YOUR MINDSET MATTERS
"Are you trading to learn or are you trading to earn? …Having goals based around financial outcomes when you’re still learning the basic skills of trading can actually be counter-productive. If you have expectations of earning from trading while you’re still learning, then it shouldn’t come as a major shock when you fail to meet those expectations! …There’ll come a point when you’ll be required to commit fully to your trading business. A time to narrow down the options, focus on what have been working for you and conduct your trading as a full time business.” – Paul Wallace
Hello:
I’d tried all the logic I knew, still, my trading results were not improving. In fact, my trading performance was getting worse. Those who thought I was good at trading had seen that I couldn’t handle the market. I’d received a brief training and practiced briefly. Having breathed the market prior to that time, I fought stubbornly and desperately, but I was floored. I slumped in the presence of those who thought I was a champion. My condition was very pitiful. I thought of giving up. “Those consistently winning traders must be gods. They must have superhuman ability. I wasn’t cut out to be like them.” I concluded. However, what would happen to me if I gave up? I’d need to subject myself to the harsh realities of the labor market. Should I accept failure and go do something else, like every Dick and Harry? Should I press ahead on my way to success? What should I do with my life? This happened to me many years ago.
Yes, there are successful traders, but they aren’t gods. They’re only humans; just like you and me. I knew I must discover what they do differently and do so accordingly or else I’d be in trouble. True, there are successful traders and they have something in common. Consider Anton Kreil who was born in a poor family, for instance. Kreil is a professional trader formerly of Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan. While at university and by the age of 20 he built a profitable portfolio and was hired by Goldman Sachs to work on Wall Street, later returning to
Many people admire and appreciate highly successful people. But they find it difficult to do what those successful people did (persistently and consistently) before they could become what they’re. I’ve seen multitudes of people reading popular and best-selling inspirational and motivational (self-help) books, but their life remains the same. It seems those books are making money for their authors, not for their buyers. Why? People would read or listen, yet they won’t change their mindset.
Can you do what successful people do? Think about those great general overseers/superintendents. I think of a general overseer who had a very humble beginning. I think of his innovations, wisdom, enthusiasm, tireless activities for the sake of his organization, laying peerless examples, preparing sermons on day-to-day basis, writing books and articles, and doing things that most members of his organization are unable or unwilling to do individually in their own small world. Many of those general overseers/superintendents have been enthusiastically active for decades. No wonder success must locate them. They must have extraordinary achievements. They have been richly rewarded and are the envy of mediocrities. These great overseers/superintendents began like you. They possessed what you posses; the difference is that they made use of what they had in unique and enthusiastic ways. They’d no advantage over you in the first place; only that you feel unable or unwilling to do what they can do. If you don’t discover the seed of greatness in you, you could spend the rest of your life as a traffic man for their organization. Many people who’ve permanently limited themselves to being followers have seeds of leadership in them. Does your overseer/superintendent recognize your ability? It takes humility to recognize that someone under one’s oversight may have a better way of doing things than one does. But then again, no one – not even an overseer – has a monopoly on good ideas.
Life starts where your comfort zone ends You got to achieve extraordinary things before people can believe and respect you. Are you satisfied with your present lot? You oughtn’t to pretend that everything is alright when it isn’t. You should be able to reveal your weaknesses in order to find strength rather than conceal your faults to appear strong.
It Isn’t Late To Experience Permanent Victory
I’ve always said that trading myths have infected the human society. Do trading myths match the real facts? The answer is worth knowing. Why? Because the truth about trading can free you from needless fear, brighten your outlook on your future in the market, and influence the way you think about trading. Very few top traders would reveal the secret that gives them a huge edge over other traders. In a sense, trading in the market is like playing a game of poker; a really big game of poker. The players (at least, the good ones) attempt to keep their cards close to the vest. Think about it. The worst thing you can do in a game of poker is to show your opponents your cards. If you do, they’ll know when they should bet and when they should fold. Nonetheless, here’s the good news: The secret is available to you free of charge. In the series of articles bearing the main topic above, the secret would be revealed systematically. “I used to blame the markets for my lack of progress in trading,” one trader admits. “However, in time, I realized that I’d to make effort too.” You need to realize that the time has come for you to act. You need to learn and apply the principles that will ensure your everlasting triumph in the markets. You need to learn how to avoid margin call permanently. You need to learn how to pull out returns from the markets on annual basis – no matter what happens in the markets. You need to know how to trade with calm and lasting peace of mind. You only got to change your mindset. You need to empty your past bad trading experiences and develop winning trading mindset.
