evolved trader

Jon, Haha, it’s all good! Its hit and miss right now. I'm looking to really maximize my consistency. Steve, I completely agree with you because the degree we trade the markets is a direct reflection of our own psychology. I’m looking in doing some NLP techniques. I have been doing some changes own my own through NRP (neural reconditioning process-meditation, visualization, affirmations, and subliminal material) for the past year but still seem to been having emotional blocks. I’ll get into contact with Mark Douglas and Dr. Kiev as I have contacted Brett S. before. We suggested exactly what you said, either a form of therapy or and NLP technique. I’ve also heard self hypnosis can be beneficial. Great suggestions, thank you. Ryan:)

Hi Everyone, I was curious to know if any highly successful experienced traders are up possibly speaking to and masterminding with me. I have been trading commodity futures for 5 years and have been day trading them for the past year. I’m very pleased with my system and strategies I’ve developed however there are some changes I have to make with my mindset as it pertains to properly executing my system. I’m looking to learn how a highly successful trader thinks and view the markets. I’m not looking to trade anyone’s system, instead l’m looking to understand how consistently successful traders perception and behaviour works. I’m still young at 27 years and have a ton to learn. I would be incredibly grateful if anyone would share some of their views of how they have gained the consistency they have achieved. They can trade any market because I’m only interested learning how they view the markets and what kind of mindset they have. I would love to have the opportunity to speak to someone for only 30-60 minutes a week. Just to touch base and heed and expert advice. I have a huge passion for trading the markets and define trading success as properly executing my trading system and strategies. I’m getting closer and understand it is a process. I’m not sure how to return the favour yet, but I will come up with something. I know this may be strange to ask, but if I don’t put it out there I’ll never know! Please post me here if your up to it, and then we can move forward from that. Thanks for your time everyone. Ryan:)

Hey Jon, Yes, Yes, and Yes! All entry points, exit points, targets, money management, and risk control is clearly defined before a trade is placed. However that’s where my challenge or....opportunity exists. I not at the level where I’ll proper executing my system and have self sabotage. Any solutions? I completely agree with you that it comes done to discipline. However discipline resides with our conscious effort. And our conscious power only controls 2-4% of our perception and behaviour. So having the right discipline must reside from an unconscious level that controls the remainder 96-98% of our behaviour. I know once the proper habits are installed into my brain and muscle memory forms I’ll be clicking the mouse exactly when I need to following my system and strategies. As I’ve read before from several traders in this board that it seems it going to take major repetition of doing the right actions over and over again. Thanks Jon for the response, much appreciated. Ryan:)

Hi everyone, I’m not sure about therapy but what are your thoughts on mental rehearsal for an hour a day. Seeing your body taking action on clicking the mouse following your system and strategies. Doing the same tasks over and over in your mind in several different market scenarios. It is true that our brains cant tell a real experienced from an imaged one. Our brains simply release the exact same chemicals as if the experience is actually happening. But actually practicing in live in real-time and mentally rehearsing over time we should gain the discipline were looking for. At least that’s what I’m thinking!! I’ve been M/R for only a few days so far and they say it takes at least 30days straight for the new neural pathways to begin to build in our brains. So I’ll let you know how it goes.

Hi everyone, Great topic! I agree with everyone that creating a winning edge is the easy part. Having the proper beliefs and habits stored at an unconscious level is the challenge. I’ve been reading over the posts and have read some great insights. I was curious to hopefully have some expert advice shed on my challenges. I have read over the posts but wasn’t really able to find many solutions. Basically in a nutshell I've been learning about the markets for the past 5 years. Primarily focusing on Futures. Been trading them for a few years, and more recently (in the past year) been day trading futures. I have had some minor success but have challenges with gaining consistency and have been wiped out numerous times. I'm sure you all have heard this before, but my biggest challenge is trading my system. I'm highly analytical and develop all my own systems that generate phenomenal success and my own market insight has grown exponential over the past few years. However it seems to be a blessing and a curse. It seems I'm a great analyst and an inconsistent trader. Getting in late, exiting trades pre-maturely, overtrading, or not entering the market all seem to be based primarily out of fear for me. I've gotten to the point where my market insight is intuitive and I'm able to clearly see am understand the markets I trade and the trade signals in real-time. Not like many years ago when I didn’t understand the market behaviour until hindsight. I've have to tell you, it’s the most frustrating thing, understanding exactly what the market in doing in real-time and yet not being able to convert the success by the end of the day to match my system. And yes I have sounds money management, risk control, and I do place stops. Do you guys have any suggestions? Should I have my broker place the trades for me? I've read a ton of psychology trading books on understanding myself better and I do mental work to change things. I understand quantum physics, neuro science and brain research. So I understand systems in the brain like the amygdala and the psycho cybernetic mechanism. And I do many mental techniques to change many limiting beliefs. However there still seems to be a block that stops me from properly executing my trading system, and I’m wondering if I’m working against my personality (genetics). I really appreciate your time can’t thank you enough. I have a huge passion for the markets and am completely enjoying the process of gaining consistency. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Ryan

Hey James, Great topic. Glad to see you've read Trading in the Zone. It's a simple yet effective read in regards to trading psychology. So you want to develope a consistently successful traders mindset. First you need to understand there is no such thing as faliure. Every action you take is a lesson learned. And being in action is always better than inaction. You can always make adjustments once you've got things moving. You consistent success will start with your belief system, the way you frame the game of trading and what you do consistently on a daily basis. Rememeber, repetition is the mother of learning, taking correct action in line with your system on a daily basis will stack up associations in your brain to control your unconscious actions. This is why Mark Douglas is so strict about the 20 sample sizes. Having very strict rigid rules over time, you will begin to train your mind in taking the correct actions. Here's a little insight for everyone. When an adult is learning something new, it takes 50 attemps to prove they cannot tackle that new endeavour. However, many people will rarely go over 2-3 attemps before they believe they are not capable of doing it. In trading many times it's 2 steps forward, 1 step back. 2 steps forward, 1 step back. Those steps back may look like faliures, but what they really are is lessons to be learned we missed the first time around. If your interested in understanding more about trading psychology I've written a few posts on my blog. http://www.evolvedtrader.com Best of luck on gaining your consistent trading success, Ryan