A Strong Trading Mind

[Catch22]

Assessing Your Positives: Are You Flourishing? Brett Steenbarger ,

Recent research in psychology, much of which has been conducted under the umbrella of “positive psychology”, suggests that optimal functioning is achieved not just by minimizing negatives, but through the achievement of distinct positives. In the Trading Psychology 2.0 text, I focus on four domains of positivity: happiness and positive emotional experience; life satisfaction and fulfillment; physical well-being and energy; and relationship quality and affection. We function at our best when we are exercising strengths in each of these domains.

To appreciate the difference between the traditional psychological perspective and the newer one, consider two traders keeping performance journals. The first trader keeps tabs on various problems that creep into his or her trading, including the usual suspects of fear and greed. The journal entries note how these have occurred and what the trader will try to do subsequently to avoid the pitfalls.

The second trader keeps a journal that is broken down into five areas of performance: research and information collection; creativity and the generation of trading ideas; entry execution and position management; risk management and exit execution; and self-management along the four domains listed above. Each of those areas of performance is anchored by best practices and the reverse-engineering of successes, so that there is a continual refinement of strengths.

One journal consists of finger-wagging: don’t do the wrong things. The other journal consists of an exercise of strengths: do what you do best.

Which journal is most likely to be empowering? Which is a trader most likely to stick with? Which is most likely to lead to exemplary performance?

Minimizing our problems can help us cope. Maximizing our strengths can help us flourish.

My experience is that the flourishing focus is a true paradigm shift for most people. Most of us view our typical day as an opportunity to get tasks done, manage challenges that arise, and hopefully accomplish some things. Once we view life through the lens of flourishing, however, each day becomes an opportunity to enhance happiness, personal satisfaction, energy, and relationships. This is the idea of life as a gymnasium: each day presents challenges that exercise the best within us.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brettst...assessing-your-positives-are-you-flourishing/

 

[amitrandive]

Sometimes you have to disconnect to make a connection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teuzzVWJn_c

A very relevant video for today.

 

[amitrandive]

 

[Blackhole]

The teacher gave an assignment to her fifth grade class :

Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it.

The next day, the kids came back and, one by one, began to tell their stories.

There were all the regular types of stuff: spilled milk and pennies saved.

But then the teacher realized that only Janie was left.
"Janie, do you have a story to share?'

''Yes ma'am. My daddy told me a story about my Mommy. She was a Marine pilot in Desert Storm, and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory, and all she had was a flask of whiskey, a pistol, and a survival knife. She drank the whiskey on the way down so the bottle wouldn't break, and then her parachute landed her right in the middle of 20 Iraqi troops.

She shot 15 of them with the pistol, until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife, till the blade broke, and then she killed the last Iraqi with her bare hands.

''Good Heavens,' said the horrified teacher. 'What did your Daddy tell you was the moral to this horrible story?

"Stay away from Mommy when she's drunk."

 

[Blackhole]

I Know This Lawyers

A small town prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand in a trial-a grandmotherly, elderly woman. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"

She responded, "Yes, I do know you Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a rising big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?"

She again replied, "Why, yes I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to baby-sit him for his parents. And he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He's lazy, bigoted, he has a drinking problem. The man can't build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him."

At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counselors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace, "If either of you asks her if she knows me, you'll be in jail within 3 minutes!"

 

[Snake.Head]

How to Increase Mental Toughness: 4 Secrets From Navy SEALs and Olympians
http://time.com/4007895/mental-toughness/?xid=fbshare

Know what’s really interesting? Learning how Navy SEALs build mental toughness to handle deadly situations.

Know what else is really interesting? Learning how Olympic athletes deal with the pressure of competition when the entire world is watching.

Know what’s the most interesting of all? When you find out they do a lot of the same things.

 

[Blackhole]

TRue Love Gangashanker Singh


I sat on the ghat stairs . Behind me, I could hear the sound of ringing bells and bhajans(devotional songs). Men and women were trying hard to coax the gods into fulfilling their wishes.

Most of them, oblivious to the spectacular view in front, One of the mightiest and the most sacred river bathing in the golden light of the setting sun, The river was looking like a fluid golden mirror, reflecting magnificent hue of golden light. The horizon was filled with colorful birds.

It was a gorgeous view & so was the lady sitting beside me.

Even the view around is competing hard to match her beauty I thought. Perhaps, her mere presence made everything else look even more spectacular.

I looked at her big eyes; they were mesmerizingly beautiful.
She said, “Where do you get lost whenever we meet? You are always in your thoughts.”

I wish I could tell her that it was her beautiful eyes that I had lost myself to. They always transported me to another world, a world where everything else just ceased to exist.

She said, “Will you tell me, why have you called me here?”

I looked at her. I didn’t know how to say those words to her. In fact, I had even rehearsed saying those words multiple times in my mind. Yet, when she was there, I couldn’t gather the courage to say them.

