Readying Yourself for the Emotional Storms of Trading

Readying Yourself for the Emotional Storms of Trading Hello Trader, You get all pumped up. You’ve read some trader psychology books and have found some insights that explain the problems you are experiencing in your trading. It’s a eureka moment. They’re fixable with this new understanding. Finally, you now have the knowledge that will give you the psychological edge you need to make your method edge work like it should. Like the Nike slogan says, “Just do it!” Then, you keep trading and keep making the same mistakes – even with this new found knowledge. You try harder. And then harder. The self-defeating pattern remains in place. There is a difference between knowledge and the performances that flow from belief centered patterns. Let me unpack this for you with an example. Below is a partial transcript of a communication with a client. Read it with the eye to discern the difference between knowledge and the underlying beliefs that drive performance. Just wanted to let you know that in trading this is the best month in my career. I am using your material and watching your videos. I found all the solutions to my trading problems. I would like to thank you. Here is my philosophy: No:1 every fiber in my body believes that I do not know the outcome of my next trade and every inch of my being believes that my next trade has no relation with my last trade… No:2 I am the only person responsible for the winning and losing trades. Market is there to take my money and I am there to take their money and I cannot control the market nor can I push it but I can control my loses. I believe this with every fiber in my body. 3: I am no longer the gambler I was when I met you. When I evaluate a potential trade, I look into probability for it – not the certainty of it. When I see my chart, I see 60% vs 40% probability so there is nothing for sure. If I open a trade no matter how good the trade looks it may lose. Anything can happen, so no more madness, no getting angry anymore 4: I found the certainty in uncertainty. It’s hard to believe but this is fact every part of my body believes: that nothing is certain in market. Anything can happen. If I have a losing trade, I will accept it with a smile and move on for next trade. 5: trading for me is no longer about money. When I trade, I don’t like to watch my P&L. I just trade when I see higher probability of one thing happening over another. In every fiber in my body, I have confidence in my edge. This trader is no longer trading from knowledge. The trading mind he brings to the game is rooted in a habituated belief that he has instilled through courageous examination of his beliefs and reconstruction of those beliefs he holds about his capacity to embrace Uncertainty. This is the difference between knowledge and ingraining beliefs into habits that operate under stress. He ground it into his bones. That’s the difference. In every fiber of his body, he knows this. He is not talking the talk any more. He is walking the walk. How did he do this? He studied my materials and, with serious commitment, practiced and created new habits that he ground into his bones. The same materials that you will find in this newsletter. Where do you start? I recommend that you start by watching the video “Readying Yourself for the Emotional Storms of Trading”. Then read the article. Finally come to the webinar. Learn what it takes to do what this trader did to turn around his trading. Do what it takes to move knowledge about trading from your head (where it will become a casualty of the emotional storms) to your heart where habits fire automatically based on the beliefs you hold about your capacity to manage Uncertainty.  This is about developing a mind for probability and Uncertainty. Knowledge, though seductive, will never be enough to shift from thinking in certainties (control) to probabilities (mastering performance). Let's get started! p.s. Hey, we now have Traders State of Mind Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Please click on [Facebook Traders State of Mind]( see that page and [LinkedIn Traders State of Mind]( see our LinkedIn page. We would love for you to Like our Facebook page and Follow Us on LinkedIn. To do so, please click on the icons below...and thanks! To Your Prosperity Rande [[Facebook] ]( [[LinkedIn] ]( Rande Howell Traders State of Mind www.tradersstateofmind.com This Month's NEW Article - by J. Rande Howell, MEd., LPC Readying Yourself for the Emotional Storms of Trading “Ready I am for the Storm” is an old Scottish ballad about a fisherman who is a long, long way from shore in his boat when a serious storm at sea comes his way. It was supposed to have been a clear day, but now a dangerous squall is bearing down on him in his tiny boat. There is no way to outrun it. One way or the other, face it he must. There are no other options. He has been here before. It is part of the unpredictable circumstances in the life of a fisherman at sea. So, he battens everything down in his boat, anticipating the coming storm. And he prepares himself mentally and emotionally for the storm’s challenges to his life. He knows these are dire circumstances. Reaching deep within himself, he steels himself and turns toward the storm and declares with all his might, “Ready I AM for the storm”. Being a trader is much like the fisherman in this ballad. Traders fish in the waters of the markets – just trying to make a living and feed their families. They have the skills and tools to navigate the markets. They know how to find opportunity in the markets and, in theory, have the means to bring their catch home. All they have to do is stay their course and follow their trading rules and they will be rewarded with their fair share of the catch. The problem is that markets, just like the sea the fisherman plies his trade in, are unpredictable. Just like the fisherman was not expecting a dangerous storm on a clear day, traders (as part of their craft of risking capital) have to face the storms of uncertainty found in the markets.   