My Training, Part III

I'm separating this segment of the training out into yet another section since it was getting a little long. Brett just had a new book published on becoming your own trading coach. We got a Reader's Digest version I'm sure since the title of the books said "101 Lessons." Get it here! I know we already have at least 3 copies or so floating around the trading floor.


Five Best Practices for Self-Coaching

• Break Trading Down into Components - such as idea generation, execution (how much heat you take on before the trade goes your way), and managing the trade. Think of it as a process
  
• Evaluate Performance w/ Metrics - like holding time for winning trades vs losing trades
  
• Identify Strengths and Weaknesses - profit by time of day and trade smaller during less profitable time
  
• Set Realistic Goals for Development - Set yourself up for success and have goals for each day that's achievable. You want to have non-monetary and controllable goals. Expose yourself as a success and increase your well-being. Ask yourself: what did I do right yesterday that I can continue today and what didn't I do well. Everyday is a learning experience. Think of yourself as a learning machine.
  

Using Brief Therapy Techniques (short term techniques to change your thoughts)

• Change by doing
• Targeted change
• Corrective experiences
• Rehearsal as key - until it becomes a part of you
  

#1: Diffuse Triggers Through Exposure

• Deconditioning emotional triggers - how to stay relaxed
• Creating hierarchies
• Using imaginal and in-vivo exposure
• Conducting intensive rehearsals - Slow down and control your breathing. Practice outside of trading hours at first. Imagine a worst case scenario as you're practicing. It'll desensitize you, mentally rehearse until you can do so
  

#2: Shifting States

• Taking your emotional temperature
• Activating complementary states
• Activating non-emotional states
• Using biofeedback for emotional training - such as vigorous exercise when you are feeling risk averse and focus your attention and control breathing for the opposite
  

#3: Cognitive Restructuring

• Identify negative thought patterns
• Externalize the self-talk - imagine someone else saying this to you. We think it but we don't like to hear it from other people, which leads you to...
• Challenge the self-talk
• Rehears new self-talk
  

#4: Solution Focus

• Finding exceptions to problem patterns
• Identifying triggers and facilitative factors that aid exceptions
• Creating models of desired behavior
• Anchoring models to distinctive states
  

Training as the Best Therapy

• Becoming more rule-governed
• Building capacity to perform "in the zone"
• Skill and talent won't get you anywhere if you can't access them