Change Thyself,thinking

April 15th, 2017, 07:32 PM

Hi,

I hope you'll enjoy this.Once you get it,you can apply these in trading or any part of your life:

Simply put,you are what you think all day long.

We heard such sayings-it's all in your mind or your mind can create heaven/hell for you.We'll explore if it really is the case.

So,what is thinking?The way I see it-human beings are creatures of feelings.Say hunger-that motivates most of us is just a burning feeling in our stomach associated with some discomfort in brain(think mental fog).Or what most of us traders seek through trading-a comfortable lifestyle,is just feelings of comfort & pleasure & security.Emotions in general elicit some kind of physical response in us aka feeling.

When we're primitive,we had yet to develop a sophisticated language,the force that drived us & ensured survival is feeling.Hungry?Hunt & eat.Unknown male in my territory?Possible competitor for my food & woman,banish.

Then,we figured out language.We started to put symbols to represent things-that unpleasant burning sensation in stomach got labeled as "Hunger".Or that unknown male got labeled as "Stranger".

Next came thinking,a meaningful string of symbols put together to decide effectively an underlying set of feelings."Hunt & eat" got coded as "Be the best in your job & work hard"(aka ensure you don't die of hunger),that unknown male thing get labeled as "Never accept something from a stranger"(aka don't bond with him & take him to house thereby don't give him the chance to be a competitor of resources-food or woman).

Thinking became so integral a part of us that we started to forget it's just an array of symbols that was designed to organize a complex mix of feelings,shadow became more important than reality.We started to think "I can't control my anger" so "I must be a bad person" & thereby feel bad for being a bad person.

We forget "Anger" feeling was in our original primitive code to be hostile to an unknown male in our territory-it ensured our survival for millions of years.Just because it causes discomfort in modern life,doesn't mean it's a bad thing-it's(in fact,most feelings) inside us for a good reason.Where the real problem lies is determining exactly where how much is needed.

If you're observant-you probably noticed in the process we changed things.A new subset emerged-we no longer use thinking only to organise feeling(I am angry) but we began to use thinking(I can't control my anger) to feel new things(so I must be a bad person).Welcome to modern day era of depression,suicide,complicated relationship-because things are getting more complicated than their original intention.

(Just so you know,you don't have to agree with my view to reap the benefits from how to use thinking to change ourselves in coming steps)

Ok,so I figure we mainly think in just 2 ways-verbally & visually.I can say I need to eat so I've to go to a restaurant or I can see a mental picture of delicious foods on a plate in a place & I can see mentally myself going there.(Sure I can also think/remember from memory the taste/smell of food,but except for food/dinner party-in our everyday life we rarely use things other than verbal & visual things)

Thinking has mainly 2 components-content(what I actually think) & mode(how I think it).Say I think,I'm hungry(content) & in my mind I hear me saying in a slightly frustated voice of mine saying I'm hungry(mode).

We can change/control both & in the process change how we feel/who we are.Let's explore these.

Say for me-I'm a scalper & I've a tendency to overtrade.If I can understand the mechanism of overtrading,I can design a move to beat it(think chess)

There are many underlying feelings in effect(it's helpful to know all) here & those feelings originally have a good intention for me-but it's their mode of working(where to & how much) that's actually causing me bad outcomes despite their good intention.I'll only name the most important ones-

All very successful(aka big position size traders) are scalpers(think Paul Rotter,Harris Brumfield,institutional traders) so if I can be an effective scalper I'll have a chance of making it big here & if I can make it big here it certainly means surviving in here will be taken care of,scalping means more trades than swing traders(so a mathematical edge over them by means of greater number) & more trades means more opportunities & more money(otherwise I'll be missing out some money that are left in the table),scalping means more frequent trades(so thereby I don't have to be patient & getting bored while waiting).

See all are actually have good intentions for me that are essential for my survival(go towards pleasure,away from pain-even bacterias have the same survival instinct).Thing is what was once essential for my survival,it's no longer is-that original instinct may even be harmful for me in modern time(think about every time a guest comes to my home I'm chasing him with a dumbell).

The collection of feelings underlying my overtrading have an amount of mental force(or emotional force).If we can by some means decrease this collection of force or introduce new feelings(if 1/2 don't do the trick than as many as necessary)here that works infavorably to overtrading but have a greater mental force than feelings related to overtrading-we can overcome this.This is just like normal physics-momentum goes to direction of greater force.(No matter how much wish I have to fly,if I jump higher-ultimately gravity will put me back on earth)

How do you know when have you accomplished this?Very simple.You can actually feel a spike against your original feeling or a gradual decrease in original feeling as you work through this.I'll provide them in this example.

