[Rande Howell]

Originally Posted by TimRacette »

Rande, I think a lot of it has to do with where we are drawing knowledge from in the brain. We pull memories from the back and logic from the front (to simplily things). We don't develop this front part of the brain fully till our early 20s which explains why teenagers do dumb things, because they haven't fully developed the logic part. This also explains, for example why for some people, it takes losing their best friend in a drunk driver accident for them to change the way they act. As traders we may "know" something, but until we can turn that logic int a memory we may not change.

In my clinical practice working with couples, I've come to believe that a woman's brain may mature in the mid twenties (can think abstactly and reflect), but that a male's brain is lucky to hit this same milestone by mid thirties. Just an observation.

A memory is not a whole thing. Elements of a memory is actually stored in various locations in the brain. When we retrieve a memory, we are actually "re-membering" the memory. Each element of the memory is reassembled into the current memory you have of an event. And it changes based on emotional state. That's why eye witness accounts are not of very much value in court -- they change too much.

I actually use this process in building memory that is associated in one domain that is emotionally laden with discipline and impartialilty to the domain of the mindset of the trader in a trade. Once the memory is built, stable, and enriched -- it can be called up into awareness to create a state of mind. It's actually more complicated than the way I describe here.

For me, it is not so much that a memory exists; it is what observer (within you) is calling up the memory for interpretation. This is what reassemblies the memory into whatever form it takes. And, yes, you're right. When the trader wakes up to this, memory can become a powerful catalyst for their trading.

Rande Howell

[Rainmaker626]

I dont know if this helps or even makes sense to anyone besides myself.. The way I deal with fear is similar to how I deal with stress.. with stress, I usually identify what the stressor is and why exactly it's a stressor.. i.e. My boss is about to enter my office.. Why does that make my heart skip a few beats and has me worried? Come to think of it, it's because he/she has the power to evaluate my performance which can affect my promotion or he/she has the power to maybe even fire me... Once I make up my mind that I dont care if I lose my job and that I will do my performance, while the chip fall where they may... My boss walking into my office is not a stressor anymore.. My limbic system has disassociated fear from my a person's decision to walk into my office.. I think my method is akin to taking away the fear and worry from a particular action by accepting that if the unthinkable happens, I'm ready to deal with it..

With trading, my only fear is Losing Money.. The way I deal with this fear is accepting that losing money is part of the process.. That it's simply a matter of you lose some and win some.. Where the goal is that you win more than you lose.. And taking away what losing money is associated with.. i.e. That it can affect your ability to provide for self and family...

What I do is make sure that I'm properly funded as opposed to being under funded.. That way I know I dont have to take crazy long-shot risks.. Also, I make sure to use trading as my secondary source of income as opposed to the primary source..


I know I am not good with the intellectual description of things.. But what I practice seems to work for me in that it takes away my fears.. There's not that deep anxiety and panic when a trade initially goes against you... Nor are you frozen when it comes time to pull the trigger and the back of your brain has that memory of a previous lost, which can cause u to hesitate and not enter a winning trade...

[Tradewinds]

Originally Posted by certenotti »

Sorry but i don't understand tradewinds how do you mean for "out of the comfort zone"why you want add more problem,?

Well, I don't want to add more discomfort or pain, but . . . . . "No Pain, No Gain" as the saying goes. There is pain that comes from healing, and pain that comes from injury. Two different types of pain.

An analogy would be when you have a knot in a muscle and the knot needs to be massaged with a lot of pressure to get it to loosen up. It's very painful, but it needs to be done to get the knot out of the muscle.

[TimRacette]

Rande that's awesome stuff thanks so much for sharing. Have you read/listened to any of Malcolm Gladwell's books? His book Blink comes to mind, there is some research in there from some interesting clinical scientists that's fascinating.

[Tradewinds]

Originally Posted by Rainmaker626 »

The way I deal with this fear is accepting that losing money is part of the process..

I continued this discussion at thread:

http://www.traderslaboratory.com/for...reed-9058.html

[Rande Howell]

Originally Posted by TimRacette »

Rande that's awesome stuff thanks so much for sharing. Have you read/listened to any of Malcolm Gladwell's books? His book Blink comes to mind, there is some research in there from some interesting clinical scientists that's fascinating.

Of Gladwell's work I prefer "The Tipping Point". That one really helped me. Dan Brown takes the theory behind Blink and actually shows how it applies in marketing and advertising. He uses the notion of facial encoding to get at the most primal motivations for audiences. He video tapes faces during interviews and slows them down. He is able to get at micro experessions of emotion and meaning (not seen by the conscous eye -- 1/25 of a second or less). This cuts through neo-cortical thinkng and gets to the limbic meaning. One of the notions he uses, that really applies to trading, is called "desire to acquire". As it applies to trading, you can ask yourself this question and recognize that most likely your first answer is simply an explanation that is not rooted in primal meaning. The brain does that. Once you get past that level, you're back at desiring to acquire a fix (how ever temporary) to beliefs of inadequacy, mattering, and worthiness. Scary technology to be in the hands of marketers and advertiers (of which I used to be one). But it can be harnessed for psychological development also.

Rande Howell