned toward his toe-headed little daughter whose cherubic face beamed a smile in his mind.  He also imagined his loving wife whom he knew was in his corner.  In fact, these mental pictures reminded him of his “sensory rich vision of success” that detailed his “Big Why” for trading.  It was all about family and community service.  As he revisited the short but riveting account of those things that mattered most in his life; those things that propelled him out of bed in the morning and drove him like a turbo jet toward his goals; his emotional state rebounded like the ball from a home-run bat.

Paulo became triggered into a whole cascade of neuro-networks (specific sensory filled memories and thoughts surrounding significant events and people in your life) that revolved around his family, friends and community.  He became reacquainted with his passion for living.  Herein was the internal motivation that was not tied to “will power” … the myth of discipline.  Will power is the “I’ll make myself do it” syndrome.  It is a form of discipline, but the mind/body is working against itself.  It is the precursor of inner conflict and stress.  Will power is where you use metaphors like “putting your nose to the grind stone” and “put your shoulder to the wheel.”  This form of discipline is not nearly as powerful as connecting your goal to what makes you want to break out in song.  Connecting to your passionate vision engages the body, mind and emotions to work in the same direction and for the same goal.  When your passion is at work, you become aligned and poised to activate and access your internal and external resources.  When you are on purpose, and your goals are tethered to your passion (the Big Why), you become driven not dragged to the results you want.  You are then poised to do only what is in the interests of your highest and best goals and your highest and best self.

Actually, connecting with passion also creates a “magnificent obsession” where you are focused with laser precision on your plan for achievement.  Just think about it, what if you were magnificently obsessed about your health?  This would mean that you were only interested in eating those foods, and doing those things that would render your body and mind in its optimum physical/mental state.  Or, what if you were magnificently obsessed about your relationships; where you were only interested in loving, respecting, and supporting your family in ways that lead to optimum growth, happiness and well-being?  When purpose is connected to passion (the what-matters-most-in your life) you engage the unconscious mind to work for you rather than against you.  You are setting the blue print and the road map in your unconscious mind to do those important things consistently to create the results in your life that you are envisioning.  You can’t help but follow-through because you have a burning desire to master the process. It actually becomes imperative that you do the right thing habitually in order to get the right results habitually.

Having a specific and detailed purpose starts the journey to be the trader that you know is in you.  At this point your purpose can be used like a tool during the tough times of the trade.  Just as Paulo did, when you get to the frequent difficulties in and around your trading, preparing or debriefing process, if you experience any resistance to doing what you know is important just access and activate your purpose and the vision associated with it.  In this way you will “state shift” from frustration, anxiety or self-doubt to emotions such as, determination, inspiration and confidence.  It’s as if you plugged into an energy socket when your purpose is strongly connected to the passion of your life.  It can help create consistency in what you do, to develop capacity for strength and endurance.

How do you find that purpose?  Be open to the questions that life asks you; for instance:  Who am I?  What is my gift in life?  What are my roles?  How can I serve?  At the end of my life, what do I want my family and friends to say about me?  At the end of my life what do I want my life to mean?  What are my wishes for my family and my community?  Discover how supportive solitude can be in this process as well.  You might be surprised at the fact that your unconscious even though it’s out of your awareness is for the most part willing and eager to communicate with you; but, you must ask the question and be patient for the answer.  It may come as a vision, a dream or if you sit with pen and paper, it may come as a statement.  The point is to get yourself in a quiet space and “have the conversation.”

The power of purpose is awesome.  It can set the foundation for beginning the journey to getting better results.   Begin to hone your mental game by setting your attention to your intention.  Your A-Game is a requirement for being a consistent winner in the trading trenches…where winning is defined as planning your trades, trading your plans and following your rules.  You can do it!  Also, get my book, “From Pain to Profit: Secrets of the Peak Performance Trader.”

Happy Trading,

Einstein, arguably one of the smartest men who ever walked the planet is thought to have said, “You can’t solve a problem at the same level of thinking that created it.”  This is quite important to all of us, especially traders.  If you’re thinking gets locked in tunnel vision then the available options to effectively deal with your issues are greatly diminished.  In fact, his quote has been paraphrased by someone else and might be more familiar to you. It is, “the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different result.”  No doubt you are aware of it.  It might be a cliché but that doesn’t mean it’s not affecting thousands if not millions of traders every day.  And that is what Einstein meant as well, that you must change your thinking and do something differently if you are going to get different results.  Are you struggling with this issue?  Are you continuing to say that you are not going to chase a trade, inappropriately move a stop, double down on a loser, etc., but still falling into that trap?  Are you finding yourself saying that you will create a trading business plan, or construct a micro plan for each trade, or document your trades; but finding that you are consistently “not” following through with your commitments?  This is a self-discipline breech that if left uncorrected will bleed your trading account dry.  This is the reason people ask themselves, “why” do I keep doing this?