Other means of controlling those feelings is to provide alternatives/compensation.Sometimes a bit of appreciation & other times only hearing to their concern will help you get rid of them.Now we'll see how I use these techniques to overcome overtrading by talking with them:

For the feeling of scalping gives me a chance to be very big/successful & thereby at least survival-well beautiful concern.Thank you for watching over me & wishing the very best for me.Thing is DOM scalping was a good style back then,b4 algos.Now it's not so much & it'll lose even more value in say 30 years from now.Chances are the man who will be Paul Rotter may not be that man by purely DOM scalping-he'll probably have more weapons in his arsenal.(No change in this feeling,so I proceed further.I get the feeling that it's more concerned about ensuring my survival in trading arena by protecting me than to driving me to be a large trader,so I adapt accordingly)

You know you don't have to worry so much about surviving here.You already have an edge,if the issues inside you gets solved.Better yet,you're still learning & working hard to figure out new edges.From past,you know you can do whatever you put your mind to.Besides,you don't have to score like 15 points a day per contract-think about what only 2 ticks a day on a 1,000 contracts in ZB can do.You've achieved so many minor-major things in your life,don't you think you can catch only 2 ticks out of market everyday?(at this point,my inside feeling is kinda tamed I feel like it's beginning to feel good-so I calibrate accordingly)

You know what,I think Al Brooks style PA will be good style to complement your DOM scalping.From a price action viewpoint,market charts are the same now as they were a 100 years ago & they'll probably remain so for another 100 years.Besides,you've a highly analytical mind & an eye for tiny details-I believe you'll actually feel good learning & incorporating Brooks style PA.2 heads are better than 1,so are 2 trading styles-if 1 gets invalidated by market,other will still be there.PA is also a powerful weapon-think of what Jesse Livermore used.(at this stage,my feeling is no longer concerned badly-but actually feeling pretty good,so I take my final blow to dismiss it either permanently/for quite a long time)

& just so you know,you can learn & master DOM scalping all these time & you can have the chance to be pretty good at DOM scalping-so you're not missing anything here.

To be continued...

April 15th, 2017, 09:17 PM

(My feeling is satisfied now,it silently leaves with peace)

Trick here is to go to great details to solve the underlying issues of your feeling-take as much time as needed & introduce as many other feelings as needed.While all the time lookout for how it's reacting & calibrate/adapt accordingly.Be gentler in handling than to be harsh.

For the rest two feeling-I'm not showing as many details as above,I think I've already provided the general idea.I'll touch along the important lines-

For feeling of scalping means a lot of trades,lot of money & leaving nothing in the table-you know quantity matters,but so does the quality.Not much is gaining if you take 20 trades a day & lose in 8 of them,do the math.I'll rather take 2 high probability trades a with reward larger than risk other than causing unnecessary stress to myself by taking 20 below average trades.

If you're so concerned about leaving out some money in table-then next time while you're shopping don't buy all these sports shoes/boots or next time when you're itching to take a mediocre trade after waiting for 2 hours-don't take it.Money not spent/not lost is just like money taking off the table-it's still money.& think about other participants of market-if you leave money in table than others can make a living.Or if you're not that kind with money-think it about a trap/lure that professionals like you setup everyday to entice people by making them to believe they can make money in market.So they'll return to arena with even more money,just so professionals can take that money from them.

About the feeling of lots of trades means less boredom-boredom is your friend.Look at all those 500/1000 years old tree,plants/trees were in this world long b4 human came & will remain long after we human destroy ourselves(along with a huge part of planet).Trees never say-hey,just standing in one place for decades & doing nothing is boring,if they did they'll not be able to live on like forever.

I hope you get the idea.Another example other than trading to wrap up content part of thinking:

Say I find it irritating to deal with negative people-I install feelings in line of:think about what kind of adverse environment he had to endure to become that much negative.He probably suffered a lot,a little extra time/patience/understanding from you is a thing he certainly needs.If you can stand such negativity you'll learn to cherish comparatively how positive average people are-thereby appreciating them more.Tough situations make you tough-& if you can stay in conversation with this man-you're surely getting tougher.Observe him closely,may be you'll find some unusual traits in him that you can use later to solve some uncrackable problem.

