Yes, your persistent trading mistakes that dogged you last year will persist this year.

For those of you who know me well, this headline probably gave you a big jolt. My trading methodology and coaching practice is one where I invite every one of my traders to experience positive progress with each and every experience. I encourage my clients to create a clear image of their own master traders mindset, and then celebrate every step of their journey into their highest state of mind.

Given that, what the hell is this headline about?

Persistent trading mistakes are persistent for a reason. The very fact that they are “persistent” means that there is some underlying process that is either out of your awareness and/or connected to a survival mechanism you created when you were much younger.

It is this deeply seated process or mechanism that supports the behaviors that no longer serve you. So why would your trading behaviors change in the new year when they have persisted in the entire previous year? There is no reason! They, in fact, will continue as long as that survival mechanism is left unchanged.

You might be thinking right now, “Boy, is this blog a downer!”

Does he mean the die is cast? Does he mean there is no hope, or as the french say, “les jeux sont faits?”

I am offering hope…but at a price. Willpower, discipline, manifesting, forced emotional control and promises to yourself will not make any difference. What I am saying in this blog is that, and I want to be really blunt here, unless you are willing to look at the survival mechanisms that you have created in the past, that trigger your persistent trading mistakes that no longer serve you, yes indeed, this year will not be any different. You will continue to make the same persistent trading mistakes that you made last year.

I have experienced this process in thousands of traders.

Thousands of independent and professional traders have taken my personality assessments and taken my courses. Over the last three decades, I have trained 10 traders to trade my own capital. Dozens of traders are involved in our ongoing mastermind support groups and many of these traders have hired me as a personal coach.

I have seen spectacular progress with my clients. I have also seen spectacular failures. What is fascinating to me, is the difference between the two. It is this gap that tells a powerful story. And it is this story I want to start telling you today.

The name of this story is “Demons and Dreams.”

Demons are NEMES. If you have read any of our blogs, taken any the of our courses or are part of any of our live groups, you know that “demons” is just a catchy title for what we have labeled neuro- meta structures or NEMES for short.

NEMES are a name we have given to complex neural connections that, like Memes in a cultural context, are duplicated repeatedly in several contexts in our brains. These NEMES were created when we were much younger as a way to survive what we perceived to be threats in our world. At the time we created them, they were the best option that we had.

This concept is counter-intuitive.

For example, if a young child perceived rejection from his parents and peer groups, that child would create a way to survive that rejection. However, in order to continue to use the ability to survive, that person, as they grow up would continually craft a world that felt like rejection in order to use that survival mechanism that was so comfortable and so safe.

A world of acceptance and love would be a world where that child did not know how to survive. And as crazy as it sounds, we tend to create for ourselves a world that we have survived rather than a world that offered what we so desperately want.

In trading, we have similar NEMES that handicap our success.

For example one of my clients grew up in a family where acceptance and love was conditional to those who disciplined themselves and worked hard. The only way to acceptance was hard work. Thus, this client has the belief that he needs to work hard at trading in order to be a success. If he didn’t have to work hard, then that would be a violation of his family birthright and a dismissal of the love and acceptance he had to acquire through work. Work had become a life commitment. To make money easily in two hours triggered a sabotaging process that reaffirmed the value of the NEME that no longer serves him.

Can this process be changed?

The trading results from the previous year will be the same as the trading results from the next year when that subconscious belief still persists. As you can imagine, a man of his integrity is going to hit a wall when he makes trading fun and easy. His underlying identity and belief around his integrity and respect for his family and the goodies he got from them for his hard work will challenge any changes. This can be either a major roadblock, or, just as easily be let go of, when he realizes how good it feels to take off that harness of hard work and allow himself the joy of unfettered success.

Our Mind Muscles courses, coaching and group work create an enticing invitation to step into a world that feels so much better, honors your values and also gets you to your goals.

The next part of this story is about our Dreams.

So, what would you like? When I interview a new private client we review all the trading behaviors that no longer serve them. Once this is complete, I will generally ask “So, what would you like?” And most often, they will repeat the trading behaviors that they just listed that cost them money. So I ask again, “So, what would you like instead?” And often they will again reiterate what they don’t want.

From there we will start to create the outcomes that serve them better. These outcomes are not financial, but behavioral and beliefs. And most of the time a trader cannot describe the master traders mindset that they want to step into.

This is important because our brains will not support us stepping into a new mindset that is unknown.

Imagine that you are going on a vacation to an unknown destination. You have two destination choices. In the first destination, there is no information on the Internet. You don’t know what currency they use. You don’t know what the culture is like. You don’t know what the land is like or what there will be when you get there. You don’t even know if it is safe. You will be stepping into a virtual unknown when you get off the airplane.

Now imagine that the other destination has been visited by your friends. They tell you how friendly the people are. They tell you the currency conversion and where to get the best deal. They tell you about the wonderful sites. They tell you about the friends they made and the people they met. They were just all aglow and want to show you the pictures & share their wonderful experience.

Which of these two destinations are you more likely to choose?

If you’re like most of us you will choose the known. Your brain is no different when it comes to adopting new beliefs and new behaviors. It wants to step into a new mindset that is well-defined and the outcomes are known. The survival part of your brain will want to make sure that there are no hidden dangers and that it need not go on alert.

We create a safe destination for the brain. So when I ask a new client to define the master trader mindset and they are unable to do so, that tells me that one of our early tasks is to create that master trader mindset that is so compelling and feels so good, that the trader is eager to step into it fully and completely.

How clear is your master trader’s mindset? Do you know what the master traders mindset feels like, how it processes information, and how it manages our emotions and thoughts? If you don’t, this is a most productive arena for your transformational exploration as a trader.

Here is the key to changing your persistent trading behaviors that no longer serve you.

Again, persistent trading mistakes are persistent for a reason. The very fact that they are “persistent” means that there is some underlying process that is either out of awareness and/or connected to a survival mechanism you created when you were much younger.

You can’t force a new behavior from the process of struggle. At the Mind Muscles™ Academy, we realize that it is very difficult to step into a new framework when we are wrestling with the problem from within the struggle. Thus to support you, we have created and refined our courses, group work, exercises, simulations, written materials, and personal coaching for effective progress. This progress is created from the successful state of mind.

Our theme is “rapport.” That is, rapport with yourself and rapport with the markets. Rapport with the demons that haunted you in the past, and rapport with your dreams of success and the master trader’s mindset.

This year can be a year where you celebrate your master trader mindset. You will look back with relief at the persistent trading mistakes that no longer capture you. Since this will be a change that can feel threatening at first, please be kind to yourself as you make friends with your demons and invite them to share the dream of consistent growing profits in this new year.

If you’d like to discuss this further, you’re welcome to set up a time to talk, here.