The difference between the fisherman in this ballad and the vast majority of traders is that he was prepared to face the challenges of uncertainty (with his life on the line). He could not control the outcome, but he could master himself in the midst of the storm. Traders rarely do. They do not understand how the brain reacts to uncertainty. They do not see the approaching emotional storms as they risk capital to an uncertain future. It is this lack of understanding of emotions and thinking under stress that keeps blinding them to the very tools they need to deal effectively with the market environment in which they exist. Trying to ignore emotions or “muscle” them simply makes the whiplash worse. If you have ever frozen and could not pull the trigger on a valid setup or gone nuts when a trade bounced around and went against you, you have demonstrated that lack of emotional competency so necessary for maintaining discipline in the midst of challenging moments. What is an Emotion? Let’s start at the beginning with this unexamined notion of emotions. Emotions are not feelings, though feeling (the subjective experience of an emotion in your bloodstream as chemistry) is an aspect of an emotion.  Emotions are not psychological, though they take over a person’s psychology when aroused. Emotions are not optional. You cannot turn them on and off at your command. Emotions are triggered when there are changes in the environment (that’s the market) in which the organism (that’s you the trader) operates. Winning, losing, entry points, a trade going against you, and a trade taking off in the right direction are all examples of changes in the environment that, by definition, trigger an emotion to appear. Whether you notice the emotion activating or not is the question. That depends on your emotional intelligence and the level of your mindfulness.  The mindless advice that keeps popping up in trader education that you are to “leave your emotions at the door when trading” is dangerous because it creates the illusion that you as a trader should be able to turn your emotional nature on and off by simply flipping a switch and muscling your emotions into submission. That is like walking in a mine field without a map showing you where the mines are. Sooner or later you learn that’s not a good idea. An emotion is actually best seen as a biological action potential whose job is to coordinate action (behaviors) between the environment (markets) and the organism (that would be you, the trader or active investor). It is potential that activates when there are changes in the environment in which the trader is embedded. The more stress the trader experiences, the stronger the activation of the emotion...    To read more of this article, please [click here](. Free Rande Howell webinar in November, 2020 Title - Readying Yourself for the Emotional Storms of Trading Speaker: Rande Howell, MEd., LPC Date/Time:  [Thursday, Nov. 12, 4:30-5:30pm EST]( Description:  After gaining all that knowledge about trading that was going to set you free, you realize that the emotions and psychology you bring to the game is the crucial factor about how effective you are as a trader. Not the knowledge alone. Without getting your head straight, all the knowledge in the world doesn’t produce the consistent edge you seek. How do you develop the Emotional Intelligence that allows you to control not outcome, but the mind you bring to the performance in trading? This is the missing link. Come learn how to quell the emotional storms of trading. And to develop a patient, disciplined mind that can manage the uncertainties of trading. Sign up for this webinar. Please [click here]( to register for this free webinar. IMPORTANT! The U.S. moved to Standard Time on Nov. 1. The time shown is in U.S. Eastern Standard Time! [New free Video - ]( Readying Yourself for the Emotional Storms of Trading Before trading, your emotions probably never cost you money (that you couldn’t rationalize). Now emotional storms seize control of your trading mind on a regular basis. And they keep you from the potential that trading offers you. But why? And how do you learn to manage emotions for an effective trading mind? Watch this video and learn what the problem really is – and what to do about it. (Then [sign up for our November webinar]( Please [click here]( scroll down a bit) to view the video. Developing Traders State of Mind Group Course - Winter, 2021 The emotional brain is built to seek safety in a dangerous world. The world that it was created for has long since disappeared. It developed a hair-trigger to the fight/flight response because that is what was needed for survival. Now, it has been taken out of the jungle (where risk meant danger) and is being asked to act civilized in a world of probability - where risk is not lethal. Without re-training and re-programming the emotional limbic system, this is not going to happen. It is built to react to danger quickly. It was never built to ponder your rules when it is experiencing vulnerability, discomfort, and fear. It was programmed to act from your survival instinct.  Until this is done, your emotional brain will continue to hijack your thinking brain when you feel the discomfort of uncertainty and risk. This is your silent partner. The question is: Are you going to try to continue to pretend it's not part of your trading mind? Or, are you ready to re-program it for the modern world of trading and probability. Fortunately, this can be done. The Developing Traders State of Mind Group Course Teaches You How to Master Reactive Emotions The Group Course has been called a wake-up call by many traders. Most simply have no idea how the brain and mind work to produce performance in the clutch with risk on. You learn here. It's more than a wake-up call - it a door that opens you to a whole new world. You learn how the emotional brain (so focused on survival) needs to be handled to become an effective working partner with the thinking brain. This course is eye-opening. I had no idea how to fix the problems I had with my trading until this course. Learning how to manage emotions is only the start. You learn how to create a mind built to manage uncertainty. Bottom line is that I know longer sabotage myself and have