Have you wondered why you are off track?

It is not what you might think it is!

It’s simple yet most people tend to skip right over it thinking it does not apply to them.

What is it?

It is not what you do. It is how you do it.

Let me give you 3 examples:

1. Focus

   You might have heard that it is important to keep your focus. Yet nobody really talks about what to keep your focus on.

   Have you paid attention to your thoughts during the day? For each thought:

   • Do you know what percentage of your time you are entertaining it?
   • Do you know if it is serving you?
   • If not, you can choose to transform it.

2. Internal Signals

   You have heard that in trading, you need to leave your emotions at the door. This is the BIGGEST MYTH.

   It is essential for you to recognize your emotions or as I call them your Internal Signals, and understand what they are telling you. Once you understand your own internal patterns and automatic actions associated with them, then you can choose the actions that will support you and allow you to take profitable actions.

3. Money

   Are you expecting to make money from your trading business?

   It might sound silly to say that.

   In talking with lots of traders I have seen that they want to make money and yet they have heard that they should not focus on the money. Hence the dilemma.

   The truth is that it is important to have the intention of making money from your trading business. The key is not to be attached to one particular trade for your profits.

These things seem simple, yet if you don’t pay attention to them, you are basically sabotaging your trading business and yourself.

To Boosting Your Profits NOW…and in the Future!

I know that we have started the 4^th quarter and there is a lot of volatility in the markets. I wanted to talk to you about “5 Landmines Exposed by Volatility & How to Prevent Them to Make More Profits & Have More Freedom.”

I understand it’s short notice, but I hope you can still take advantage of it.

I’m hosting a webinar on the subject, on Thursday at 5pm Eastern (that’s 4pm Central, 2pm Pacific).

To register, please go to: http://www.instantpresenter.com/PIID=E959DA80864C

I trust you can join me because you’ll discover answers to very important questions:

• What are 5 landmines that are exposed by volatility?
• What are the symptoms?
• Why the ways you have tried to prevent them in the past might have not worked.
• How to deal with these landmines so you actually can have more profits and more freedom!

These are some of the questions I’ll answer on Thursday.

The webinar is my gift to you.

* * * * * * * *           Here Are the Details           * * * * * * * * *

Date: Thursday, October 6, 2011

Time: 5pm Eastern (that’s 4pm Central, 2pm Pacific)

URL: Will be provided upon registration

NOTE: We always begin promptly according to
http://www.time.gov, so mark your calendar
and be sure to sign in a few minutes early so
you’re not pre-empted by other participants.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

To register, please go to: http://www.instantpresenter.com/PIID=E959DA80864C

I look forward to “seeing” you on Thursday…

Here is to making trading success your habit™…

Cheers!

Nazy Massoud

This is one of the most common challenges that people deal with. Lack of focus is the reason that people don’t get the results they want.

The impacts are that they start things and they don’t finish them. They go from one idea to another idea. Because they don’t finish, they start losing confidence, feel worried and concerned, and become exhausted. All of these lead to a feeling of being out of control.

So, what are the strategies that you could use to stay focused?

1. Know what you want

   As obvious as it might sound, it is important to know what it is that you want. Be clear and specific about your goals.

   You might have heard that you need to collect the dots before you can connect them.

2. Believe that you can have it

   There is a saying by Henry Ford: If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.

   So, if you don’t believe that it can be done, you are going to sabotage yourself. Why? Because subconsciously it is important for you to be right!

3. Take action

   Again, this might be stating the obvious. But I have seen a lot of people who think more about what they want to do than taking any action. They allow their fears to stop them from what they want because they are afraid of making a mistake.

   One of the signs of great leaders is not that they do not make mistakes. It is that they handle the consequences and move on.

   Plato says, “To risk nothing, is to risk everything.”

4. Keep the end goal in mind

   When obstacles show up, remind yourself what your end goal is and why you want to have it. By doing so, you keep your focus.

   You might have heard that planes never fly in a straight line. In order for them to get from their departure point to their destination, they use a gyroscope which allows them to adjust their route and stay on their path.

   You are going to get distracted. By focusing on your end goal, you become your own gyroscope and you can stay on your path and achieve your goal.

5. Be Committed

   We all have heard about commitment. One of the best descriptions that I heard comes from Neale Donald Walsch. In his book, When Everything Changes, Change Everything, he describes it through the following story:

   One day a guru was teaching his students, when a student said: “Master. You have been teaching us for months and none of us seem to be getting any closer to enlightenment. What does it take?”

   The guru smiled and said: “You must take a sieve to the ocean and fill it with water.”

