Developing YOUR Heart-Mind Trading Edge. - page 4

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Learning from Our Body

There is something we can learn from one of the processes in our physical body. Certain muscles get their cue to do their job because of built-in pressure sensors. When the pressure reaches a certain level, they kick in. However, their activity can be consciously controlled and restricted by our power of choice. What happens if we repeat that action consistently enough? We train those muscles to kick in at a greater degree of pressure (which is not good for our health).

The same dynamic can happen in trading. The Heart-Mind connection is also very sensitive and capable of adapting to the decisions we make. If a trader continues to ignore the input from both sides; mind and heart, they might be setting themselves up for accepting greater and greater losses...holding on in hope longer if in a losing trade.

Properly training your Heart-Mind connection is a major key to being a consistently successful trader. It's not just about finding the "perfect system", although a great one couldn't hurt. How you handle yourself is what makes the difference in the long-run.

A good place to post some feedback. Feel free to share how these posts may be helping you in your trading.

 

About the Power of Blink

blink

is the title of a book by Malcolm Gladwell. It talks about "The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. In his introduction, he talks about "The Statue That Didn't Look Right." A marble statue dating back to the 6th century BC was presented to the J. Paul Getty Museum for purchase. After fourteen months of thorough scientific examination, the purchase of the statue at an asking price of about $10M was being considered.

However , an expert on Greek sculpture and an art historian were among those who took a two-second look at the statue and "knew" something was wrong. The Power of Blink is about being so intimately involved with something, that you know it so well, that in a blink you can tell what's up or what's not.

I remember

the easiest 20 pips I ever made. One morning, I walked into my trading room to see what was cooking. Immediately I noticed that my trading edge was all set. I just clicked. Price took off and before I knew it, I had 20 pips. One of the keys to being consistently profitable is to train yourself to recognize "your tested trading edge". Trading a variety of methods and mastering none is likely to hurt you in the long-run. Know exactly what you're looking for and train your Heart-Mind connection to pick it up through repetition.

Did you know that is how bank tellers know the real from the counterfeit? They handle the real money so much that the moment they touch the fake, they know it instantly. Think they also train the cashiers in Las Vegas the same way. It will also work in your trading. Find your system and work with it.

 

SUCCESS KEY: Why You Should Develop The Habit of Trading Your System

Here's a key I'm sharing with the Forex-TSD family.

Once you have established your trading system (recipe, edge) and have tested it and know its degree of reliability, here's why you need to trade it religiously.

1. If it is a profitable system it will bring you a return on your dollar and on your labor.

2. Being rewarded for your labor has positive heart-mind effects. It is healthy for your trading soul.

3. If you do not trade that system, you will likely lose money (because you do something else) and You will have a problem trusting YOU. That is another

BIG

reason traders are afraid to trade. Fear of loss is not the only monster lurking around.

YOU must trade your system repeatedly so that You develop the trust/confidence in yourself that YOU will only act and place trades that are in your best interest. If you really don't like, value or trust yourself you'll have problems, and, in this business, you are the one paying yourself. This is an area some traders never consider, but it will take its toll.

 

Hello Traders,

Next week I would like to touch a bit on some of the ways in which we process information that we really don't want to receive. Many times the market is telling us what it is actually doing, but, we want to see something else, and find ways to convince ourselves to hold on in spite of...... Should be an interesting discussion. Hope some of you will feel free to chime in.

Have a great weekend.

 

Stepping into this week's discussion...

Before we touch on some of the ways we "ignore" the market, I thought it would be good to first touch on the idea of Expectation.

An expectation is basically a "strong" belief that a certain "something" is likely to happen or will happen, and/or, happen in a certain manner. It is not realistic to think that a trader can or should trade without an expectation. Most logical, sane people do things expecting an outcome of some kind. So having "an expectation" is not really the problem. The problem begins with what exactly is the expectation and what is our heart-mind attachment to that expectation.

I define "belief" as a conscious or unconscious acceptance that something is a fact of reality or the truth. Most times, a belief exists without tangible, hard-core proof. Yes it is possible for someone to believe something that is not true, but that belief does not change the truth. What actually happens is that the individual exchanges the truth for something else. The truth can only be what it is: truth.

All of the "mind games" that a trader can experience, happen so quickly and without them being "aware" of the process, that it actually takes conscious effort and discipline (among other things) to deal with those mental and emotional gymnastics successfully.

We'll pick up from here later this week. As you trade, see if you can identify your expectations and any heart-mind attachments to them.

Have a great trading week!

