It feels like self-sabotage because you know what you should be doing to become a better trader, but you can't take the right actions. You should be acting like the people taking the other side of your trades. Those people seem to trade more in sync with the market. They buy low, sell high. They let winners run. They cut losses quickly. They stay calm, positive and confident. So why is it so hard to imitate them?

In this section of the website you will find information on Seven Factors that contribute to the Out-of-Sync Syndrome. The main cause of the syndrome is simple Aversive Conditioning discussed below.  Additional causes include Random Rewards, Mind Traps, Scared Money, Procedural Errors, The Trading Trance and Adult ADD. If you hire me as your coach, we will determine which factors are causing you difficulty and together we will fix them. This page describes Aversive Conditioning, the primary cause of trader failure. Follow the links to read about the other causes.

AVERSIVE CONDITIONING

THE CONDITIONING CYCLE
Many traders report that they were able to trade well when they first started, but the more experience they gained, the worse things got. Trading is perhaps the only business in which increased knowledge and experience can work against you.

Mark Douglas points out that the initial naivete of traders makes us fearless. In that fearless state we actually trade much better than if we were afraid, even though we have less objective knowledge about the market and about what we are doing.
In the course of learning to trade, you will make errors and they will cause you pain. You may not remember the details of those painful experiences, but a part of your brain does. That part of your brain (the amygdala) stores details about everything that ever hurt you and tries to avoid those things in the future. The amygdala is a pattern recognition device. It is the size of an almond, but it can recognize 20,000 faces....or chart patterns.

Losses have much more impact on the amygdala than wins. In fact, it does not register wins at all. It only registers things that hurt. The more you trade, the more times you will lose and the amygdala never forgets a loss and who/what caused it. Never. Gradually, therefore, the amygdala adds emotional color to your trading experience in the form of fear. Gradually, you become subtly afraid of the setups you used to take even if you consciously decide that you still want to take them. Each time a setup occurs, you will either miss it entirely or think up a reason why you should not take it.

The good news is that this type of conditioning can be reversed. I specialize in helping traders reverse aversive conditioning. But first you have to know that the conditioning is there, running the show, filtering (distorting) all your perceptions of the market's opportunity flow.

BOTTOMLINE
Job #1 for traders is to correct aversive conditioning. My coaching program is focused on identifying how you may have been conditioned through your trading and reversing it. Among various other tactics, I use a downloadable, audio neuro-reprogramming technique I developed called Total Brain Conditioning^TM  that you can read about on this website.

Email me to schedule a FREE 15-Min. CONSULTATION (doc2 at daytrading-doc.com) or click here to sign up now.

If you take no other action today my friend, be sure you order my premier neuroprogramming MP3 ACCESSING THE WINNING TRADER'S MINDSET for just $99. Nothing is more important than becoming proactive about your mental-emotional state while trading. It could save you thousands!