   The students did not understand. They grumbled: “This is not a real guru. Everyone knows you cannot fill a sieve with water. It runs right out. That’s the problem with what he teaches, too. It sounds good, but it runs right out.” So his students deserted him.

   All but one. A young woman said: “Master, I know the problem is not in your teaching, but in my understanding. Help me to understand.”

   Filled with compassion, the guru replied: “Come with me.”

   He took her to a store and bought a sieve. Then he took her to the shore. “Here,” he instructed, “fill this sieve with water.”

   Eager to learn, she went to the water’s edge and dipped the sieve into the water. But when she brought it to him, all the water had run out. He only smiled. “Fill the sieve with water,” he said quietly, and so she tried again, knowing that he would not ask her to do something she could not do. But it was no use. She ran back to him as fast as she could with the sieve, but the water ran out.

   “Fill the sieve with water,” he said simply, and she tried once more, this time dipping the sieve and turning and running back to him so fast that she lost her breath. Still, no water remained in the sieve. “To hell with this!” she screamed then. “I’m done with this! I’m done with this whole life of being a spiritual student!” She threw the sieve fiercely into the air and stomped away.

   “Wait!” the guru called. “Look.”

   The young woman turned just in time to see the sieve riding the ocean waves… then sinking beneath the surface and disappearing. The guru approached the student. “You cannot just dip in here and dip in there. This is not about dipping and running. You have to throw yourself in. You have to be totally immersed.”

   And the student understood.

   How is your commitment? Is your sieve filled with water?

Focus is the key! Like Albert Einstein said:

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

Here is to making trading success your habit™,

As volatility and uncertainty increases, so does fear. When our emotions run high, then our decision making process suffers.

It seems like the harder we try, the worse things get.

We start reacting to things instead of being proactive. Then we feel overwhelmed.

Does this sound familiar?

One of the hardest things to deal with is uncertainly.

We have strategies for managing our risk in most aspects of our trading. However, we seldom talk about or have strategies for the most crucial element, our Personal Risk.

Have you noticed the panic that is going on in the markets? Do you know people who have been a contributor to it? Do you know them intimately?

How do you manage your Personal Risk?

1. Trade With a Clear Mind

Do not make emotional decisions. Realize that emotions are emotions. What differentiates the successful traders from others is how we recalibrate our reactions to our emotions.

I was watching an interview with a surfer. The interviewer asked him what he does when a big surf comes and he goes underwater. The surfer said it was simple. “If I panic, I only have 3-5 seconds of air to breathe. If I stay calm, I have 45-60 seconds of air.”

What does surfing have to do with trading? If you panic and operate from a place of fear, you could lose all of your capital. However, if you take a moment and think about your strategies, you can have much better results.

2. Look at Your Portfolio Objectively

Think about your portfolio as if you are looking at the portfolio of your best friend. How would you advise him/her?

3. Limit Your Input

There are a lot of conflicting points of view. If we want to listen to all of them, it becomes very confusing, and the confused mind does not make a decision.

Instead of listening to everybody, pick the top 3 people that you respect and listen to them. This way, you can remain focused and have much better trading results.

4. Be In Tune With the Markets

Trade the markets as they are and not as you want them to be.

If we are not in tune with the markets and don’t listen to them, we are going to be in a losing game.

After all, hope is a lousy hedge.

5. Be In a Supportive Environment

It is important to listen to the people that we respect and are successful.

There are traders whose spouse and/or friends have little or no risk tolerance. As a result, these traders allow the fear of their spouse and/or friends to become the boundaries of their success.

Who are you choosing to surround yourself with?

Remember, not the most talented or skilled person wins the game. The game is won by the ones who can manage their Personal Risk and have a Mental Edge.

Another scenario is that when a trade goes against them, they take it personally and want to make all of it up on the next trade.

I also know traders who have positive P&L for the first few trades and then they give all or most of their profits up on the next trade.

Does any of the above sound familiar?

If so, you are not alone.

These behaviors lead to confusion and make you wonder what went wrong. Then it creates a lot of self-doubt and uncertainty about being in the trading business.

The truth is that we are all creatures of habit. If we pay attention, we notice our own internal signals/patterns and what they tell us. By paying attention to these signals, we can put in place the circuit breakers that will stop us from acting out and sabotaging ourselves.

Aristotle has a saying: “We are what we repeatedly do. Therefore, excellence is not an act, but a habit.”

The circuit breakers you put in place enable you to have the kind of business and lifestyle that you desire.

By putting in place and following these circuit breakers, you are being responsive and thus giving yourself a competitive edge!

When you are reactive, usually you are not getting the best results. When you are responsive, you have an edge and a higher probability of getting the results that you desire…

What are some of these circuit breakers?