 

Standing in Your Way

As mentioned in the previous post, having expectations are a normal part of life. Our attachments to those expectations affect our actions or reactions. If expectations are not realized, then an emotional let-down occurs and one can become discouraged, disappointed and even depressed. When they are realized, were are exuberant, encouraged and alive. Our Heart-Mind mechanism has some built in measures to "protect" us in case of a let-down. One of those measures is called Denial.

A basic definition of Denial would be: The unwillingness to accept that something other than our belief or expectation is the truth or a reality. This of course is a defensive mechanism, not an offensive one. How many times have you been in a trade; observed that it is not following the flow that you would expect per your system's definition of a winning trade; your P/L is confirming that things are not going as they "should" given your intentions and trading goals, but, in order to "hold on" in hope, you begin to make excuses. You might tell yourself that it is just a retracement, or, you might say that it will likely turn at the nearby support level. That process called Rationalization is not a healthy one in the face of a reality that is pointing in another direction and presenting a negative outcome. Usually the emotional pain associated with acceptance of that reality is momentarily too great, so that "other You" goes into action by allowing the defense mechanisms to surface.

There is an expression we use when people enter that mode. Sometimes someone will say, "That person has high hopes." Another way of saying or meaning the same thing is to say, "They are operating on wishful thinking." How/what you think is related to how/what you believe; the end result being what you actually do and how you will feel after the fact.

Next we'll touch on the importance of keeping an open mind in the market.

 

A Note on Predictions...Why They Are Hazardous to Your Trading

First let's define a prediction. It simply is a "now" statement about a specific outcome in the future. However, although it may not be spoken, written or publicized, we can have mental predictions: we place a trade and then start thinking about what it is going to do, how and when. We may even be directing and playing a movie in the imagination of our minds, envisioning how price "will" behave while we are watching the chart. Of course the scenario we direct is usually in our favor. This behavior can be a type of psychological escape in order to deal with trading fears etc.: Wishful Thinking 3-D style.

These mental predictions are beliefs, based on thoughts, and set in expectations. Actually putting them out there by telling someone else, adds emotional weights to your trading heart-mind...not to mention the ego attached and the need to be right about such statements. Issues arise when the market does something else. Even if it goes exactly as we thought, that can also set a trader up for failure on successive trades if the trader has a need to be validated as a person. Ego can really create issues here. Signal sending can have a similar effect if the trader is not careful.

Focus...concentrate your mental energies on trading "in the now" as price unfolds. What price actually does will be revealed in time anyway.

Be back later in the week...

 

The Importance of Keeping An Open Mind

Have you ever experienced this? You had a package in the car and normally you would bring it in but decided to leave it in the car this time. Some hours later you start looking for it in the usual spot in the house but don't see it. You believe you brought it in. You keep searching expecting to find it and it is nowhere to be found. You keep telling yourself, "But I know I brought it in. I know I did." As long as you keep that as your belief, you will keep looking in the house. But, when you begin to think differently... "I wonder if by chance I left it in the car?" , your mind becomes willing to "see" another possibility, and thoughts will begin to flood in and you'll remember that you did leave it in the car etc. Everything becomes very clear then.

The same happens in trading. "But I know this is a buy." If you are long and your P/L is consistently getting lower, you need to ask yourself, "Should this be a sell instead?" Until you honestly ask yourself that question, your mind will see reasons to support a buy. Asking that honest question, gives the "other You" the opportunity to present another option, and because you are now open to see it you will. Lots of heart-mind emotions have to get out of the way for that to happen. Remain open-minded to change when the evidence suggests it. You don't see with your eyes: seeing is done with the mind.

Have a great weekend.

 

Any specific trading challenges you'd like to discuss? Please feel free.

 

Trading and Conditioning

Just as athletes prepare their bodies (muscles) and minds for competition so should traders. Conditioning is a very important part of being able to perform well. It is important to develop conditioning training exercises and techniques that strengthen you at your trading core. What are your "trading muscles"?

Below is a quote from Conditioning Workouts | STACK.

Conditioning is a form of training that enhances stamina and endurance, which are crucial for maintaining strong athletic performance throughout a practice, game or training session. Conditioning develops the body’s ability to meet the energy demands of various sports, both anaerobic and aerobic. Anaerobic activity uses stored energy to power short bursts of intense activity—such as sprinting, jumping or lifting weights—that last approximately 30 to 60 seconds. Aerobic activity uses oxygen to provide sustained performance for longer periods of time, for sports like cross country. Athletes should undergo conditioning tests and participate in conditioning workouts that mimic their sport. Learn how to boost your conditioning with workouts, exercises and drills from today’s top experts and elite athletes.Enjoy your weekend.

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