In a time of universal deceit , telling the truth is a revolutionary act…George Orwell
A man had constant dizzy spells for which he could find no cure.
He told a close female friend about it, who advised, 'Walk around the block three times on Saturday afternoon.'
The man followed the advice, and then complained to his friend, 'I did what you said, but still feel dizzy.'
She replied. “Interesting. It didn’t help my dizziness either!”
In trying to understand life, beware of foolish advice from those who do not know.
In trading and in life, it is critical to ask yourself: What sources of information are guiding my actions? Have I checked the facts, or am I simply relying on the word of this or that person? Have I applied common sense to this situation, or am I acting impulsively or instinctually? Is my rat brain really out to get me this time, or am I taking the “high” road and using my prefrontal and frontal brain areas to weed out the fear and greed?
Among the most important questions each trader must ask is this: What do I believe that is not true?
This must become a mantra for you if you are to succeed in trading. Constantly question your own belief system. This, in turn, leads you to question what others are saying. It forces you to turn down the noise in your primitive limbic brain and attempt to get clarity through logical and reasoned higher cortical thought.
Lazy thinking leads to lazy trading which leads to losses. The incessant drumbeat of internal deception is magnified by the unending amount of confounding “information” comes to you through your senses during the trading day. Be vigilant. Question everything and everyone, including me. There are no gurus except for you! Be your own guru, make your own music and sing your own song. You, more than anyone else in the world, know what is right for you. If a position is not working, it is not a good position. Get out. Cut losses. Don’t allow your rat brain to dopamine you to the point where you deceive yourself by holding and hoping. Don’t listen to the hype. A good position is one that makes money. A bad position is one that loses money. It is just that simple.
The financial markets and life are saturated with hype and deception. Learn to see past the veils of deception and to become alert to anything that sounds just too good to be true. If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is! The tragedy of trading is that that even the most alert and rational among us can be fooled. This is one reason why the search for trading truth is a lifetime journey, a journey that no one ever fully completes. In trading and in life, it is always about the journey.
Subtlety may deceive you; integrity never will...Oliver Cromwell
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Dr. Janice Dorn is the only Ph.D. (Brain Anatomist) and M.D. (Board-Certified Psychiatrist and Addiction Psychiatrist) in the world who actively trades, writes commentary on the financial markets and manages a subscription-based website. Dr. Dorn has been trading the gold futures markets full time since 1993. She has written over 1000 articles on trader and investor psychology, and mentored over 600 traders and investors.She writes on all aspects of trading psychology and provides a real-time trading service on her website: .