1. Take regular breaks

2. Stop trading when you notice you don’t have an edge

3. Don’t think of your gains as house money and gamble with it

4. Exit the trade when you notice you are hoping, wishing, or praying

5. Have an accountability partner

By creating circuit breakers, you are enabling yourself to get back in your zone and keep your momentum going.

Remember the story of the turtle and the rabbit. The turtle always wins. Why? Because the turtle keeps his/her momentum and keeps on going. Also, remember the power of compounding.

By putting the right circuit breakers in place, you will have the mindset necessary to create the edge needed to expedite your growth.

Josh Billings says, “It’s not what we don’t know that prevents us from succeeding, it’s what we know that just ain’t so that is our greatest obstacle.”

Here is to making trading success your habit™,

P.S. Tuesday, May 31^th is your last chance to enjoy the $100 savings for our popular webinar series, the Consistently Boost Your Profits , starting on June 6^th.

It probably will surprise you too.

What is this fear?

If you say fear of SUCCESS, you are right.

Let me explain.

When I ask people what are the consequences or costs of success, the first reaction is, what do you mean what is the cost? There is none. But when we dig a little bit deeper, the following responses usually come up:

• More responsibilities
• Have to be out there and can’t hide
• Make bigger decisions
• More conflicts, more stress, and not pleasant
• Not enough time for family and friends
• Longer working hours
• Changing lifestyle, changing who you are
• Unreasonable expectation from others
• Not knowing whether people want to be with you for who you are or because of your success and money
• Not being happy when you achieve success
• Feeling you don’t deserve success
• It’s morally wrong to have the kind of money and success that you desire

These are some of the reasons that you are not getting the results that you say you want. When there is incongruence between what you say you want and your state of mind, you start sabotaging yourself!

It is important to realize what is really holding you back and what your blind spots are. For you to succeed, you need to align your feelings/state of mind with your goals/desires…

Ask yourself:

1. What does success mean to you?

2. What happens if you don’t achieve success?

3. What happens if you do achieve success?

4. Who do you think you need to be in order to succeed?

There is a cost and a payoff for all of your behaviors! Unless you recognize them, you can’t do anything about them. What are yours?

A quote by Marianne Williamson says: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

To Uncover Your Blind Spots that block the True Profit Potential of Your Trading Business
Click Here. The next one starts on June 6^th.

• What is Human Capital Risk (HCR)?
• How does HCR impact your trading?
• What are the 5 Game Changers to Uncover Your Blind Spots and Make 2011 Your Best Trading Year?
  • What are the symptoms?
  • What Actions you can Take right now to increase your P&L?

There are still a few spots left for Consistently Boost Your Profits, which starts on February 14, 2011. To register go to: www.ConsistentlyBoostYourProfits.com

Let me ask you a question:

How ready are you to Uncover Your Blind Spots that block the True Profit Potential of Your Trading Business and have a personalized game plan to boost your profits?

How would you like for the curtain to be pulled back and to find out the little talked about secrets of top 5% traders? It is going to change how you look at the markets and enable you to stay in your trading zone….

In this program we will cover:

1. Your Personal Risk Profile – How to recalibrate your skill sets and get the results that you have always wanted
2. Money Management – How to recognize and stop the sabotage patterns that cause your yoyo effect
3. Unshackle Your Power – How to harness your attitude so your trading business can flourish and go to the next level
4. Getting In the Zone – How to stay in your trading zone and manage your positions from an objective point of view

To discover more, go to: www.ConsistentlyBoostYourProfits.com

What are the 10 major mistakes that these traders make that cost them dearly?

1. Having no trading plan
   When you don’t have a plan, you don’t have a template to follow. It becomes very costly when your emotions are high and you have to make decisions on the fly.
2. Using strategies that do not match your personality
   You hear of a trading strategy that has worked very well and you are anxious to follow it. One important factor to consider is: does it match who you are and your lifestyle?
3. Having unrealistic expectations
   Most traders assume that it is very easy to make money in trading. They have unrealistic expectations with regard to their initial capital, their risk profile and how much money they can expect to make.
4. Taking too much risk
   Usually when traders are down, they want to make their money back very quickly. Therefore, they increase their position size without thinking about the risk/rewards.
5. Not having rules to follow
   Most traders think if they have rules to follow, they are restricting themselves. It is on the contrary. Having rules allows you to be more flexible since you have thought about lots of issues beforehand.
6. Not being flexible to market conditions
   It is very important to see the markets as they are and not as you want them to be or as you assume them to be.
7. Failing to take responsibility for your results
   When the results are not in your favor, the tendency is to blame the markets, circumstances, advice of others… When you blame things outside of yourself, you become a victim of circumstance. When you take responsibility, you can react differently to your circumstances and become the success you know you can be.
8. Being addicted to volatility
   One of the reasons that people get into trading is because they like the excitement of it. If there is no excitement, they create it. This is one of the reasons that traders sabotage themselves.
9. Not having a process to keep track of your performance
   If you don’t keep track of your results, how do you know what has worked and what has not? How can you tweak your process to get the best results that you can?
10. Not dealing with your Emotional Risk
    When dealing with money, there are lots of emotions involved. Emotions are part of everyday life. What separates the successful traders from others is how they react to their emotions.

