Why is this particularly necessary for traders?
Trading appeals to competitive individuals and the competition for trading profits is an ongoing and fast-paced one. The stronger our competitive drive, the more susceptible we become to frustration. Frustration occurs when an important goal is blocked: when we want and need an outcome and something gets in the way of achieving it.
It is not possible to eliminate frustration altogether, nor is it even desirable. Frustration can be channeled in such as way as to spur new searches for ways of reaching our goals. For the experienced trader, frustration often contains information. The market we're trading right now might not be acting the same as the one last week or last month. For the self-aware trader, frustration pushes us to re-examine what we're doing and how we're doing it.
But we can't channel frustration if we're unaware of it in real time. That is why the simple three-item checkup from the neck up described in the video is helpful during trading. As Ziglar points out, without such a checkup, we are all prone to "stinkin' thinkin'" and "hardening of the attitudes". We fail in trading when we fail in sustaining an optimal mindset.
When we're in the calm, focused mindset, we want to be completely absorbed in markets. When we're frustrated, we want to be completely aware of our state so that we can take the necessary breaks and return ourselves to our zone. In the next video and blog post, I will describe a powerful technique that can quickly restore our optimal trading mindset and provide us with the perspective to learn from our frustration. With the right, proven techniques, we can truly become our own trading coaches. And it all starts with sitting back and conducting our checkup from the neck up.
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