Solution to a Burnt Trading Hand

Yesterday, I asked (and answered) why our 90% keep repeating the same mistakes knowing that they’ll have the same results. Today, I’m looking at the solution suggested by Brene Brown.

The obvious step is to stop doing what we have been doing, then try something new. The problem is, these steps are easier said than done.

The foundation of any solution is a commitment to change. Not willing to change? Then we will continue to lose money – that’s the reality. This point was driven home by the tales of two traders, registrants at my most recent retail beta test for the 4-Phase.

Ray was unwilling to learn and apply new ideas. He did not want to change his behaviours.  He wanted profitability on his terms not on what the market would give but rather on what he was willing to give in terms of effort and time.

Joe, on the other hand, took in the ideas, applied them to his trading, and engaged in Deliberative Practice.

I’ll leave it to you to decide which of the two traders turned his results around. (Hint: it was Joe)

So, commitment to change is our base. What’s next? Brown suggests a three-step process:

1. Reckon Phase – walk into our story.  We need to face the pain-causing event honestly. Vent, write your SFD (‘shitty first draft’), do whatever it takes to face the music. What we’re doing is accepting the hurt and pain, rather than denying or suppressing. (In ACT terms, the Defusion and Acceptance strategies).
2. Rumble Phase – own your story, take responsibility for events under our control. Here we see how the event came about. We are seeking to understand the role of story in our lives. By seeing our role in the event, we can change the story to better reflect what serves us. Then comes the………..
3. Revolution – the new learning.  We want to come away with our Delta: the difference between the stories and the truth we discover from the process. From here, we experiment to discover the behavioural changes need to attain our goals.

In this short piece, I can’t do justice to Brown’s works. She has written about seven books. The ones I’d recommend for traders are:

• I Thought It Was Just Me. This book is about women and shame. But, I found much in it that’s useful for traders.
• Daring Greatly
• Rising Strong

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