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 can learn anything you need to learn, to become anything you want to become, to achieve anything you want to achieve. There are few limitations, and most of them are on the inside–not on the outside…Brian Tracy
Most of you already know that the world of trading and investing can be brutal and even deadly. Every day thousands of people open up online trading accounts. They buy the latest and greatest software, attend expensive seminars and get ready to make the fortunes they were told would come to them. They want so much to make money that they buy into everything and anything that promises them that their dreams will come true. Dreams of being a gloriously successful trader are a powerful opiate, and the rat brain goes into overdrive every time these thoughts come into consciousness.
Unfortunately, for most people, dreams turn into nightmares as they see their monies dwindle and their systems fail to work the way they did at the seminars. Bitterness, anger, resentment, depression and addiction are the outcomes for so many of these dreamers. They thought it would be easy, but found that trading and investing are among the most challenging of any pursuits.
Fortunately, there are those who take an entirely different approach. They dream of being wealthy and making money from the financial markets, but the way they go about it is completely different from those who end up losing everything. What is the difference between those who make it and those who don't? This is a question that is asked of me more than any other. The answer is that traders who succeed have a very realistic view of the task before them. Rather than relying on someone else to tell them what to do, or some pre-packaged system to tell them when to get in a trade and when to get out, they take personal responsibility to pursue a lifetime of learning about trading.
Such individuals take a very well-thought-out approach to trading. They learn as much as they can about the markets, including how people think and what people do when participating in this complex adaptive system. They learn as much as they can about their own individual personalities, especially about their reactions to stress and their true feelings about money. They apply themselves with a passion that rivals that of elite athletes, famous musicians or great artists.
They read and learn something new every day. They are always practicing in a disciplined and consistent manner. They come to understand that excellence is not necessarily related to intelligence.
Studies on developmental psychiatry have shown that there are two basic approaches to mastering a subject. In these experiments, a distinction was made between "entity theorists" and "learning theorists." Entity theorists believe that their overall intelligence and skills are fixed -- they cannot evolve. Learning theorists know that hard work enables challenging material to be mastered if they work diligently and consistently.
Those who are learning theorists are more open, adaptive, flexible and persistent. They view setbacks as opportunities to learn and to change. On the other hand, entity theorists equate failure with not being good enough or smart enough. They stay with what they know and do not advance or explore.
The key to reaching excellence in trading is to adopt the behavior of a learning theorist. This means to make learning an organic, lifelong pursuit -- a pursuit that is constantly changing and always moving forward. This often means leaving behind the old, comfortable mode of living and instead exploring change with an endless curiosity. It equates to forsaking immediate gratification for the wisdom and mastery that come from years and years of practice. It takes a lot of falling down and getting up again to make the long and tortuous journey up the mountain and on to trading success.
In the end, those who stay the course, keep trekking forward with passion and purpose, believe in themselves, and have courage will stand at the top of the mountain. They might be thinking about the next and highest mountain, but they won't focus on every misstep and fall. For the learned trader, it's always the journey that counts.
The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do just as one pleases…William Hazlitt
Until Next Time,
Good Trading and Brain On!
Janice Dorn, M.D., Ph.D.
janice@thetradingdoctor.com
P.S.—Take a sneak peek at my new book, Personal Responsibility: The Power of You, published in January, 2008, at www.personalresponsibilitybook.com.
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