Many people have passion for trading, but they don’t understand how the markets actually work. In time, many traders learn that if they confront the issues that are impeding their success, they’ll usually feel better about themselves and their trading. Here, I’m not talking about trading styles that’ll make you smile today and cry tomorrow. Unlocking the power of everlasting triumph in the markets might require the utmost patience on your part. But payoff – permanent victory – is worth it.
Conditioning Your Mindset
How do you take control of your destiny in the financial markets? You’ve to repeat what you must do as often as necessary until they become part of your subconscious mind. You’ve to remind yourself of these constantly until they become your second nature. You’ve to say them to yourself repeatedly until you start reacting to them automatically. Personally I’ve reached a level of complete calm, peace and serenity in the markets. I know what to do when placing trades and managing trades – whether they’re negative or positive. My positive reactions to market situations now come naturally and automatically. You can use your willpower to achieve this. Just declare to yourself what must happen to you in your trading career and they’ll come to you eventually. This method has proven to be highly effective! If you liked, you might recite the points below (every morning) for the next 30 days. You’ll eventually discover that your willpower would override negative, irrational and suicidal emotions and trading styles. You’ll naturally do the right things and be rewarded eventually. You’ll ultimately discover that you’re trading effortlessly; with positive returns in the long run.
Please recite these points in quiet surroundings:
1. I, Mustapha Azeez (mention your name) will surely be one of the best traders in the world, and nothing will stop me from achieving my aim.
2. My past flops are not part of me. They happened, but they’re not me. I’m not a failure. Trading failure isn’t part of me.
3. I couldn’t care less whether losing and breakeven traders are 90% or 95% or 98%. What I know is that I’ll be among the 10% or 5% or 2% winning traders. Nothing will preclude me from joining this group.
4. Others may find trading very hard, but it’s not going to be hard for me. The difficulties and uncertainties in the markets will be my permanent ally. All future uncertainties and unpredictability of price movements will work in my favor in the long run.
5. I totally reject all forms of discouragement from those who thought they failed in the markets or who think they know those who failed. My lot as from now is with successful traders.
6. As a trader, my future trading results will be a testimony to others, including doubting Thomases and detractors. So shall it be.
7. Financial freedom is the ultimate reward of my journey as a trader. Noting will prevent me from attaining this noble goal.
8. As a trader, I’ll be a blessing to my family, my friends and others. I’ll be a blessing to the trading world. This will come to pass.
9. I’m going to choose only positive expectancy trading systems, and nothing more. Positive expectancy has worked in the long past, and therefore it’ll work for me. It’s stood the test of the time, and it’ll work for me. It’s been practically effective for over a century. It’s survived all market types and conditions, and it’ll work for me.
10. I expect losses in trading, but they won’t last forever. My losing streaks are temporary. I believe that, through positive expectancy, I’ll always recover my losses and move ahead in the long run. This is a timeless fact and it’ll always work in my favor.
11. What I’m going to learn from the articles in this series, not in abstract terms, but concrete terms, will work for me. The knowledge will be my power to achieve permanent triumph in the markets.
12. Lasting solution to my trading problems begins right now. The solution starts coming to me right now. This is my will, and it’ll come to pass.
13. I’ve decided to trade only what I see; and nothing more than what I see or what I think will happen.
14. As a trader, I will have peace of mind, calm and tranquility – knowing that my risk is constantly under control.
15. I, Mustapha Azeez (mention your name) will never trade without stop loss. I’ll honor my stop levels always and never widen them. This is my permanent insurance policy in the markets. Nothing on earth will ever make me run my losses. If I’m stopped out of trades, I’m stopped out. This is my will and it’s so.
16. I’ve decided to give safety priority over profit. I’ll always use small position sizing. I’ll consider this before I open my orders. Nothing will tempt me again to use big position sizing. I hereby declare myself free of greed.
17. No matter what happens, I won’t cut my profit prematurely. I’m determined to run my profit until my breakeven stop or trailing stop or target is hit. This is my will and I’ll do it.
18. My breakeven stop and trailing stop won’t be too tight as to cause premature exits; neither will they be too wide to cause too much exposure. I’ll always use optimum parameters as they’ll be revealed.
19. I hereby decide to follow my time-tested trading plan. I’ll let profits take care of themselves. I’ll be satisfied with whatever profit I earn on annual basis.
