Info!! Cultivating Winning Habits

While posting to the weblog the other day, I noticed that is closing inwards on 4000 posts.  It struck me that 4000 is a large number.  If I wrote a weblog post service daily for 10 years, I soundless wouldn't accumulate 4000 posts.

Now mortal observing that total of writing powerfulness marvel at the degree of motivation, passion, in addition to bailiwick it takes to keep such a blog.  In indicate of fact, however, motivation, passion, in addition to bailiwick own got piffling to practise amongst the writing productivity.  And therein lies an important, but underappreciated reality for trading psychology.

The recent posts on turning success into a habit in addition to the importance of pocket-sized wins propose that the correct habits are crucial inwards cultivating a positive feel of self.  Many pocket-sized wins, strung together, larn winning habits.  When nosotros own got winning habits, nosotros don't demand to rely on bailiwick or passion or motivation to practise the correct things.  I accept a shower every morn without fail.  No 1 lauds my motivation or my passion for cleanliness.  The truth is that taking a shower inwards the morn has larn an automatic act...the solar daytime wouldn't experience correct if non begun amongst a shower.

That makes feel from an evolutionary advantage point.  Habits enable us to practise what nosotros want/need to practise inwards to a greater extent than or less auto-pilot mode, field saving express attending in addition to willpower resources for new tasks in addition to demands.  Because of that, nosotros tin engage inwards relatively complex tasks--driving inwards NYC traffic, for example--while carrying on a conversation amongst a rider in addition to watching for the adjacent spear exit.

A await at my recent weblog posts reveals the times at which they were written (Central, US).  Going from almost recent to older posts this calendar month the times own got been:  1:41 AM; 4:24 AM; 3:53 AM; 4:01 AM; 3:05 AM; 3:25 AM; 2:07 AM; 5:14 AM; 4:38 AM; in addition to 6:40 AM.  You larn the idea.  I kickoff my solar daytime amongst writing, simply equally I kickoff my solar daytime feeding my cats in addition to taking a shower.  It's non the outcome of coaching, counseling, journaling, discipline, motivation, or whatever of those other staples of trading psychology.  It's the outcome of cultivating positive habits.   

We tin create habits for productivity, habits for happiness--habits for almost whatever positive effect nosotros assist to generate, according to recent research.  Turning Goals Into Habit Patterns
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Info!! Reaching Your Goals Inwards The Novel Year

Wishing readers a happy, healthy, too successful New Year!  

volition foremost the novel twelvemonth alongside a serial of posts on best practices, including those submitted yesteryear readers.  Perhaps i or to a greater extent than of those best practices volition manage cast goals for you lot inwards 2015.

Thanks to Bella at SMB for calling attending to this first-class post service re: how to brand your New Year's resolutions stick. 

One of the fundamental ideas from that post service is to frame your resolutions inwards damage of habits you lot desire to develop, rather than as long-term, pie-in-the-sky goals.  That is a three-step process:

1)  Frame the Objective - What is the i modify you lot close desire to brand during 2015?  H5N1 expert house to foremost is to review your shortcomings during 2014 too position the i modify that would brand you lot better.

2)  Turn the Change Into a Routine - If you lot are going to brand your change, you lot cause got to *be* that modify at around time, every unmarried day.  If my destination is to endure a to a greater extent than loving, supportive manly someone bring upward during the novel year, hence I ask to build loving, supportive fourth dimension each 24-hour interval alongside my children.

3)  Find Triggers for the Routine - By associating our routine alongside a regular life activity, nosotros tin flame cash inwards one's chips consistent inwards enacting our changes.  Let's state that i of my ways of existence a to a greater extent than loving, supportive bring upward is to pass lineament fourth dimension alongside the children over dinner.  I mightiness cause got upward cooking too foremost making fun foods that the kids would like.  This would manage plough dinner times into lineament time. 

Common thinking is that nosotros ask to modify how nosotros intend too experience inwards social club to modify our behaviors.  The reality is that the opposite is as true:  yesteryear enacting novel behaviors, nosotros tin flame modify how nosotros intend too feel.  If you lot tin flame observe fourth dimension each 24-hour interval to endure the someone you lot desire to be, you lot volition get experiencing yourself as that person--and that volition foremost a positive momentum that volition touching on a diversity of areas of your life.  Using dinner times to endure to a greater extent than loving too supportive mightiness simply manage you lot endure to a greater extent than loving too supportive of yourself during times of setback.

So what is the i modify you lot tin flame brand inwards 2015 to endure the someone you lot close desire to be? 

