T2W Trading Community

Vietnam Revisited
In working with traders, I have often revisited the horrors of Vietnam. Many of the men with whom I have worked have gone through years of therapy, only to have nightmares and daymares that continued to affect their lives. Recently, I received the following e-mail from a client who had come for work after experiencing years of war flashbacks and trading sabotage.  Peter has allowed me to quote from his letter:

“First of all, I must tell you that since I saw you, I have had NO, NONE, ZERO, ZILCH FLASHBACKS, and my decision-making ability has returned to peak form. Even my wife tells me the money was well spent. I just wish I’d done it sooner. Last year was my best overall business year since I started my own business.”

As dramatic as the results are that this letter spells out, it is by no means extraordinary. Of course, Peter was highly motivated, and a client’s motivation is the second most important ingredient in the formula.  But, once a trader makes up his mind that he is willing to work on the issues that are blocking his success, there is no stopping him when he applies the right method.

So, here are the questions you might want to be asking yourself?
1. Do I have a trading block or pattern of self-sabotage that is preventing me from reaching my goals?  If you are unsure of the answer, you can answer in the affirmative if you have a pattern of giving back to the market as much or more every time you have a successful trade or series of trades; or if you have done everything you need to do and more to create a successful trading business but continue to fail to reach your objectives; or if you find yourself engaged in self-destructive behaviors such as gambling, excessive drinking, taking drugs, putting your marriage and home in jeopardy, abusing your health, etc.
 
2. Have I been putting off dealing with this problem because I believe that I cannot afford the time and money involved? 
 
3. Do I lack confidence in anyone’s ability to help me?  Have I had a bad experience in the past (or someone close to me has had a bad experience) in which I spent a lot of time and money in counseling, without the benefit of a major change in the problem?
 
4. Could my trading results benefit greatly from a process that could transform a long-standing problem, issue, or pattern if that process were very fast and effective?  In other words, how much money am I losing and how much money am I failing to make each year because of these unresolved issues?
 
5. Am I willing for a change to take place, and to do whatever I need to do in my own attitudes, beliefs and behaviors to ensure that it is a lasting change?
 
6. Or do I have too much at stake in maintaining the status quo, regardless of how much unhappiness it creates for me and those closest to me?

The Bottom Line
The bottom line in paying for a counseling service should be the same one a trader applies to any of the many services and support systems he buys.  What is the risk-reward ratio?  In other words, how does the cost of the service I’m paying for compare to the financial benefits it confers?  If you are paying more for a service than you are benefiting financially from it, it is a bad investment.  If, for example, you pay a thousand dollars for a trading service and you see no incremental increase in your profits, you have made an unwise investment.  On the other hand, if you invest in a resource that increases your profits many times that investment, you have chosen wisely. 

Last year, I had a highly motivated client who increased his trading results from $75,000 annually to $3,000,000 in the first year and over $10,000,000 annually in the second year. If you think that these results represent a major benefit from money expended, you are quite right.  Do you think a weekend of hard work with an NLP counselor was a wise investment for him?  Do you think that he made a solid commitment to getting results and maintaining them? While this particular client was unusually motivated, it is not unusual to see dramatic improvement in trading results after counseling.

Finding the Right Counselor
As much as I would like to say that I am the right person to help every trader, this is clearly not the case. In order to find the person who knows exactly where to tap, each trader has to find the right counselor who is the right fit for him and for his unique situation. Just as I do not accept everyone who calls as a client, a trader must have a solid set of criteria for selecting a counselor:

1. Does this counselor have a track record in working with traders who have similar problems?
2. Have I checked his/her references and spoken with others who have worked with him/her?
3. Did someone that I know and trust refer me?
4. Have I heard this counselor speak or have I read anything he/she has written so that I know something about him/her?
5. Do I feel that we are compatible and that I can work with this person? Do I have enough confidence in this person to accept what he/she says and to do what I am asked to do?

Conclusion
If you are wondering how to solve a trading sabotage problem and you are reluctant to spend the money on counseling, you need to consider the cost of not working on your problems.  Should you decide to continue on your present path, you need to consider what the cost is to you versus the cost of one-time counseling.  But, remember this caveat, knowing where to tap in a trader, regardless of how much it costs and how quickly it can be accomplished, is a team venture.  Unlike a piece of machinery, tapping the right place in a trader works quickly and efficiently, only if the trader is willing to do his part.