After talking with my family and a few close (non-trading) friends, I finally reached the point where I can’t keep quiet about this any longer.

The final straw, for me was yet another email exchange I had yesterday with another struggling trader.

I get emails all the time from traders asking about my self-paced course or 1:1 coaching, or just asking for advice. I eventually reply to every one of them. Many of the email exchanges with said traders end up like this.

The trader saying how on the one hand they think my offering could help them but they’ve spent so much money on their education , charts, chat rooms, etc, already and they are tapped out. And then they often tell me how they wish they’d heard about or considered my offering earlier. So sad.

I talked via Skype with one trader yesterday in New Zealand and told him that I’m a realist. I can’t help everybody. I told him about 30% of my clients never improved…for a variety of reasons. He seemed a bit surprised to hear me say that. I told him that I’m not selling a dream, I’m selling reality.

For example, last year I had a client who is a trading educator with a huge following on Twitter and StockTwits. (Don’t get me started on ST, I have very mixed feeling on that). He started to do better and decided to take on OPM. I never tell my clients what to do or not do, but I strongly suggested he spend more time examining the underlying motives of this decision. Instead, he got seduced by the opportunity to trade a much larger account and guess what?  You know how the story ends.

I feel bad for him. I feel bad when a client does not succeed. And what adds insult to injury for me as a coach is that he actually still owes me money for coaching I provided…and he continues to have a huge following!

The reality in trading is how you respond to discomfort in it all its various forms will define your PnL. And much of our response begins on a subconscious level, with the final act – the actual behavior – showing itself as a “trading mistake”. Or series of related mistakes. Often part of a theme that gets repeated.

When you hear educators telling you to not give up,  often relying on “motivational speak” – with shallow cliche’s, trading quotes, or even an “Ask Me Anything” session…..they are actually doing you a great disservice.

Some of these educators have good intentions, but unfortunately they lack the tools to help you get out of your own way. Telling you to “learn to take a loss”, “learn to be patient”, or simply, “get mentally tough” sounds great….but it doesn’t work!

Yes, you may trade better for a few days after listening to one of them, but eventually almost every trader goes right back to making the same “mistakes”.  Too many impulse trades. Holding losers too long. Getting out at the first sign of heat. Freezing when they should be executing, etc.

A few of these educators have bought my course using a different name to disguise themselves, or listened to some of my past webinars, and now they talk about developing ‘self-awareness’. They use my concepts in their own ‘trading psychology’ offerings. I’m flattered that they want to copy me.

Do you believe, as I do, that once you understand auction market principles and market dynamics the most important variable in your trading is YOU, what do you do?  In other words, in the final analysis, YOU are your own edge.

And if you believe that, the most important investment you can make as a trader is in yourself.

Taking care of yourself, including your body and mind – they are very connected and rely much upon each other. Do you eat well?  Get the right amount sleep? Exercise? Spend time seeking satisfaction in non-trading activities (very important). I consider those things the ‘low hanging fruit’ in self-development.  Taking it to the next level, working on the subconscious and learning how to use your emotions and feelings as a tool in your trading (not an obstacle) takes a lot of work, a type of work that most will never do.

Working on my book and a few special projects involving the development of intuition, I have limited capacity to take on new clients . Therefore, I’m only taking on people who are absolutely committed and a good fit. If you think you’re one, email me first, if you’re still serious, we can have a brief phone/Skype chat to see if it makes sense to work together. I prefer to choose my clients as much as they choose me. You’ll know why once we talk. My self-paced course is another option.

Client quote: “Quality isn’t expensive…its priceless”