Here are a few posts you lot mightiness observe helpful alongside abide by to developing novel habit patterns:

Turning Goals Into Consistent Habit Patterns

Turning Success Into a Habit

Cultivating Winning Habits
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Info!! Best Practices Inward Trading: Developing Trading Rituals

A ritual is something nosotros create that has exceptional pregnant together with that nosotros perform the same agency at the same time.  Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 identify unit of measurement mightiness stimulate got its Thanksgiving repast rituals; most religious services are anchored past times rituals; nosotros stimulate got rituals for such exceptional events equally births, weddings, together with funerals.  Rituals are to a greater extent than than mere habits--they set fourth dimension apart to focus us on what is meaningful.  When nosotros acquire inwards a ritual, nosotros modify modes to participate inwards the significance of the occasion.

Today's best exercise inwards trading is developing trading rituals.  These are activities that focus us on what is most of import inwards trading.  Reader Yvan Byeajee, an active, full-time trader, has written a majority called Paradigm Shift that stresses the importance of scheme together with grooming for trading success.  Yvan explains that "The majority is essentially a disputation of the operate ethic that is required to acquire inwards in this business.  Without it, fifty-fifty the most robust scheme is doomed to failure.  I strongly believe that this applies to almost anything inwards life."

Here is the daily operate schedule together with rituals set out past times Yvan (all times Pacific):

Monday to Friday:

5:30 AM - 5:50 AM:  Read my listing of positive affirmations.  (Positive Expectancy Mind + Positive Expectancy Model = Success)

5:50 AM - 6:30 AM:  Breakfast spell glancing over marketplace seat related news

6:30 AM:  Market opens.  Watch how cost activeness unfolds

8:00 AM:  By that fourth dimension I'm commonly done watching the markets.  I am out of whatever daytrades I took for the day.  I also placed my orders to opened upward whatever novel swing trading ideas together with placed my orders to closed whatever existing ones

8:00 AM - 8:30 AM:  I read trading blogs.

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM:  I hear to a trading-related podcast.

9:00 AM - 12:00 N:  I'm commonly out during that fourth dimension menstruation for a run, followed past times a 1-hour yoga session.

12:00 north - 1:00 PM:  At that time, I'm dorsum inwards front end of my concealment to sentinel the lastly hr prior to the marketplace seat closed together with I expression to closed or initiate novel positions if in that location are any.

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM:  I update my trading magazine together with trading log.  I also salve the charts of the setups I took or exited for afterward review.

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM:  Research together with homework for the side past times side trading twenty-four hours (scanning through hundreds of charts, noting possible entries, exits, seat sizing, together with conduct chances management parameters to minimize decisions during marketplace seat hours)

9:30 PM - 10:00 PM:  Book:  Trading related lectures.  I volition typically read 1 chapter per day.

10:00 PM - 10:20 PM:  Meditation

Saturday:

9:30 PM - 10:00 PM:  Book:  Trading related lectures.  One chapter equally usual.

10:00 PM - 10:20 PM:  Meditation

Sunday:

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM - Read journal, logs, together with saved charts.  The destination is non alone to acquire something well-nigh the market's behavior, but also mine:  What I did right, what I did wrong, together with where I could stimulate got done better.

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM - Backtesting (statistical analysis of previous nautical chart patterns together with their occurrences, updating of my positive expectancy model together with possible novel models.)

9:30 PM - 10:00 PM:  Book:  Trading related lectures.  One chapter.

10:00 PM - 10:20 PM:  Meditation

Yvan explains, "My best practices stimulate got evolved over fourth dimension to jibe my needs at the moment, together with therefore novel traders should expression theirs to create the same.  They should test, modify, together with ultimately notice something that suits them the best.  Once they stimulate got set upward a chore to perform equally purpose of their routine, they should endeavour their best to stick to it together with live done alongside it inside the set fourth dimension frame.  Every fourth dimension nosotros participate inwards a ritual, nosotros are expressing our beliefs, either verbally or implicitly, together with therefore nosotros should live focused on the process, 1 modest stride at a time, together with the results volition stimulate got tending of themselves."

Yvan offers a swell example of how he has turned best practices into robust processes.  What strikes me most inwards his schedule is how much fourth dimension he *doesn't* pass inwards front end of trading screens.  I recollect this is really important.  He prepares his trades the nighttime earlier together with conducts extensive homework inwards the evenings together with during weekend hours.  That allows him to exercise active trading hours to only execute his plans.  Such planning together with fourth dimension away from screens prevents overtrading together with also enables Yvan to operate on himself.  Note how he uses reading, affirmations, meditation, together with yoga to move out along his heed together with trunk inwards shape.

Your schedule together with rituals may differ from Yvan's but the of import takeaway--as he points out--is the consistency of your activities.  It is that consistency that turns a valuable exercise into a ritual.  I strongly suspect that Yvan's border inwards markets comes both from the operate he performs daily together with weekly together with also his powerfulness to plough best practices into daily together with weekly rituals.

Further Reading:  Cultivating Winning Habits
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