Mental Self Mastery in Trading

Mental Self-Mastery - the Missing Link for Stable and Consistent Performance Hello Trader, Winston Churchill has been quoted as saying “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” He could have been talking about traders also. Traders do everything else in an attempt to create the conditions of success in their trading. Everything in pursuit of the holy grail, but then they look at themselves in the mirror and recognize that they are looking at the holy grail of trading, right there in front of them. But, like a diamond in the rough, it is unfinished. Instead of finding something outside of themselves, success in trading is found in rebuilding the mind that you bring to engage Uncertainty – which is found inside the Self. Most refuse to go here – so they fail at trading.  So, if you had a warrior’s courage to look at the reflection in the mirror, what would you see? The first realization that moves the struggling trader to the consistently profitable trader is recognizing, humbly, that success in trading is not in their DNA. You are not a natural for the world of trading. Your brain’s DNA is molded for short term survival in the moment. This is the Instinctive Self that you bring to trading. It was built for a different environment than the world of trading. Exposed to trading, it becomes a stranger in a strange land. That bent toward short term survival makes trading (where there is no control over survival) the worst nightmare you could ever conjure up for your Emotional Brain. To it, there is threat to survival at every turn in trading - from entry (where you are risking your life in Caveman Brain terms), to taking a potential loss (a biological threat to survival), to winning (swallowing the illusion of control as the truth), to revenge trading (fending off a predator that wants to eat you alive). The deeply seated instinctive need to be in control, to win (not lose), and to predict consequences (the right timing) gets the trader in trouble. The problem is that these traits provided a powerful survival strategy that got encoded into your DNA. Yet the world of trading is probability-based – the exact opposite of what your brain evolved to do. That is what has to change. You have a certainty-based brain/mind, but you need a probability-based mind that is comfortable with the dis-ease that Uncertainty creates for the brain. The good news is that this mind can be build as a work around. The old instinctual brain and mind never goes away, but it can be managed. And an empowered mind can be built that engages Uncertainty from a long-term probability perspective. This has to be trained into your circuitry. The good news is that it can be.  That’s what this work is about. From my book, [Mindful Trading]( which lays out my training process; to our [Developing Traders State of Mind (DTSM) Group Course]( which teaches the “how” of rebuilding the trading mind (one starts this month so [register now]( to the [Ignite Your Spark Individual Course]( which includes me as your mentor through this process. Start with the free stuff – my new educational video, Mental Self-Mastery (see below). Then read [this month’s article]( by the same name – Mental Self-Mastery. Come to our [free webinar]( this month. The mental and emotional sides of trading are the most difficult part of trading. Becoming a student of yourself and mastering the mind needed for trading success is an investment waiting for you to engage. Unless you won the genetics lottery, it is necessary. Seize the day.  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! Rande [[Facebook] ]( [[LinkedIn] ]( Rande Howell Traders State of Mind www.tradersstateofmind.com This Month's NEW Article - by J. Rande Howell, MEd., LPC Mental Self Mastery – the Missing Link for Stable and Consistent Performance            On paper, trading looks pretty straightforward. You’re taught to develop your knowledge of trading, face the learning curve, and muscle your way to success.  All you have to do is follow your rules and your edge will take care of business. And as long as real money is not being risked, that kind of naïve thinking produces handsome paper profits. Success is so close; you can smell it. All the trader has to do is transfer his or her skills from paper profits to real profits. That’s where the mental exercise breaks down. When the money is real, the game changes. Suddenly there is no longer a reset button for the video game called trading. The risks are real (that is your hard-earned capital that you are really, really, really risking). You take a loss and watch that capital disappear. Poof. That’s when your ancient survival instincts kick in and trading is no longer easy.            This time there is no reset button. Your mental game breaks down. That’s when your mind starts playing tricks on you. It does not have to be a significant loss. Surprised because of the small size, many people experience this mental breakdown in discipline even with minis. Not much money, but it was real – that’s the point. Somewhere between risking no real money while playing your personal video game of probability and risking (even a small amount of capital in the overall scheme of things) real money to an uncertain future that you cannot control – your mental game collapses.  And you didn’t see it coming until after the damage was done. Whether you triggered to the avoidance of fear (being too scared to trade or taking your profits way too early) or to the aggression of anger (need to get your money back by over trading or revenge trading), the result is the same…a paralyzed mind just when you most need it in the heat of the moment.            Your mind may be willing to trade and intellectually you know how to trade (knowledge of trading), but your flesh is weak. Your biology (flesh) has a totally different agenda than your Thinking Brain. And without understanding and then managing the biology of your Emotional Brain and its survival instincts, you will never be ready to consistently perform well when the money is real. Instead, you choke or experience an emotional hijacking that wipes out your mental game. But why? ...  To read more of this article, please [click here](. Free Rande Howell webinar in January, 2021 Title - Mental Self-Mastery: The Missing Link for Stable and Consistent Performance Speaker: Rande Howell, MEd., LPC Date/Time: Thursday, January 7, 2021, 4:30-5:30pm EST Description:  The mind that you brought to trading is not going to give you the success you seek. That mind has to be built. Learn about how the survival instincts of your Emotional Brain play against your chances of success in trading. They are so lightening fast that emotions take over the trading mind in a moment – without ever giving notice. That’s why you keeping doing what you (in a sane mind) know better than to do. But you can change that. You can learn how to build the mind needed for success in trading. Come learn how. Sign up for this free webinar. Please [click here]( to register for this free webinar. IMPORTANT! The time shown is in U.S. Eastern Standard Time! [New free Video - ]( Mental Self-Mastery - The Missing Link to Stable and Consistent Performance The last place a trader looks for performance improvement is in the mirror. It should be the first. Your biology makes it difficult to succeed at trading. And not actively learning how to master yourself emotionally and mentally leaves a huge gap in your capacity as a trader. Learn what you need to know to achieve the mental self-mastery needed for trading success. Watch this video. (Then register for our January 2021 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!](