Chapter 10 The impacts of beliefs on Trading
Primary characteristics of a belief:
1) Beliefs resist force that try to alter their present form. - They can be altered but we need to understand them in order to alter them. Beliefs cant be destroyed but they can be deactivated or rendered inactive. Secret to changing our beliefs is to think of it as simply transferring energy from one concept to another in order to achieve our goals
2) All active beliefs demand expression We have active and inactive beliefs. Active beliefs are energised and have enough energy to act as a force on our perception of information and on our behaviour. An inactive belief hasnt got the energy to do this. Once something causes us to tap into our beliefs its seems as if we cant stop the flood of energy which is released.
Thinking outside of the boundaries of our beliefs is commonly referred to as creative thinking. When we purposely question a belief and desire an answer we open up our mind to receiving a creative thought.
The psychological dilemma that virtually every trader has to resolve is that you may be aware that the next trade is simply a trade in a series that has a probable outcome. Yet youre still afraid to put the trade on and as such are susceptible to the fear based errors. This is due to our potential to view and interpret market information as threatening. This negative state of mind when you trade means there is a conflict between what you believe is the probable outcome and any number of other beliefs in your mental environment that are arguing for something else.
When you think in probabilities you believe that every moment in the market is unique or every edge has a unique outcome. When this is your dominant belief, your state of mind will be free of fear, stress and anxiety when you trade. If you believe that something will happen but you dont need to know what it is, then how can the market information be threatening and painful?. You were simply right again.
Every moment in the market has elements of what we know (similarities) and elements that we dont or cant know because we havent experienced them yet.
Until we train our minds to expect a unique outcome, we will experience only what we know. The other information and possibilities will pass us by as unperceived, discounted, distorted or denied.
Once you truly believe that you dont need to know and you think in probabilities there will be no reason to block, discount, distort or deny anything about the markets potential to move in a particular direction.
3) Beliefs keep on working regardless of whether we are consciously aware of their existence in our mental environment. Much of what we have learned is stored at a sub conscious level.
Self-valuation and Trading Just because there are unlimited opportunities in the market to accumulate wealth doesnt mean you have an unlimited sense of self valuation. i.e. There can be a gap between how much money we desire for ourselves and perceive as available and how much we actually believe we are worth or deserve. You may have a negative self valuation and feel guilty about accumulating wealth through the markets.
These subconscious self sabotaging beliefs can manifest themselves in our trading in the form of lapses of concentration and the common trading errors E.g. some traders accumulate wealth to a certain ceiling and then lose it, they may blame bad luck but it happens time and time again. These traders have gone from a positive to a negative zone. This negative zone can be due to unresolved self valuation issues acting on his perception of information and behaviour.
You must be aware of these beliefs and take steps in your trading regimen to compensate them when they express themselves.
Primary characteristics of a belief:
1) Beliefs resist force that try to alter their present form. - They can be altered but we need to understand them in order to alter them. Beliefs cant be destroyed but they can be deactivated or rendered inactive. Secret to changing our beliefs is to think of it as simply transferring energy from one concept to another in order to achieve our goals
2) All active beliefs demand expression We have active and inactive beliefs. Active beliefs are energised and have enough energy to act as a force on our perception of information and on our behaviour. An inactive belief hasnt got the energy to do this. Once something causes us to tap into our beliefs its seems as if we cant stop the flood of energy which is released.
Thinking outside of the boundaries of our beliefs is commonly referred to as creative thinking. When we purposely question a belief and desire an answer we open up our mind to receiving a creative thought.
The psychological dilemma that virtually every trader has to resolve is that you may be aware that the next trade is simply a trade in a series that has a probable outcome. Yet youre still afraid to put the trade on and as such are susceptible to the fear based errors. This is due to our potential to view and interpret market information as threatening. This negative state of mind when you trade means there is a conflict between what you believe is the probable outcome and any number of other beliefs in your mental environment that are arguing for something else.
When you think in probabilities you believe that every moment in the market is unique or every edge has a unique outcome. When this is your dominant belief, your state of mind will be free of fear, stress and anxiety when you trade. If you believe that something will happen but you dont need to know what it is, then how can the market information be threatening and painful?. You were simply right again.
Every moment in the market has elements of what we know (similarities) and elements that we dont or cant know because we havent experienced them yet.
Until we train our minds to expect a unique outcome, we will experience only what we know. The other information and possibilities will pass us by as unperceived, discounted, distorted or denied.
Once you truly believe that you dont need to know and you think in probabilities there will be no reason to block, discount, distort or deny anything about the markets potential to move in a particular direction.
3) Beliefs keep on working regardless of whether we are consciously aware of their existence in our mental environment. Much of what we have learned is stored at a sub conscious level.
Self-valuation and Trading Just because there are unlimited opportunities in the market to accumulate wealth doesnt mean you have an unlimited sense of self valuation. i.e. There can be a gap between how much money we desire for ourselves and perceive as available and how much we actually believe we are worth or deserve. You may have a negative self valuation and feel guilty about accumulating wealth through the markets.
These subconscious self sabotaging beliefs can manifest themselves in our trading in the form of lapses of concentration and the common trading errors E.g. some traders accumulate wealth to a certain ceiling and then lose it, they may blame bad luck but it happens time and time again. These traders have gone from a positive to a negative zone. This negative zone can be due to unresolved self valuation issues acting on his perception of information and behaviour.
You must be aware of these beliefs and take steps in your trading regimen to compensate them when they express themselves.
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