The Trick Is To Keep The Money
One of the biggest problems that investors face ISN'T how to make money; that can be fairly easy to do.
The real problem is KEEPING it! We've all heard the horror story about somebody who made $10,000 one month but lost it all the next month.
Then he made some more but gave it back.
That could be you, and you are not alone.
Trading is 95% a mental game.
Think about it--you have to find a winner, then know when to take your profit (or loss) and then do it again and again.
That can create a great deal of stress leading to mistakes.
Once you are up on a few trades you might start to relax your defensive posture.
You let a stock fall much further than you know you should and then start "hoping it up" versus cutting your loss while it is still small.
That mental error will kill you time and time again.
Perhaps you make a few bad trades and begin convincing yourself that you just can't succeed at investing.
You start beating yourself up mentally, and your negative attitude eventually consumes you.
You make your worst fears come true.
If you have had the opportunity to attend any sales motivational training seminars, the really good ones will teach you this axiom: what you tell yourself will indeed come true.
The conventional thinking is that the subconscious is like a big computer, and it only does what it is told.
If you tell it enough times that you cannot find a good trade, it will find a way to make sure that you don't find any good trades.
If you tell yourself that you are a failure, it will make you a failure.
There is extensive research in this area, and we have witnessed enough of it to know that it is absolutely true.
The good news is that the subconscious can also be programmed to make you a success on a daily basis.
Let's use an example.
Remember the first time you tried to drive a car with a clutch? How did it go? Probably not too well.
The car probably bucked and kicked and you were probably frustrated.
First you rev the engine a bit, then release the clutch, but not too quick or not too slow or it will buck or "peel out" on you.
Just when you are proud that you got the car moving you realize, "Oh no! I have to shift to second gear now!" and do it again while moving the shift lever.
You are convinced that you will never get it right.
Guess what? Once you practiced doing it right enough times your conscious mind forgot about it and your subconscious took over.
Soon you are double-clutching while yelling at the car next to you; while rolling down the window; while eating a Big Mac; while talking to the kids; while thinking of your next vacation.
Once your subconscious has taken over, and once it is trained, it rarely goofs up.
What seemed impossible is now second nature, like riding a bike.
That is the power of the subconscious, and if yours is clouded with "stinkin' thinkin'" you will indeed find bad trades and make other mental errors that will cost you money.
Winning investors train their subconscious to help them succeed.
Read this and DO this and you will become a better and more profitable investor: First, start telling yourself that you ARE NOT A FAILURE! Don't just think it--TALK TO YOURSELF.
Brain researchers have determined that the subconscious can be trained in about 21 days.
That is not a long time to change a lifestyle, but it is true.
In 21 days you can break bad habits or create good ones.
Find out what you are doing wrong, and if it is holding a loser too long, say out loud, over and over, "I WILL NOT HOLD A LOSER!" Do it every day, many times a day.
Believe us, it works.
If you approach investing with the attitude, "Oh man, I hope I don't lose any money today," you probably will.
If you approach it like this--"I am a good investor, and I am going to make some great trades today"--you probably will.
It is hard to believe, but this is one area of psychology that actually works.
Try it for a month.
You should be pleasantly surprised by the results.
The real problem is KEEPING it! We've all heard the horror story about somebody who made $10,000 one month but lost it all the next month.
Then he made some more but gave it back.
That could be you, and you are not alone.
Trading is 95% a mental game.
Think about it--you have to find a winner, then know when to take your profit (or loss) and then do it again and again.
That can create a great deal of stress leading to mistakes.
Once you are up on a few trades you might start to relax your defensive posture.
You let a stock fall much further than you know you should and then start "hoping it up" versus cutting your loss while it is still small.
That mental error will kill you time and time again.
Perhaps you make a few bad trades and begin convincing yourself that you just can't succeed at investing.
You start beating yourself up mentally, and your negative attitude eventually consumes you.
You make your worst fears come true.
If you have had the opportunity to attend any sales motivational training seminars, the really good ones will teach you this axiom: what you tell yourself will indeed come true.
The conventional thinking is that the subconscious is like a big computer, and it only does what it is told.
If you tell it enough times that you cannot find a good trade, it will find a way to make sure that you don't find any good trades.
If you tell yourself that you are a failure, it will make you a failure.
There is extensive research in this area, and we have witnessed enough of it to know that it is absolutely true.
The good news is that the subconscious can also be programmed to make you a success on a daily basis.
Let's use an example.
Remember the first time you tried to drive a car with a clutch? How did it go? Probably not too well.
The car probably bucked and kicked and you were probably frustrated.
First you rev the engine a bit, then release the clutch, but not too quick or not too slow or it will buck or "peel out" on you.
Just when you are proud that you got the car moving you realize, "Oh no! I have to shift to second gear now!" and do it again while moving the shift lever.
You are convinced that you will never get it right.
Guess what? Once you practiced doing it right enough times your conscious mind forgot about it and your subconscious took over.
Soon you are double-clutching while yelling at the car next to you; while rolling down the window; while eating a Big Mac; while talking to the kids; while thinking of your next vacation.
Once your subconscious has taken over, and once it is trained, it rarely goofs up.
What seemed impossible is now second nature, like riding a bike.
That is the power of the subconscious, and if yours is clouded with "stinkin' thinkin'" you will indeed find bad trades and make other mental errors that will cost you money.
Winning investors train their subconscious to help them succeed.
Read this and DO this and you will become a better and more profitable investor: First, start telling yourself that you ARE NOT A FAILURE! Don't just think it--TALK TO YOURSELF.
Brain researchers have determined that the subconscious can be trained in about 21 days.
That is not a long time to change a lifestyle, but it is true.
In 21 days you can break bad habits or create good ones.
Find out what you are doing wrong, and if it is holding a loser too long, say out loud, over and over, "I WILL NOT HOLD A LOSER!" Do it every day, many times a day.
Believe us, it works.
If you approach investing with the attitude, "Oh man, I hope I don't lose any money today," you probably will.
If you approach it like this--"I am a good investor, and I am going to make some great trades today"--you probably will.
It is hard to believe, but this is one area of psychology that actually works.
Try it for a month.
You should be pleasantly surprised by the results.