She understood that something was bothering me. She held my hand and said “What’s wrong?”

I looked at her face. It was so beautiful & calm with a tinge of smile on it.
I knew I had to tell her. I couldn’t hold it back anymore.

I took a deep breath and said, “I can’t marry you.”

She kept looking at me. Maybe she was still trying to comprehend my words; maybe thousands of emotions ran through her mind.
She was still looking at me & then shifted her gaze to the river in front.

She said in a calm voice, “What’s the reason? What don’t you like in me?”

I said, “No, I like everything in you. You are so beautiful & caring. You had always been so supportive to me. Any guy in this world will be extremely lucky to have a life partner like you.”

She said, “Then? What’s the problem?”

"It’s just that I have many things to do before i get married. Unless I achieve my goals, I don’t want to get married." I said

She burst into laughter, “So what’s the problem idiot! I will wait for you.”

I frowned at her, “Why will you wait? What if I never come back to you?”

She replied very convincingly, “I have faith in my love.”

Those words made me realize how much she loved me. In a world, where people played with your feelings and trust for their gains and backstabbed you when you really needed them, there was someone who wanted to risk all her life for me.

I felt an immediate sense of concern for her. I didn’t want to spoil her life.

I said, “You are not getting me. I can’t commit to you!”

"Who is asking for commitment? All I want is some golgappe(A type of Indian cuisine)" she said pointing to a food stall.

She said it so innocently that both of us burst into laughter.

We went to the stall and asked for two plates of golgappe.

I kept looking at her, Her full & luscious lips were so perfect.
She noticed me staring, her cheeks turned pink as she nervously smiled and lowered her eyes.

All of a sudden, an old man came from behind & started pulling my hand.

“Sir, boat ride for couples, only in 100 Rs.” He said.

I didn’t like the way he forcefully held my hand. I shouted on him, “Are you idiot! Get lost from here; we don’t want to ride any boat.”

The old man looked deeply hurt. He lowered his head and started going back. I immediately regretted my harsh words.
Priyanka saw all these, she came running forward & said sorry to the old man.
Out of my guilt, I asked the old man, “Where is your boat? Can you take us on a ride? “

We sat on the boat. I was still thinking about the ways to convince Priyanka to not to wait for me.

Suddenly, the old man started singing a beautiful romantic tune.

Priyanka winked at me, “See, even this old man is more romantic than you.”

Priyanka asked, “Baba , How come you sing so beautifully ?”

Baba smiled and said “Beta, It’s because I am singing for someone I love”.

“But Baba, Do you really think true love exists? “ Priyanka asked

I don’t know that beta but I will tell you something.

Baba pointed at one of the ghats & said, “You see there? There we met for the first time.”

She had come in the nearby temple with her friends. She looked like an angel of the heavens. I kept looking at her, she looked at me too. Although Only for a second, But that second felt like an eternity.

I kept coming everyday to see her. I was crazy about her. She was clearly one of the upper castes so every time she looked at me, it scared me. Maybe, I was falling for someone who will never be mine. But deep down, something exhilarated me at the same time.

We kept meeting every evening, I would take her on a ride in my boat. Sometimes, we would just lay in the boat, looking at the stars & letting the boat drift us in any direction.

She would ask me, “Won’t you ever leave me if I leave everything and marry you?”
I would tell her, “I’ll be there till the end.”

I was always skeptical if she would ever leave her rich family and marry a poor boatman like me. Probably, it was destiny’s cruel attempt to make me feel the helplessness of my poverty. But despite everything, I wanted to savor every moment spent with her. I still loved her with all my heart.

One day, she didn’t come on the ghat. I kept waiting. Followed by many such days when she didn’t come. I would sleep on the ghat with tears in my eyes, looking at the same stars that we used to see together.

I was about to go home that day, to never come back again. But then I saw her. Running towards me, my heart raced. She hugged me tight & said my parents are marrying me with someone else. Take me with yourself.

She asked me again, “But, you’ll never leave me, right?”
I kissed her on her forehead and said “Till the end darling, Till the end.”

We went to the city. I worked hard but I didn’t earn much. I could not give her any luxuries which she had sacrificed for me. But, she never complained, never shown any hint of grief on her face.

She loved cinema so I would save money for weeks & then I would take her to cinema. The joy on her face was just indescribable.

We were very happy & then we had our first child, followed by two more. We had a family to feed now. We couldn’t save enough to watch cinema. I couldn’t earn enough to buy new clothes for her, but as always she never complained.

Our kids grew up & we grew old. We thought, we didn’t need to worry anymore as we had three sons to look after us.


Baba went silent for few seconds. I could see the disappointment on his face.

He said, "We thought our children will support us when we’ll grow old as they were earning well but we became burdens for them."

My wife had problems in her eyes but she had spent all her money on our children’s marriage, didn’t keep anything for her.

