As I go about proselytizing about the value of being aware of one’s state of physical, mental and psychological capital, I routinely get the same questions:

1. Exactly how to be self-aware
2. How long will it take?

Let’s assume you believe that it is as important for your trading to be self-aware as it is to be market aware… (that is a big leap you know because it is SO easy to focus on the intellectual cognitive dimension and miss everything else). Get started this way:

1. Organize your life with the priority of getting enough sleep – this will automatically improve your perception about risk but also about opportunity.
2. Aim to always know how you feel phsycially and emotionally.
3. If you are frustrated, angry or fearful … write it down! Keep writing until the intensity lifts. (No you won’t miss the single best trade of the year!)
4. If you want more immediate help, tell someone who is a very good listener about those feelings. (If they say “ah don’t feel that way – they are not being a good listener).
5. Repeat.

Now, what this list doesn’t say is what will happen if you make this approach a standard part of what you do.

The most important part is that for every time you actually feel a feeling and put it into words you will be granted a time when you see your positions more clearly, make a better decision and risk less. Let’s suppose you did that once a week for 3 months (not making the bar TOO high here) … what would be the difference? Better yet, let’s suppose you did it after an annoying losing trade. How would that scenario turn out differently? Could you avoid the flurry of stupid trades that only waste money and “annoy the pig” (as in teach a pig to sing).

How long will it take to do this? Well… it depends

A. Do you believe it will help you? If you don’t really believe it… well you won’t be able to do it.

B. Do you commit to doing it – or would just watching the markets be more interesting?

C. What level are you starting from?

Dr. Brett Steenbarger once said he preferred to coach only professionals because lots of independent traders wouldn’t do this work. Coaching both groups currently I am coming to see what he meant. If you want to jump ahead of the pack, take this edge – it really is there for the taking.

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