How difficult could it be to get hypnotised so that you could trade real money as if you were only taking simulated trades? I am just curious if one could easily do it to oneself, so I am thinking about self-hypnosis. Has anyone ever tried something like that, or just entertained a thought like that and if so what conclusions you have reached. Thanks, Wally
I haven't tried self-hypnosis, but I have tried breathing exercises. They definitely help keep me calm and keep my emotions under control.
Relax, you're already doing it. Everytime you sit in front of your trading desk, and start clicking on the mouse, hotkeys and trading keys, and tell yourself: "this time its going to be different"
You mean you do really breath when you trade? Wow, you are so versatile... But seriously, can you give me some references to the books, articles, etc. you used to learn these exercises. TIA.
It's funny. I've noticed when I am trading very poorly (overtrading especially), I am either taking shallow breaths or holding my breath for extended periods. When I start the trading session with a breathing exercise it helps to center me. I haven't really tried anything advanced as far as breathing. There are many, many different techniques. All I usually do is breathe in a 1(inhale)-4(hold)-2(exhale) pattern. Depending on my mood I make each unit of 1 equal to anything between 3 and 6 or so. Doing this particular exercise actually takes a bit of focus because you have to keep track of the count. There are many other breathing exercises, mostly yoga and martial arts related, that don't require counting and thus don't distract you from the task at hand. I prefer the count because I get too intense while trading and want to lessen my focus on the charts for a minute, then come back to it when I am done. I learned this technique from Tony Robbins on one of his CDs. I hit Google really quick to see what I got for hits, and this looked interesting. I may give it a shot. http://yogaram.com/helpwithstress&anxieties.htm I don't necessarily think hypnosis is good for trading. I guess it is a matter of what you consider hypnosis. I think meditation is probably good for trading. Anything that helps you stay centered and in control. Here's another interesting one. Guiding your mind into a theta wave state. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Sparta/3961/archives/essay23.html I'm sure most folks will think all these yoga people are all a bunch of nutjobs. And some of them are. But, like most things, you have to dig through some of this mess and pull out the good stuff. Try a few things and see what works for you. A bit like trading.
get Alman's book on self hypnosis. "Self-Hypnosis: The Complete Manual for Health and Self-Change." check his site www.selfhypnosis.com I just got the book (at amazon) but haven't read it yet. just got interested in the subject, without relation to my trading. Mark Douglas mentions this too in "The Disciplined Trader" so perhaps he also has products of this kind, more directly related to trading. I also think that if you paper trade for long enough, you build faith in your ability to be profitable and also to climb up of drawdowns. this way you'll fare better (psychologically) with real money. many people tell me "paper trading proves nothing about being able to make money in the market". i say, it DOES prove one thing - if you can't make money on paper, you'll never make money live. ever. and i promise you that 99.9999% of traders can't make money even on paper. Hope the info helps yars
I remember that he mentions that in his book and that is what actually inspired my question. Thanks for all the feedback so far.
The most important first step is a clear, precise statement of your outcome in writing. Next is removing any doubts surrounding that outcome. Remove the doubt, everything else will pretty much fall into place with the proper committment/effort. Removing doubt involves a process of changing beliefs which can be most easily done by asking questions to create doubt about the doubt. Also, listening to hypno-periphal audios with embedded commands will get the message directly into your subconscious. That's really what therapuetic hypnosis is designed to do: bypass all the crap that you think is true, even though "true" is itself nothing more than a belief.