Category Archives for Trading Psychology
Hard Questions and Pithy Answers
I was interviewed by Callum Lang and his Enterprize Zone on his podcast and then I was invited to post answers to challenging questions in 100 words or less. Turns out, short answers require more attention
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Risk Reward Ratios and Your Emotional Sweet Spot
How do I learn from my clients? Sometimes the best psychological trading concepts are clarified in a conversation with my private coaching clients. This is especially true when we are struggling with
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The Crypto Craze and Cocky Confidence
My sleep was interrupted by the ring from my personal cell phone. A client who had several million dollars invested in cryptos was in a panic. This was followed by a second call from another client in
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The Cocky Clanger | Mind Muscles™ Academy Practice Guide
Mind Muscles™ Academy Practice GuideMind Adventure: Create Your Personal “Cocky Clanger” to stay Confident and not CockyProblem: Hubris (Overconfidence)Desired Outcome: Awareness and neutralizationMind
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Boredom – a good way to sabotage your trading career
How to turn the most powerful attribute of an independent trader into the most profit-draining behavior. This is one of our Mind Muscles Moments, which is a very laser-targeted piece talking about a critical
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Circle of Confidence
“An awareness of the Confidence Cycle in and of itself makes the journey faster and easier.” -Richard Friesen I started my career in the financial market as a futures broker at Merrill Lynch. I had
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Doubling Down in Desperation
Here is a list of reactions to a losing position. Before you read them, I want you to do a quick check of your physiology, emotions, and thoughts. And as you read these, notice any changes as you recognize
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Pandemic, Panic and Peace
Panic…our brains were created to look for threats on the savannas of Africa. Our brains evolved before the internet when threats to our lives were very immediate and real. However, our evolution
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Pandemic Panic Prevention
Your environment is designed to put you in a state of panic. The entire world is gearing up to stimulate your fears. Newspapers, TV news, politicians, magazines, online blogs and social media all gain
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Extreme Events: Preparing Your Brain for Black Swans
This post was updated on January 5, 2021. “Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.” Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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He Had Everything But Success
He was upset. A former Mind Muscles Academy student called me out of the blue. I hadn’t heard from him for about six months. He was frustrated and angry.He had strategy clarity. With support of our Strategy
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Trading Behaviors: How to Outwit a Lazy Brain
Why is it so hard to break old trading habits that no longer serve us? Why do we as traders wake up the next morning and regret making trading mistakes that are so persistent, that we repeat them over
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Is Every Tick A Referendum On Your Worth?
Roger’s physiology made a dramatic shift. I watched my trader coaching client as he leaned forward with his fists clenched. He had just shorted 20 ES contracts and the market had just broke through
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Why “Will Power” Will Drain Your Brain Power
Carl Richards makes it simple. Carl Richards has an uncanny way of taking complex financial issues and putting them in simple compelling sketches. You can see samples of his work at: https://behaviorgap.com. This
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They Are Sabotaging My Success
“My wife doesn’t support me. After every trading session she looks at me with critical eyes.” “My parents want me to get a real job. They believe trading is just like gambling and I’m addicted.” “All
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Does Your “Control” Illusion Create Trading Losses?
The mind trap we’re going to look at today is “Control Illusion.” This means that if your subconscious mind believes that it is in control, as a trader, you ascribe more value than is actually there. This
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Are You Smaller Than Your Money?
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.” – Marianne Williamson First,
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Do you have a Trading Addiction?
How do you know if you’re addicted to trading? Signs of a trading addiction Some of my clients are addicted to trading. Yes, addicted. Addicted in the same sense as alcohol, gambling, sex or nicotine
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The Trader’s State of Mind – Does it Matter?
Does the Trader’s State of Mind really matter? I have heard this argued both ways. It is been argued that the trader’s state of mind, or more formally, the psychology of a trader, is less critical
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The Path to Emotional Control
Traders have a major problem. After over two decades of trading on the floors in Chicago and San Francisco, building my own options and equity trading firm, training traders to trade my own capital, coaching
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