Flex the Muscles and Get An Attitude

by YM Trader*

I studied hard over the Christmas and New Year break with the idea of coming out of the blocks hard in 2012. But it wasn't to be.

My attitude stunk. I got complacent. Complacency is the enemy of achievement….the enemy of

success. It's mental laziness. Making excuses. Bullshit. Complacency is the attitude of losers.

Instead of doing what I needed to do I did "busy work" because I convinced myself I "needed to do this and that" in order to really be prepared for the new year. What a joke.

My attitude stunk. You have to know how my mind works to really understand this, but that's beside the point. I had convinced myself, that even after years of full-time effort, I still "needed this and that" in order to really be ready to come out swinging.

What I really did was do a con job on myself.

Attitude Trader has a great quote at his website that I've borrowed and put on my wall. I really need to pay more attention to it, and writing all this out is a step in that direction. It goes …

"Is it hard?" "Not if you have the right attitude. It's having the right attitude that's hard."**

Trading is really simple. I've been doing this long enough to know that yes, trading is simple. The bookstores, libraries, and internet are full of trading plans that have proven records of success. Many are free. You can create one yourself.

But we all find out that executing that "proven plan" is really the hard part. It all comes down to attitude.

We are either looking for solutions or we are looking for excuses. It's all in your freakin' head. You either see the glass as half full (the right attitude) or half-empty (the wrong attitude).

Unless you are mentally crippled you have no excuse for not being a successful trader. As the old saying goes, “if I can do it, you can too." I brought plenty of “baggage” to my trading career but I didn't let it stop me. Only I can stop myself. And sometimes I’m good at that too. Same for you. My effort in this first week of the year was half-hearted, weak, and full of excuses.

My attitude stunk.

Why is something hard? Because we tell ourselves that. Why is something easy? Because we tell ourselves that. It's all in our freakin’ head. Bullshit excuses.

I started following Attitude Trader's blog as soon as I saw the name of it. I knew he had the right idea. Whether you become a successful trader or not has NOTHING to do with traders you are supposedly competing against. It has NOTHING to do with your trading plan. It has EVERYTHING to do with your attitude toward work and effort. And that’s supposed to be the easy part!

You may think I'm a loser because I'm writing this. No, I’m just a guy with written goals (serious goals that all need to be accomplished in due time) that falls short at times. And that pisses me off (no apologies for poor grammar here). Sometimes I fool myself into thinking I still don't know enough even though I've been trading the same market, doing the same prep work, and studying the same plan for over 5 years now. No, I don’t call it being scared. I call it being stupid. And I have the facts to back that up.

Like I said, you have to know how my mind works (writing this is therapy here) because knowing how your own mind works is the key to all your dreams. It's not about the market, your fellow “competitors,” or your trading plan. Heck, that's the EASY part!

If you (me) want to be a success then get your attitude in gear. Quit the whining. You (me) are fully capable of doing TWICE what you are accomplishing now. And I can comfortably say that without even knowing you. I do know me and I know I'm falling down on the job.

It's all about attitude.

Think you can? YES YOU CAN !!

Think you can't. DAMN RIGHT YOU CAN'T!

Does it hurt? Why? ….Because you convinced yourself it hurts.

Is it simple and easy? Why? …Because you convinced yourself it was!

Trading, and life in general, is just a mental game. You are the only player in the game. You make all the rules yourself. So don't be bitching and complaining if you find yourself losing.

I’m a health and fitness nut (it's part of my Type A personality that makes me feel like a loser when I fall short on something). I have a little card taped to the bottom of my computer monitor where I see it all day long. "Flex the MUSCLES and get an ATTITUDE!"

Just like the physical act of smiling can make a person feel better, so can flexing a muscle. I have

a rack of dumbells and every day (OK, only most days dammit) I go through a 10 minute routine (because I have no freakin’ excuse for not finding 10 minutes a day!). I like how a flexed muscle feels. It’s powerful. It’s empowering. It’s like a little shot of endorphins. When the charts make me feel sleepy; when my attention seems to be lagging; I look at the card, flex a muscle, pound the desk, and get my attitude straightened out.

Trading is easy.

If you’re a daytrader looking at tick charts like me, it can become very mentally tiring. Whine! Bitch! Complain! Moan! Flex the MUSCLES and get an ATTITUDE!! Trading is easy. What excuse is next??

Trading is mostly WATCHING. It is mostly just watching, and thinking, and knowing (not guessing) what's going on. I call it SEE-THINK-KNOW. It's a mental mantra to keep me mentally in the game.

We all do it, I just gave it a tag.

If you're not achieving the success you want (or you CLAIM to want...there's a big difference) then your attitude is the problem because (here I go again) trading is easy. If you are falling behind it’s not because of the market, it’s because you just aren’t willing to do the work...because trading is easy.

If you are seeing ghosts, or bad things at every turn, then your attitude is wrong, not your trading plan. If you are afraid to pull the trigger then your attitude is wrong. We already know it’s not a fault of your trading plan.

Fix your head. Whatever it takes. Figure it out. You are your own best psychologist. Use whatever tricks and techniques you need to do to get yourself into the "glass half full" mode. Just do it. No bitching, whining, complaining, or moaning about "how the market is treating you".

The market is giving you winning setups every day. You just may be too _____ to act on them. It's your attitude.

- YM Trader

Flex the MUSCLES

and get an ATTITUDE !!

* See sidebar for links to more YM Trader posts.
** From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig.