Free Rande Howell webinar: Why Can't I Stick to My Rules When I Get in a Trade?

Why Can't I Stick to My Rules When I Get in a Trade?   Hello Trader,                 You seem like a rational creature until the money is real. You have a plan. You have your rules memorized – you know them in your sleep. This time (you declare) you will control your emotions through determined effort. You’ve trained for this moment. You can do this. All you have to do is stay disciplined. That’s all. If you do that, the winners and losers will take care of themselves. You are going to stay in emotional control. And, as the commercials say, it’s so simple even a caveman could do it. You got this. With confidence you pull the trigger – and you’re in. Things heat up. Suddenly, that rational person who entered the trade disappears. Everything heats up and memory becomes a blur as time disappears. In what seems like an instant later, you become aware of your surroundings and see that you just lost a chunk of change – again. What just happened? What were you thinking? That did not go as planned. And it has happened before…way too many times.  The Emotional and Thinking Brain Are Not Equal Partners This is what an emotional hijacking feels and looks like from a trader’s own eyes. The above example came from a trader a little earlier today as we were discussing this emotional hijacking happening to him. To him, it seemed to have come out of nowhere. But it didn’t. I explained to him that it came out of a very primitive survival emotional response pattern (centered in his limbic or caveman brain) that was tripped by an activating event (entering a trade and the trade going against him), leading to an emotional hijacking that led to a fight/flight response (acting irrationally based on his rules).  This is an established pattern in his trading that he has tried to fix on his own, with inconsistent results. And he is realizing that, now that he has figured out how to trade, he must learn how to master the psychology of success he brings to trading. Or, if he doesn’t, he will stay stuck in self-limiting patterns that hold back his potential. This psychology is rooted in the Emotional Brain’s response to challenges arising in the environment (trade going against you). This leads to the first great truth that traders need to grasp. You Are Not a Rational Human Being Instead, you are an emotional social mammalian who rationalizes whatever the Emotional Brain (your Caveman Brain) has already decided. If you were a rational human being, you would not have problems with trading performance. It is a major goal in trading to become a rational human being who can think clearly in the midst of ambiguity. But this is not natural, even though it seems (through the eyes of your Thinking Brain) that you are already rational. My promise to you is that one of the major jobs of your Thinking Brain is to create alibis for what the Emotional Brain has already decided.   In the case of the client vignette from above, the Emotional Brain had decided that there was danger when the trade went live and it started going against the trader (though it was still in the established range of the trader’s plan). Then the trader resisted (will-power) the Emotional Brain’s assessment of danger and tried to force his way. At this moment, the emotional hijacking was activated. And in nanoseconds (almost instantly), the chemistry of revenge trading was in the bloodstream and brain. The survival instincts of the trader’s Emotional Brain felt as though it was being attacked and decided instinctively to fight back. And the Thinking Brain was simply pushed out of the way (the blurring the trader experienced). This leads to the second great truth that a trader needs to understand. Money Is Not Money to your Emotional Brain (Caveman Brain) If you put a ton of money in front of other great apes (chimps, bonobos, gorillas, or orangutans), what do you think they would do? Would it have meaning to them as a source of power? No. And remember that bonobos and chimps and humans share 98% of genetic material – so we are close. But to humans with their gigantic new Thinking Brain, money becomes a symbolic representation of power. The power to survive. The power to be safe. The power to control outcome – to win (we even exterminated the sabertoothed tiger). And with that power comes status in our early human ancestors’ tribes. So, money and power got intertwined.   And when money is threatened, so is your power to survive. A trade going against you, to your Cave Man Brain is akin to a sabertoothed tiger stalking you for a meal. Cave Man Brain may not know about money, but our ancestors had highly developed survival instincts that overrode thinking when activated by a potential loss. That is the case in the trader vignette. He never knew this. And he didn’t know that 95% of the decisions you make are made by your Emotional Brain’s influence and not your Thinking Brain. And herein lies the problem: as a trader, you are attempting to force a brain designed for short term survival to perform in a venue (trading) that requires a long-term management of probability. Remember, we share a Mammalian Brain (the Emotional Brain) with our closest relatives. It is far older and more reactive than the Thinking Brain.  Toward a New Trading Psychology The good news is that the brain we brought to trading is very trainable. It can be taught to manage the challenges of managing the uncertainty of winning and losing capital in the markets. But we need to bring a new understanding in our approach to training the brain. ([Watch this month's video]( to learn more.) Toughing it out by sheer willpower is not going to work. You do not want to get into a slug fest with your Emotional Brain. It is ancient and powerful. And if the Thinking Brain gets in its way, it will simply hijack it. Trying to force the Emotional Brain to do something it does not want to do, when you are paralyzed from acting based on past traumatic memories, leads to trauma learning. Your Thinking Brain and your Emotional Brain are in partnership. If you are going to make it as a trader, you must learn to use your Thinking Brain to train your Emotional Brain how to engage challenging moments very differently. ([Join us for this month's webinar]( to learn more.) Then, there will come a day when winning is only landing on the right side of probability (it’s no big deal) and losing only becomes landing on the wrong side of probability (also, no big deal). You cannot control outcome; but you can control the mind you bring into performance. This is what self-mastery looks like in trading. [Facebook](  [Linkedin](   Rande Howell Traders State of Mind www.tradersstateofmind.com   Free Rande Howell webinar in February 2024 Title - Why Can't I Stick to My Rules When I Get in a Trade? Speaker: Rande Howell Date/Time: [Thursday, Feb. 8, 4:30-5:30pm EST]( IMPORTANT! The time shown is in U.S. Eastern Standard Time! Description:   What happens to your trading mind when you get in a trade? Before that moment, you planned your trade logically. And now you are ready to trade your plan. It seems so simple and doable that, yes, “even a Caveman could do it”.  Then you get in. Suddenly, logic flies out the door and emotions erupt. And your emotional Caveman Brain ambushes the rational trader who was going to trade his plan. After the fog clears, you wonder, “What just happened?”. Clearly your trading mind was not prepared for this most critical of moments – when you have skin in the game, the rules change.     Join trader psychologist Rande Howell for this webinar to learn how to establish emotional control of the mind you bring into this particular moment. Register now. Please [click here]( to register for this free webinar. IMPORTANT! The time shown is in U.S. Eastern Standard Time. This Month's Free Video  Why Can't I Stick to My Rules When I Get in a Trade? To make money in trading, you are trained to follow your rules. It sounds so simple and doable that “even a Caveman could do it”. Then you get in a trade. Suddenly your rational mind is gone and your rules have flown out the window. You hit the wall. What you are experiencing is an emotional hijacking of your logical mind by the survival instincts of your Caveman Brain. To achieve the success you desire, you are going to have to master this aspect of your trading mind. Come learn how. Watch this video from Rande Howell and get the emotional control you are seeking.   Please [click here]( (and scroll down a bit) to view the video. Developing Traders State of Mind Group Course - Spring, 2024 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. All those who register now will be enrolled in the Spring 2024 Group Course, which has its 1st Group Meeting on March 28. Give yourself 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 can be 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]( a [paper 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 seriously considering registering for the Individual Course, then [click 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]( | [Constant Contact Data Notice]( Sent by rande@empoweredhorizons.ccsend.com powered by [Trusted Email from Constant Contact - Try it FREE today.]( [Try email marketing for free today!](