Finally, when their wives came, No one cared for us anymore. My kids would have new clothes for their families, they would go to celebrate out but no one would ask us.

When my wife asked for some money for her treatment they said, “Why don’t you beg if you want so much money all the times”.

He took a deep breath & said, “She had left everything for me, how could I leave her in such situation?”

In the city, No one was ready to hire an old man like me so we came back here. I borrowed some money & bought this boat. I worked hard to pay for her treatment. But..

But despite everything I couldn’t save her eyes.

He looked away, maybe in an attempt to hide his moist eyes.

And then said trying hard to smile “you see, I can’t take her to cinema anymore. But, we still lay in this boat sometimes, letting it drift us away from the pains of this world & then I sing for her, To describe the beauty of the stars, To cherish our love & savor the happy moments spent together.
Maybe, that is why i still sing so beautifully”

We reached near the ghat and saw an old lady waiting for him. He started singing again, hearing which the old lady’s face lit up. The smile on their faces can’t be described in words.

Our eyes were moist too but we had found our answer.

True love does exist, but more than having a beautiful beginning, it’s all about staying Till the end!

 

[Blackhole]

THE STOCK MARKET

The Stock Market simply illustrated ... Is there a lesson here?

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for Rs10.

The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them.

The man bought thousands at Rs10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at Rs20.

This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms.

The offer rate increased to Rs25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey let alone catch it.

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at Rs50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at Rs35 and when the man returns from the city , you can sell it to him for Rs50."

The villagers squeezed up with all their savings to buy the monkeys.

Then they never saw the man nor his assistant, only monkeys everywhere!!!!

 

[amitrandive]

Do You Have A Stage Fear? If Yes, Then Keep These 14 Tricks In Mind
http://www.storypick.com/overcome-stage-fear/

Having a stage fear is quite normal. Normally, people get jittery at the thought of public speaking. I have been there. It’s nothing less than an excruciating struggle and the fear is scrutable.

I was fortunate enough to be an active member of a club in my college days. This club helped me overcome my stage fear and taught me how to speak effectively by driving my point across. It helped me immensely. And here, I’m going to share the same points that’ll help you in overcoming your fear.
1. Whatever you’re going to speak, know your material

If you don’t know the topic properly that you’re going to speak on, you’ll end up being nervous on the stage. Know your topic inside out. That indirectly gives you the confidence to speak.

2. Don’t apologize at the start of your speech

Don’t begin your speech by saying ‘Oh sorry! I didn’t have time to prepare’ or ‘Pardon if I do so and so things, I knew about this in the last minute’. NO. It adds a negative impression and the audience will probably lose interest.

3. Unleash the master within, flaunt your passion

You cannot inspire others unless you’re inspired yourself. Mastery forms the foundation of an extraordinary speech. You have a greater chance to influence and persuade your audience because they are listening to you.

4. Tell stories from your personal experience, connect with the audience emotionally

What this does is that it helps them connect and get them on the same page with you. When you share your story, you create an immediate and lasting impression with your audience.

5. Deliver jaw-dropping moments

Your speech should elicit a strong emotional response and it could be joy, fear, shock, surprise…anything.

6. Teach your audience something new, something that they can take home
An extraordinary speech will jolt the audience out of their preconceived notions. It gives them a unique and a different way to look at the world.

7. Favor pictures over text

If you have a power point presentation, add images or statistics. Avoid texts.

8. Know your room

Be familiar with the place in which you’re gonna speak. Arrive early and see the settings.

9. Make eye contact, move on the stage

Don’t just read the content from your sheet. Make eye contact with everyone. Scan the audience. Your eyes shouldn’t be fixed on just one listener. Also, moving on the stage helps a lot. Try not to sit or stand behind the podium or anything.

10. Eliminate fillers, don’t say ahh, umm repeatedly

During our Toastmasters sessions, we had someone who kept a count of the fillers when someone spoke.

It distracts the message. Instead, pause for ten seconds or take a sip of water (yes! that’s why even experienced speakers drink water during their speech).


11. Stick to the time limit

If you’re given one hour to speak, finish your speech in 50 minutes, if you’re given half an hour, finish it in 25 minutes. Respect your audience’s time and finish early.
It also helps to shift gears if your presentation takes an unexpected turn.

12. Don’t be embarrassed if you made a mistake

You don’t have to feel sorry and apologize if you do end up making mistakes. Relax! Because the audience probably didn’t notice it. If you admit it, you’re calling their attention.

13. Practice relentlessly

Practice your speech. Give it time.

14. And last but not the least, gain experience

Participate actively in clubs, or events. Because only if you experience it, you’ll improvise on your speaking skills and gain confidence.

So these are some points that’ll help you to flourish as a speaker. Practice these and make the crowd go WOW!

 

[Blackhole]

F I G H T E R S