Inspirational 'Self-Belief' Poem: The Man Who Thinks He Can.

In the constant battle for success in trading, there are many qualities needed to overcome the many hurdles put up by both the market, and more particularly by our-selves. In this constant battle, one of the greatest allies one can have is 'Self belief'. - Not the sort of 'Self-belief', born of arrogance or desperation, which obscures our-self from reality, and leads to over-confidence or self-delusion. Rather its a self-belief which keeps us positive, striving towards goals, and avoiding the many pitfalls and traps set out for us by the markets, and by our own self-doubts. Without self-belief, the chance are you are already beaten.

The following is a wonderful short poem, written some 100 years ago, which nicely captures the value of 'Self Belief': 

The Man Who Thinks He Can.

By Walter D.Wintle.  

 

If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don't,
If you like to win, but you think you can't
It is almost certain you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!

'Behavioural Trading. - A new name for an old blog.

I have been running this blog for some years now in various disguises. In the early days I shared my views on markets, whilst also adding occasional thoughts about Trading Psychology and Behaviour. I then started to focus more on my thoughts about trader performance and trader behaviour. I felt that there was more than enough talk and discussion about the market, about price action, about central banks; 'will they, won't they, should they, shouldn't they'. I admittedly also lapsed on my blogging, posting occasionally, about once every 2 to 4 months. I stayed active managing the Linked-in group 'Trader, Trading and Risk Psychology', which continues to grow and thrive, and at the same time, I have continued building up my business as a 'Performance Coach' working with traders. This continues to proceed, and I am delighted with the outcomes that my clients are now seeing from my work, I have shared a few examples on a recent post (Which I shamelessly plug here).

The post, which I shamelessly plugged, highlights just some of many examples where traders, who have passed through my coaching programmes, are now making significantly more money than they ever were, whilst at the same time being far happier and more content. I have now worked with many hundreds of traders over many years, first as a trader than a coach, I feel I have continued to grow and learn from them all. During this time, my views on trading psychology, trading performance and trading behaviour have transformed and taken on a very different shape. My earlier contentions about trader performance were largely shaped and coloured (or for you on the other side of the great pond 'colored') by my own experiences as a trader working inside investment banks. However my views have come along way since then, twisted and contorted by others sharing their experiences and travails with me, shaped by my own journey into Gestalt Psychology, which has opened up a whole new world, and continually polished by additional reading and learning. It is this journey which has led me to this place, and to the renaming of my blog, 'The Being of Trading'. For it is not enough to just do the right actions that lead to success in trading, rather it is to know and understand 'how you are', the 'being' of trading, both as a person and as a trader, which is where true success come from. I often use a quote made famous by Sir Edmund Hilary 'Its not the mountain we conquer, its ourselves'. That as true in his world, as it is in the world of trading, where the mountain is replaced by the  'market'.

That is what I aim to focus on with this blog from now: How one 'is' a trader, and how one applies their own personality, beliefs and attitudes to their trading. I will discuss and explore what I have learned and what I have discovered along my journey. About how engaging with risk and uncertainty requires special skills and capabilities, which everyone has within them, but which are so rarely understood and often so poorly practiced. I can not promise that I will be update this as regularly as I currently hope to, so please bear with me and be patient. - I do hope to bring some valuable insights over the months and even years ahead, which I believe will prove valuable to many people, themselves battling to succeed in the world of risk.  In the meantime please feel free to follow me on Twitter @chrysalisperfco, where I will post and re-tweet interesting articles on related themes. i also hope to turn this blog into an email newsletter. If anyone woul like to subscribe to the email newsletter, then please email me your name and email address. My contact details are at the bottom of this post. 

My first article , will ask 'Whether one can actually make money from trading on a consistent basis'. I ask this question, because this is a theme which has come up on more than one occasion with clients. Until then thank you and kind regards.

Steven Goldstein

steven.goldstein@alpharcubed.com 

Twitter @chrysalisperfco