The first thing we must remember is that habits, which are actually patterns and programs that have become “automatic”, are difficult to break.  What has happened is that you get caught in a pattern of thinking, feeling and doing, which is contrary to getting the results that you want. This pattern is “triggered” by something that you, for example, see in the charts or hear on the news that you ascribe a meaning to that is usually negative and therefore the pattern is negative.  In fact, you may often be oblivious that you are caught in the pattern until you have committed the violation.  Consider this; Sally winced hard as if her skin had been pierced by a deep dull needle.  She had sworn over and over that she wouldn’t do it.  But here she was, again caught in a web of seduction driven by greed and fear.  “Why is it so hard?” she thought as she looked at her trade.  She had input a limit order to buy 3 contracts of the NQ as the price action was about to hit a demand level on the 60 minute chart.  She had meticulously determined from her daily and weekly charts that a significant demand zone was about to be retested.  The lines had been drawn and her plan; as it usually did, outlined in precise terms her entry, rational, targets and scale points.  Actually, the plan was flawless as evidenced by the fact that the price action did exactly as she had foreseen.  And, if she had not exited the trade prematurely the market would have proven the plan to be correct.  But, alas, she became more and more frightened as the price action breathed till it became unbearable whereby she gave into the pressure and exited the trade for a miniscule profit only to watch it take off like a towering green bamboo shoot rising from her exit.  In this instance like so many times before she had let herself down; and, she felt stupid, depressed and desperate to know how to stop this madness.

Humans are creatures of habit.  Doing the same thing in the same ways fosters a level of familiarity and is comfortable…even those habits that are not in your best interest.  Comfort and pleasure are what you seek and by the same token you want to avoid discomfort and pain.  Now, what is paradoxical is that in your determination to avoid discomfort and pain you’ll actually cause it; as did Sally, by succumbing to an archaic ego driven defense mechanism that had been created ostensibly when you were quite young and that is now running roughshod over you to make sure that you don’t “get yourself into trouble.”  How does this happen?  Well, when you were young, let’s say a toddler and you broke something that mommy really liked, so you were yelled at and felt shamed; or in early elementary school and you were called upon to answer a question and you didn’t know the answer prompting cruel laughter from your classmates and a stern disapproving look from the teacher, you felt humiliated.  Then, your all protecting ego would say, “…see, you are bad because you made mommy angry so you mustn’t play or you’ll get hurt,” or “…you are not smart so you must be quiet so that you don’t get hurt again.”  These experiences and others like them create what is called a neural network of encoded sense stimulations of these experiences/events; in other words everything that you saw, heard, felt, smelled and tasted along with thoughts and emotions become connected.  This neural network of brain cells are connected electromagnetically and electrochemically to these sensory stimulations and will “fire” every time a similar experience/event happens in your life.  So, as you grow similar things happen, you break something, or people laugh at you, or you do something that otherwise incurs the ire of those in authority or that you look up to.  Then your ego says, “…see, I told you, that is not for you to do because you are not good enough, smart enough, talented enough or deserving, or whatever else it might have associated to this original experience.  These become unconscious conversations that lurk below your awareness level and that conjure up all manner of additional negative emotions like disappointment, rejection, anger, frustration and many others.  This is how neural networks get connected to other neural networks and they form very strong barriers between you and effectively challenging yourself in order to grow.  These neural networks that continue to fire together will “hardwire” together meaning that they become like a well worn trail or a deep rut or cavernous scratch in a vinyl record; then the default behavior becomes avoidance and anxiety based.  At this point, you are operating from a position of fear.  This type of default behavior strives to remain in the comfort zone where there is no growth.  You cannot grow in your comfort zone, you must get out.  Growth requires stretching, tearing, and breaking out of old tissue physiologically and old psychic constrictions psychologically.

