Janice Dorn, MD, PhD
Neuropsychological Trading Coach
Janice Dorn, M.D., Ph.D., has been a full-time futures trader since 1994. Doctor Janice holds an M.D. in psychiatry and is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in general psychiatry and addiction psychiatry. She holds a Ph.D. in brain anatomy. A graduate of Coach University, she is a pioneer market psychiatrist and financial neurobehaviorist. Doctor Janice has written over 500 articles on the financial markets and coached over 600 traders worldwide. She is the Global Risk Strategist for Ingenieux Wealth Management Group, Sydney, Australia.
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You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it...spoken by Marlon Brando in "On The Waterfront," l954
In last week's Trading Wisdom, "It's Always Something," I told you I would provide some ways for you to minimize the amount of time you spend every day in the totally useless process of worrying.
In light of the trading events this week and the volatility of emotions from the "nut hut" pattern, plus what I have seen on the message boards and heard in the Trending123 live trading room, I am changing course a bit.
I want to tell you that how you think and believe makes the difference between your success and failure as a trader.
Before I begin, I will share with you the story of the eagle who thought he was a chicken. The original source of the fable may have been "The Eagles Who Thought They Were Chickens" by Mychal Wynn, but the story has been passed on in various versions similar to this one:
"There's an old fable that talks about a man who found an eagle's egg and put it in a nest of a barnyard hen. The eagle hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them. All his life, the eagle did what the barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken.
He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet in the air.
Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings. The old eagle looked up in awe. 'Who's that?' he asked.
'That's the eagle, the king of the birds,' said his neighbor. 'He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth—we're chickens.'
So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that's what he thought he was. "
There are very few soaring eagles in this world. The majority of people listen and look to other chickens and follow their lead. I call this phenomenon "drowning in a ocean of mediocrity and underperformance." Why bother spreading your wings to soar into the vast sky when you can peck around on the ground for corn and crumbs? What's the point of going just that extra little step every day to make yourself better and stronger? Why fly when you can walk or have someone carry you on his or her back?
As sad as it is, it is absolutely true that most people follow chickens, act like chickens and live out their life like chickens. But you can never attain the heights of success by having unsuccessful role models. You are not going to get to trading greatness by listening to and emulating those who want to keep you down at their level and hold you back from achieving the highest level of competence. As John Lansing said the other day in his update, and I'll paraphrase here, "I am going to help you make money in spite of yourself!" If those are not powerful words to everyone who is down there groveling in the dirt with the chickens, I don't know what words are!
Trading is 100% neuropsychological. This starts with the decision to trade, then the choice of trading style, trading platform, trading plan, execution, setting stops, and taking profits and losses. Even with mechanical trading, there are different styles and programs for different psychological profiles. Every single step of trading is unique to you and your personality. Great traders are all about how they think, not what they think. Trading is a mental war game. Those that deny or run from this reality are doomed to fail.
There is way too much more to say about this, and I assure you that I will. John is not going away and I am not going away. Please open your eyes, ears, brains and hearts to receive the gifts of knowledge and wisdom which you get on a daily basis from this site. For those of you who are interested only in the next hottest stock pick or the next twenty-bagger and don't care about the behavioral neurofinance and neuropsychological aspects of trading, I have only a couple of sounds for you to remember. These are the cackling and clucking noises of chickens, mindlessly pecking with their heads to the ground or stacked on top of each other in cramped spaces, waiting to be slaughtered.
I want to fly like an eagle
To the sea
Fly like an eagle
Let my spirit carry me
I want to fly like an eagle
Till I'm free
Oh, lord, through the revolution
...from "Fly Like An Eagle," Steve Miller
Until Next Time,
Good Trading and Brain On!
Janice Dorn, M.D., Ph.D.
janice@thetraingdoctor.com
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