So what can you do to become a more consistent trader and increase your profitability?

1. Think of trading as a business and have a trading plan.
2. Make sure that the strategies you select, match your personality so you can follow them.
3. Have a realistic expectation of what your returns are. Include all the costs associated with your trading business.
4. Have an idea for your risk/reward ratio. Don’t confuse trading with gambling. If you are increasing your position, make sure that your strategy warrants it.
5. Have trading rules and follow them. Think about them as contingency plans. Because when your emotions are very high, the tendency is that you make very poor decisions that can cost you your account!
6. Be flexible to the market conditions. When you see the market as it is, you have a much better chance of managing your portfolio and increasing your profits.
7. Take responsibility for your results. Taking responsibility does not mean that you have control of everything that happens. It means that you have a choice of how to react to the things that happen.
8. Find out why you are in the trading business. If it is for the excitement of it, find other hobbies or activities that you can get your excitement from.
9. Keep track of your performance. This is a way of objectively looking at how you are doing, what you did right and what you learned. Be gentle with yourself.
10. One of the most important things that people don’t handle is their Emotional Risk. When emotions run high, the quality of decisions goes down. It is very important to learn how to react to your emotions and thus increase your profits.

“At first, something seems impossible. Then it becomes improbable. But with enough conviction and support, it finally becomes inevitable.” Christopher Reeves

Here is to making trading success your habit™,

Do you blame the markets, the systems, lack of information or information overload, etc…?

The truth of the matter is that you don’t trade the markets. You trade your perception of the markets.

Let me explain.

When we look at markets, we look at them based on our filters. Our filters determine how we view them and what state of mind we are in.

What are our filters and how do we develop them?

Our filters are beliefs/thoughts/actions based on our own previous experiences as well as the experiences of our mentors/influencers in different aspects of our lives.

An example is media. On a daily basis, we are bombarded by negative messages. So, we tend to focus on what can go wrong and are constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

What differentiates the traders who make money consistently is that they hear what is being said – instead of getting influenced and drained by it, they look at the opportunities that are available.

Did you know that more millionaires were made during the Great Depression than in any other era in U.S. history? Among them are Colonel Sanders, who was a grandpa when he started Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Walt Disney.

Furthermore, Forbes magazine says 10 million millionaires will be created by the year 2016.

What is the difference between the millionaire and others? They don’t have the filters that the majority has. They don’t follow the conventional beliefs…

There is a story that I heard which reminds me that nobody is immune to these beliefs.

There was a holy man who was in charge of fundraising to provide services in the community. However, his perception was that fundraising is equal to begging. So he was trying to avoid it with passion.

He came up with the brilliant idea that he would get money from investors and use the interest for charity work and pay back the principal to the investors. Sounds like a great idea, yes?

The problem was that he lost all the money in 3 weeks. So, after all, he needed to raise more money, which for him meant even more begging.

What is the moral of the story? If we don’t notice our beliefs and make a conscious choice about them, then they come and haunt us in different ways.

So what can we do about our beliefs?

1. Acknowledge them
2. Examine them to see if they are serving you
3. If the beliefs are a hindrance, replace them with new ones that serve you

The important thing is that the beliefs that are not serving you have an affect only if you are not aware of them or don’t do anything about them.

Albert Einstein has a saying: “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

Remember, we are not defined by our abilities. We are defined by our choices!

To discover the strategies for making better choices and creating the kind of profits that you want, click here.

He went on to say that the difference between the top athletes is something that does not show up in slow motion. It is between their ears and it is their confidence.

It was repeated over and over again. It is a mental game!

It was not that the athletes had perfect runs. They had made mistakes. The difference was that they did not panic. They did not focus on their mistakes and thus they won their medals….

What does this have to do with trading?

Trading is also a mental game.

When you are cutting your winners short, stop yourself. Notice if you believe in yourself and your strategy. If you do, let your trade run longer.

Also, when you are letting your losers run, it is important to cut them short. It is not about wishing and hoping that it comes back. It is about believing that there are more opportunities to come!

How are you dealing with your state of mind? Are you managing them, or allowing them to dictate your actions?

The Olympians of trading are those who can harness their attitude!