AFRAID

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
~ Jim Morrison

There are 3 types of fear.

1) Fear of failure
2) Fear of success
3) Fear of judgment

Are you ready to accept that nothing which triggers fear in you is real?

Consider that statement for a moment.

Your mind will want to argue it because of that one time, or times when your fear felt completely real and justified.

I’m not here to argue your experience, but fear is illusory.

Just as all forms of suffering are products of the mind, usually caused by our negative relationship to time when we’re not getting what we want.

Most people talk to me about fear of failure as the root cause of their problem with lots of things, not just trading.

Some even think they have a fear of success.

It’s really fear of judgment.

If you’ve felt FOMO, that’s fear of judgement for not getting involved when everyone else seems to be winning.

Here’s the deal: your perception of reality is shaped by emotion. A whole lot of conditioning has formed your identity, how you see the world and what you think is possible.

What is attractive to you in the moment, and what should be avoided.

But you don’t actually see the world.

You never have.

You only see yourself.

In that sense, the world sees you.

Maybe that sounds too hypothetical when it comes to the (digital) reality of markets, but stay with me on this.

What is there to fear? Can you actually quantify it?

Is it ten losses in a row?

Blowing up an account?

The threshold of what scares you is arbitrary and personal.

The limits of quantified risk in trading, by which I mean taking a calculated loss in pursuit of a greater win, is completely different.

A professional applying rules to their work can handle the risk and loss without fear.

The scared amateur can’t, and in fact applies their strategies acting out of fear, without rules, in order to try and never lose.

It tends to end up making the matter worse, doesn’t it?

Professionals practice how to lose, and become experts at it.

Amateurs never learn how to, because they can’t overcome the fear.

Let’s go back to the start.

Loss aversion is a form of fear that affects most struggling traders and keeps them from discovering their edge.

That fear is a form of judgment. Self judgment, like FOMO.

You have constructed the idea that losing makes you less capable or worthy of the next win.

You beat yourself up for second guessing everything and taking the wrong action.

It’s a destructive part of your programming.

Let’s identify the source of it.

Here’s an exercise I take students through:

Write a fear statement and title it “This is my fear that I won’t make it as a trader.”

Write it as if nobody will ever read it.

Take as long as you need, but don’t overthink it.

Let the story come to you.

Aim for a brief stream of consciousness and be completely raw and honest.

Once you’ve done that, read the guide at the bottom of this newsletter.

Good luck.

There’s no need to be afraid.

P.

The next CONSISTENCY course starts on July 1st.

New quarter, new opportunities.

I truly believe this is the best intensive course for understanding how markets work, defining an edge and building your own system for long term, scaleable results.

The wins from former students prove that, but I’m more interested in the mindset shifts that unlock potential.

You don’t know what you’re capable of. This course will help you discover that.

You can find out more at http://www.actuatecoaching.com/consistency

GUIDE TO WORKING WITH YOUR FEAR STATEMENT.

The majority of people who do this exercise with me write their statement in three distinct parts, usually as separate paragraphs as they start to think and process where their fear comes from.

The first part is what they want me to think about them. It’s the presentable, outwardly rationale explanation that will hopefully convince me that the fear is real and justified. I call this “the PR statement”.

The second paragraph usually highlights the source of the fear. This is “The point of origin.” which shows the trader starting to contemplate their past. The statement usually has elements of violent language, competition and confrontation.

The last paragraph is how they really feel about themselves now. Common indications are a desire for change and what they want to move on from. This part highlights the toxicity of the fear and the grip it still has.

Occasionally, someone writes a single, long form statement which indicates a higher degree of self awareness. These people are closer to turning things around because they know their actions are aligned to their fears in a codependent manner which promotes negative reinforcement.

Regardless of how your statement was formed, the key to this exercise is to examine the circumstances in the second part, the toxic feeling in the last part and bring objectivity to it.

Consider the past circumstances you identified as the familiar feeling or root of why you think you’re struggling with trading.

It could be a past loss in life, a relationship that carried a lot of tension around success, growing up in a home where money was blamed for a lot of arguments and so on.

Now, how do you feel about whatever you identified in your personal history, factoring in how much time has passed.

Is it still relevant?

Are you as afraid as you were back then?

Probably not.

Maybe you’re dragging it along for the ride?

Without wanting to oversimplify things, how we feel about ourselves and life shows up in whatever we try to do in order to grow.

It’s the essential challenge of change.

We overcome ourselves, our narratives and limiting beliefs and uncover freedom and greatness.

It becomes very apparent in markets where we try to be compensate the feelings around uncertainty by trying to act smarter.

Uncertainty always triggers fear in people who have not fully resolved their past conditioning to accept randomness without being scared by potential outcomes.

So, reflect on your fear statement and consider the relevance.

If you slightly switch the angles on your experience and give relevance to the lessons learned rather than the hurt, pain and aversion, things start to shift.

It’s not quite as painful as you used to think.

You’re still here.

If you can think differently about it through the passage of time and wisdom of experience, the fear goes by itself..

Exposure to the fear reclaims the power from it.

If you would like, feel free to share your fear statement with me, along with any shift in perspective that came to you.

Our shifts in perspective allow pent up emotions to process.

The difference can be subtle, but your effort and results will start to indicate that you’re seeing things differently.

You’re actually just seeing yourself differently.

Clearly.

Finally.

Well done.