20. I’m totally free. I’m no longer a trader that’ll be glued to the screen, running mental because of price fluctuations. I’ll use the minimum time possible trading and achieve commendable results. This is my will and I’ll do it.
21. I’ve begun my journey to lasting success in trading. All the above declarations are solemn: they’ll be observed solemnly.
Conclusion: In your future trading activities, view challenges as something that’ll strengthen and sustain you. The second part of the articles in this series would be made available at the end of February 2012.
NB: Even in the presently turbulent market, you can experience permanent safety and victory from correct knowledge of trading, risk control and self control. If you’d need further information or you’d like to have a professional attend to you, please contact FXInstructor.com.
I’d prefer to conclude this article with a quote from Dr. Woody Johnson:
“Humans are impulsively driven by greed and the desire to dominate. They will take the easiest way to get and keep what they want. This often has negative and unintended consequences that are frequently destructive. And humans are not naturally prone to accountability or self-discipline, which is why we need laws, rules, boundaries and limits in society. Trading requires self-imposed limits and these limits must be created through personal accountability.”
NB: Please watch out for my coming articles with these titles: ‘Does High Hit Rate Work Always?’ ‘My Typical Trading Day,’ ‘A Trader’s Trick Entry Technique – Sighting Golden Trading Opportunities,’ ‘Making Money out of Losses – A Blessing in Disguise,’ ‘Achieve a Better Hit Rate with Gap Trading (Using the Logic Yourself),’ ‘Play the Markets Victoriously with Nano-cent Accounts,’ ‘Why It’s Difficult to Do the Right Things in the Markets,’ ‘How to Identify a Sideways Market – Be Safe!’ ‘A Negative Expectancy System – Pushing Against the Wind?’ ‘Trading Signals,’ ‘An Intraday Moves Catcher – A Wealth Generating System,’ ‘Unlock the Power of Everlasting Triumph in the Markets (Parts 2 - 12),’ ‘How to Handle Uncertainties in the Markets,’ ‘The Issue of Stops (Come Back! Oh Come Back!),’ ‘A Hedge Funds Strategy,’ ‘My Hedge Funds Strategy Update,’ ‘Experiment with Different Exit Tactics,’ ‘Mastering the Market Equilibrium Zones – A Time-sensitive Method,’ ‘How I Apply Risk Management – Part 3,’ ‘A Simple Positive Expectancy System – Trading Effortlessly,’ ‘Testimonies from My Subscribers (2),’ ‘Resist the Lure of High Risk – Part 4’ ‘Worst-case Scenarios – Facts Are Sacred,’ ‘Effective Swing Trading in Forex,’ ‘Gap Trading Revisited,’ ‘3 Recent Gap Trades,’ ‘Developing the Right Attitude towards Losses - Part 4 (Losses Aren’t Abnormal),’ ‘The True Holy Grail – The Long Sought for,’ ‘Forex Trading Vocabulary,’ ‘ Clarifying Some Issues – Part 6,’ ‘Navigating Turbulent Markets – A Double Timeframe Analysis,’ ‘Before You Open that Trade,’ ‘Cogent Trading Biases,’ ‘Overview of My Signals Strategies - Can You Become a Super Trader?’ ‘Winning Trades, Losing Trades,’ ‘Uncertainty Has Become My Ally – An Interview with a Dogged Market Speculator,’ ‘The Cost of Discipline,’ ‘Monthly Market Review,’ ‘I Can’t Express How Grateful I’m to You!’ ‘Yearly Trading Update (2012) – The Big Picture,’ ‘What We’ve Decided to Do in the Markets - Trend Following It Is!’ ‘Annual Trading Results (2011) – I Was Perfecting My Trading Skill,’ ‘Monthly Trading Report (December 2011),’ etc.
Your questions and opinions are highly welcome.
Thank you.
With best regards,
Azeez Mustapha
Forex Signals Strategist, Funds Manager &Coach
Senior Analyst
FX Instructor, LLC
Email: amustapha@fxinstructor.com
Yahoo! Messenger ID: saazalmu
Are you facing any challenges in trading? You might want to explore the secrets of markets wizards and duplicate their success. Get the secrets from my past articles at:
www.fxinstructor.com/blog/author/amustapha
Get my Forex trading signals at: http://www.fxinstructor.com/en/analytics/ituglobal
And my past articles are also available at: www.ituglobalforex.blogspot.com
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NB: There is risk of loss in trading, but it is possible to be a successful trader.
Great article Azeez, thanks for posting I really enjoyed the 21 commandments!
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