With a pinch of creativity,possibilities are virtually endless.Just know that all issue are not built in the same way.For some minor issues-4-5 logic/feelings will do while for other deep/large issues you've to go 10-20 trials.

Also,an issue can get solved now/today but can come back 7-30 days.In this case,you probably failed to ensure complete resolution of that issue,so it came back.So this time,try harder.Alternatively,you can deal with it periodically whenever it comes back.

Also in different times of day you may find it seems difficult/takes longer to solve same issue.It happens because you don't stay in the same mood & energy level all throughout the day.Calibrate accordingly-go for the extra mile in trial.

I'll later try to give an example of if I were to walk in a rope in between two tallest buildings of the world like that guy did with twin towers in 74 how will I solve my inner issues.Just know if you can become an expert on playing with thoughts-it has large potential.

Ok now moving to mode(how I think what I think) part.

It's also a quite powerful tool,I don't have much time left today-but I'll cover it as much as I can for today.

So mode actually is quite simple,think of all the qualities of a beautiful/good voice & all the qualities of a sharp photo.Or better yet,think of all the qualities of a movie(it contains both verbal & visual part) that makes it so good.

A good movie has a good story(think content of thinking) including meaningful plot & powerful dialogues.It also has good looking people interacting with each other in measrued,practiced vocal tone.It has good background music whenever whatever is appropriate-suspenseful music in horror scene & sweet melody during romantic scene.It also have good camera work & focus so that images are sharp/clearer we're able to get absorbed in the scenes & actually feel like we're part of this movie.(may be we trully are the players acting in a playwright that Shakespeare tried to tell,but if you can realise you can co-write screenplay & co-direct your own show of life,that's where the real fun begins)

By using a gentle & understanding voice while talking about traumatic/difficult issues with ourselves we can influence a lot of what thinking our mind will accept.

Say I'm dealing with an issue of my hurt ego after I lost a game of chess with someone.I found that if I use my sister's voice here(she has a gentle,sweet voice tone) to talk with myself I instantly begin to feel better(probably a fault of anchoring as she helped me calm down many times during my childhood).I also find that adding well spaced,measured pause in between her talk(she doesn't naturally possess this) & saying it in a low volume-her talking effects me even further.I can imagine how an arrogant,intolerating natured voice will do disaster here.

For other instance,if sometimes I feel like I'm not doing something in fear that I may probably not be successful-I see in my mind's eye a strong well built man climbing mountain without any rope in a very lonely hostile place.While climbing to a quite dangerous height he pauses there & laughs out very loudly & say in a manly,firm,timbre voice-fool,life is all about taking risks.There're many people out there living in a safety net of house/family.Yes they live longer,but there's not much living in that safety belt life.The few moments I live like like this-I live to the fullest & I die with pride.(instantly I feel a rush of testosterone & almost no fear)

Key is not every kind of voice is suitable for any issue,adjust it accordingly.Think about with what kind of friend you'll talk it this issue fully then try to emulate that criterias of friend into verbalisation,tone,pitch,volume,pause.

Say an issue arrives at hand while I'm talking with somebody so I don't have more than a few seconds to control my thoughts-I just hear a very loud "Silence" by a very dominating/rough voice(think Christian Bale's batman voice coming out of a voice changer).

As for visual aspect-many criterias are present.Most useful ones to play with are-clarity,brightness,color,how distant it is,how large it is.

So I tend to get injuries all the time playing some extreme sports.Say I had a blow in my left foot-I viualise my hand as if it's not mine,it's someone else's.Also in a grey black color as if it's already dead.I also see it a smaller in size as if it's got shrinked after death.All the while-I keep saying to myself in a deep tiring voice,this thing here isn't mine-it's already dead,someone else.Look at the color of this thing,look how it got shrinked after death.(somewhat hypnosis-but I get a lot better feeling)

In trading-I find it's very effective to detach myself from the trades I take.As if it's not me,my 3 years old niece is taking(for some,it may provide carelessness-use with caution.I find it take out the seriousness of trading & I can just focus on getting a high score in trading game).I'm currently working on transferring feeling of sim trading to live trading(everyone I know perform far better in sim)

Vocabulary we use tend to get attached with underlying feeling.For say if I can think of a fire in my building as just "Fire" or I can think it as a large cute yellow ball,that makes the boiled egg in the breakfast-I wonder how cute an egg yolk will look on top of this ball.From panic to comic feeling.

Use all these jointly & I hope you'll have a great tool to use when coping with difficulties.All the best.

Change Thyself,thinking

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Change Thyself,thinking