become profitable. I wish I had taken the group course a long time ago. It's a difference maker. SD From the start you learn how to calm survival emotions down before they become big and hijack your trading mind. That's just the first step. The major benefit is that you learn how to create a mind built for trading, rather than survival in the past. This is what has to happen for success in trading. You have been using a brain/mind created for circumstances that no longer exist. What is needed is a brain/mind built for probability management. Where you learn to become comfortable with the discomfort of uncertainty rather than triggering to your survival instinct. This is what every trader, to be successful, has to learn. Time to register! The first review session for the Group Course is in January. By this date you need to have studied the Class 101 materials in depth. So, give yourself lots of time to study, and get started now! The survival Instinct is not going to just go away. It is your partner. Do you want to learn to work with it so that it helps you to become the trader you can be? [Please Click here to register ]( the Group Course. [Please Click here to view a video about the Group Course or for more information.]( The DTSM Group Course teaches the same basic skills that are taught in my individual course, but is only $1195. This is spread out as five payments of $239/each over a 10-week time period. It's a whole lot of training for a reasonable cost. SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING PAYMENT - PayPal CANNOT be used as a payment method for this Group Course since PayPal does not allow for rebilling. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact Delores at delores@mytradersstateofmind.com Mindful Trading: Mastering Your Emotions and the Inner Game Author: J. Rande Howell, MEd., LPC If you know how to trade when not in the pressure of trading, but you have not been able to trade live from a calm, detached, and disciplined state of mind, this book will open your eyes. Mindful Trading actually shows you HOW to develop a peak performance state of mind specifically for trading. This book gets in the head of a trader. You will meet a number of real life traders who have overcome self doubt, fear, and impulsiveness. You will see how they overcame self-limiting beliefs and began trading from an empowered state of mind. You will discover your core beliefs that actually trade your system and methodology. And without change at this fundamental level, old self-limiting patterns of thought and belief re-assert themselves shortly after your brain pushes off any "tricks and tips" you learned from self-help seminars. It is this change at the organization of meaning and biology that makes this book so different. A number of disciplines are folded into a unified process that really gets at long term change. Those disciplines include neuro-biology, emotional intelligence, ontological reconstruction of the self, attachment theory and the meaning of the self, and Jungian archetypes. In Mindful Trading, imbedded in self-limiting beliefs, you are carried through a change process that transforms traders mired in mediocrity to a re-organization of the mind for peak performance trading. Mindful Trading is available both as an [Audio book]( and a [downloadable e-book](. [Read an excerpt from Mindful Trading]( free and you get to look inside a trader's mind) And consider the companion study tool: the  [Mindful Trading Companion]( [ e-Workbook!]( Explore a Trader's State of Mind Coaching Relationship with Rande Howell This is a personalized course for the trader who is ready to move beyond being stuck in self limiting beliefs. If you have recognized that it is you that stands in the way of your becoming a more successful trader, then this challenge can become an opportunity for re-invention of yourself as a trader, rather than something to avoid. It's like a door opening to an entirely new world. Great athletes recognize that the mental aspect of their game requires a performance coach for them to reach their potential. Trading is the same. Self-limiting beliefs have to be rooted out and changed - and a peak performance mindset has to be developed. It's all part of the training. Having a methodology that gives you an edge is not enough. You have to develop your mind so that it gives you the psychological edge to use your methodology and platform so that the uncertainty found in trading favors you. This is trading beyond fear. It is trading from a disciplined, impartial, patient, and courageous state of mind. Without emotional regulation training, this can take years (if ever) to achieve on your own. Teasing apart uncertainty from fear is simply something that the brain will not do on its own. The psychology to this has to be developed...or you stay stuck in the same old self-fulfilling prophesies of mediocrity. Do you want to move beyond fear and trade from a calm, detached, and disciplined state of mind?  If you are trying to decide between the Group Course and the Individual Course, then c[lick here to check out a free, no obligation consult with Rande Howell]( get to see how this powerful technology of the mind can move your trading to the next level. To make this free consult productive for you, I recommend that you first attend one of my free webinars. This will lay down a lot of groundwork so that when you speak with me -- you'll be hitting on all cylinders. Also, reading my book - Mindful Trading - is advised.   [Website]( Book]( & Interviews]( Videos]( rande@mytradersstateofmind.com | [www.tradersstateofmind.com]( [By joining you get to keep connected to this powerful training process for the development of the potential you have as a trader. And if you decide differently, you can always un-subscribe. If you're a student of trading, this newsletter is a powerful tool for your development.]( Empowered Horizons | 1824 Prescott Ct., Iron Station, NC 28080 [Unsubscribe {EMAIL}]( [Update Profile]( | [About our service provider]( Sent by rande@mytradersstateofmind.com powered by [Trusted Email from Constant Contact - Try it FREE today.]( [Try email marketing for free today!](