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In Part III of this five-part series on trading psychology, I would like to discuss the importance of avoiding negative thinking and staying positive.

I have friends and colleagues who ask me why I carry a smile everyday and sometimes, even though I only sleep for a few hours, I do not look tired. It’s something to do with my understanding of neurology; especially I have completed a basic training on neuro-linguistic programming [NLP].

I cannot speak for other countries. In the place where I live, people like to complain all the time. Even if it is a very small issue, there will be people complaining about this. Does it occur often in the place where you live? When you mingle with a group of people who are negative on many things, chances are you will also be negative. It has something to do with the Law of the Universe, the central focus of this well known book The Secret.  If you haven’t read this book, please do so and you will understand my point.

So, if you happen to mix up a group of traders who are losers, chances are you will not do well with your trading business because your mind will be adversely impacted by the negative brainwaves surrounding you. Conversely, if you stay with a group of traders who are empowered with energy and are positive, you are likely to do well in your trading business. This is the Law of Attraction. It teaches you about avoiding negative thoughts.

Let me share with you an example. Suppose Trader A and Trader B make a losing trade. Trader A is a negative person. He curses and swears on this losing trade; and blames whomever he can think of except himself. Do you think he will achieve long-term trading success? On the other hand, Trader B is a positive person. Although he has a losing trade, he tells himself that “Yes, I made a loss on this trade, AND (not but) at the same time, I have learnt a valuable lesson from this trade … [reasons being …]”   Notice the word “AND” in this sentence. The choice of word is very important. Even if your first language is English, you may not be aware the difference between the words “AND” and “BUT” in this context. Trader B uses the word “AND” to signal to the brain that he faithfully accepts the full responsibility for making the trade, which proves to be a losing trade. Imagine if he uses the word “BUT." This actually signals to the brain that he is looking for excuses and does not accept full responsibility.

So, apart from avoiding using the classic three-letter word “TRY” and its variation e.g. “TRYING” (which very often I see people use in the discussion board, whether they are from Asia, or from America), you now know the effective use of another three-letter word “AND” and the difference between “AND” and “BUT” from a NLP perspective.

As mentioned in the opening, even though sometimes I sleep a few hours, I am not tired at all. How the heck do I do this? This has something to do with how I program my brain every single day? There is an internal program in my body which will wake me up at 7:00am sharp every morning, including the weekends. Yes, we are human beings and sometimes we are looking for excuses not to wake up, or taking longer time than usual to wake up. How about putting a CD player next to you or set your alarm to play some loud music so that you feel energized and have no excuse not to wake up. In my case, I have an internal program to play two songs alternatively. They are “Mission Impossible” and “Eye of The Tiger."  It helps me a lot and nowadays I hardly find any excuses not to wake up at 7:00a.m.

So, find some songs that enable you to feel energized so that you can start your day afresh. It will help in your trading performance for sure.

To access previous articles written by Jack Wong, please click here.

Jack Wong 
Staff Writer and Instructor
Optionetics.com ~ Your Options Education Site

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Recent Articles by Jack Wong, Optionetics.com

• November 17, 2008
  Lessons from My Grandmother, Part III: Taking Charge of Your Life
• November 10, 2008
  Lessons from My Grandmother, Part II: Dealing With Loss
• November 5, 2008
  Lessons from My Grandmother, Part I: Never Give Up
• October 27, 2008
  Essential Elements in Trading Psychology, Part V
• October 20, 2008
  Essential Elements in Trading Psychology, Part IV