To put it another way, as you grow from a child, you form relationships with everything around you, people, places, things, creatures and the like.  Each one of these relationships has an internal depiction or (neural network) that is represented by all the chemicals reactions in your brain that represent that relationship including the feelings and emotions.  If you change that relationship then the network breaks and reforms.  Think of how it feels to break up in a relationship with someone.  It is quite painful and fraught with emotional turmoil, and that is a good break-up.  That is how change occurs on any level of your thinking, feeling and doing and when you break a habit you are “changing.”

So, when you find yourself asking “why” am I continuing to do this?  You must identify first the underlying pressure that is motivating your thoughts, which are usually limiting beliefs.  In other words, you’ve got to find out what the issues are so that you can address them and get to the root cause of the pattern.  Remember, your best is the only game that will do in the trader trenches and you must be proactive and self-aware as you delve into the execution of your plan.  Don’t allow yourself to get caught in the vicious cycle of “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

Happy Trading

The opening bell would soon be signaling the beginning of the US markets trading day. It was still early on the west coast and the sun was kissing the horizon as Jim looked over the NQ E-mini globex chart where he had drawn his levels as he prepared his plan to short at the fresh supply zone on the 60 minute time frame.  His plan included a limit order to sell at the price point in the middle of the SZ on the 5 minute chart with an automatic stop-loss to be placed just above the distal point of the zone.  The bracketed order also included his 1^st target (which was a 3:1 reward/risk ratio) to take off half of his position and let the rest run with a trailing stop.  As he completed his plan, he took a deep breath and “pulled his earlobe” (a behavior that he had linked to a powerful and confident memory) so as to shift his internal state, grounding and centering himself in order to focus his mind and visualize the outcome that he wanted.  This visualization was not so much geared to profit as it was seeing himself doing everything that was necessary to trade his plan, follow his rules and keep all of his commitments so he would maintain his highest and best trader (his A-Game).   Jim believed in both his trading strategy as it was triggered by the set-up and as well he believed in his ability to engage a mindset that kept his highest and best interests in focus. He also acknowledged that his positive beliefs had to be nurtured and supported because he still harbored a range of limiting beliefs that from time-to-time sabotaged his trading efforts.   He did this by using a metaphor to help him maintain a power perspective; that is, he saw himself as a hungry lion that identified the high-probability prey (trade) waited patiently and stalked for just the right time to execute the pursuit.  Additionally, he used a number of other mental/emotional tools to ensure that his internal data had as much leverage and edge for a fierce focus on what-mattered-most.  In this way Jim was “managing his emotional state” so that his attitude had just the right amount of altitude to achieve his results.

In the above, Jim was using the 4 keys to the trading kingdom.  These keys are the necessary ingredients to achieving anything of value.  They are major components to getting the trading results you want.  Let’s list them briefly:

1. Visualization

Goals are extremely important as you begin your trading business, and goals are designed to help you objectify and prioritize your steps to become a consistently successful trader.  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 trading in the first place… your purpose.  It ties the what-matters-most in your life to the what-matters-most in the trade.  This is where your passion is put in the service of propelling you toward that destination.  Jim began his trading session by imagining himself doing exactly what was necessary to maintain his A-Game at the platform (trading his plan, following all of his rules and keeping all of his commitments).

 

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, as with Jim, 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 trading set-ups, procedures and rules of your system, just as Jim did.  This is supported through back-testing and using feedback (documentation) so that you are measuring and verifying that your set-ups, procedures and rules are working for you.

3. A Strategy for Actualizing the Vision

A strategy is a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.  When you do anything (good or bad) you are using a strategy.  Many traders 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.  What is crucial is to develop your strategy for making that vision a reality.  This goes for your internal data (thoughts, emotions and behaviors) as much as it does for your mechanical data (everything that has to do with the mechanics of the trade – charting, news, planning, execution, exiting, etc.)  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 – as Jim did with his centering and grounding device – 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 and memories.  For instance, consider the emotion anxiety.  It stems from thoughts that are anxiety producing such as watching the price action inch towards your stop-loss.  However, the state of anxiety would also include memories of times that you were taken out of a trade and left behind to watch it hit what would have been your target, along with the sounds feelings and sights of that memory.  Internal states are what govern your days and your trading.  It is critical to “manage” your internal states using the internal data strategy that was mentioned in the above.

 

There you have it.  Your trading is serious business and you’ll want to give yourself every edge. When you are in the trader trenches it is imperative that you bring and maintain your A-Game at your platform.  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.  Also, get my book, “From Pain to Profit: Secrets of the Peak Performance Trader.

Happy Trading