Knowing What You Want
I don’t know if it is an age and stage thing, or what, but I seem to have a lot of similar discussions with the people around me about evaluating where they are in life versus where they want to go. My first question is always, “Well, what do you want?” The response I usually get starts with, “I don’t know…” and is followed up with a laundry list of vague and nebulous possibilities and generally ends with a sigh and resigned admission that they just don’t want to be exactly where they are now.
It is easy, in our youth, to see the possibilities in life and to imagine ourselves fully participating in each and every one of them. It is much harder to do that once we’ve grown to adulthood. We’ve got jobs to do, bills to pay, homes to clean and repair, relationships to foster, some of us have spouses and kids to look after. While there is a LOT to be grateful for in that list (we have a job, and electricity, and homes and relationships and family) it can feel, sometimes, like the choices we’ve made have bound us to some degree to one small piece of the pie that we once imagined.
It is the feeling of being weighed down that can stagnate the heart and spirit. Once that feeling really sets in it can be extremely difficult to see life through any other lens, especially one where other opportunities are available to you, because that feeling has changed the underlying belief system about what is really available for the taking.
It is important to understand that ALL opportunities are available to you. Maybe some are more desirable than others, but they’re all out there waiting like patient students to be called upon. The problem is however, that as the head of the classroom, many people spend so much time glancing back and forth between these willing students, hemming and hawing and never really choosing one. This means that none of them has a chance to stand up and be heard.
So, I propose that you stop vacillating about your options and pick one. If you’re a student of mine, one of the changes you’re instituting in your life is learning to trade in the Foreign Exchange market.
You have to understand by choosing this opportunity you have to commit to it. You have to know what you want from the experience and it is not going to work if all you want is to make money. You have to want to learn. You have to want to grow. You have to want the change in routine. You have to want the business plan and the practice and the dedication to enter your life through this endeavor.
If you don’t really want all of those things and secretly your deep-down supplications just want everything to stay the same in life except you want some simple little thing on the side (in this case we’re talking about money, but it could easily be learning a new language/skill or traveling or whatever you’ve chosen) then you will continue to fight an uphill battle in your new endeavor.
You have to know what you want in order to make your choice. If you think you’re not choosing, trust me you are…you’re merely choosing to not change and grow.
It is through the choice we make to institute change and through the devotion to the process of that change that we can ultimately develop everything we need to institute that change: desire, choice, practice, then the penultimate… belief. Once we believe that we can do it, we open the pathways in our mind and spirit to make that change possible. Then, and only then, does it all become natural and second nature to who we are.
What do you REALLY want? What change are you willing to devote yourself to in order to get it?
Triffany Hammond helps traders of all levels, gain the tools, resources and guidance necessary to build on their strengths and work around their weaknesses so that they can make the best possible decisions for themselves in the Forex Market. Triffany is a regular speaker and contributor at 
NB for everyone : Vacillant : Uncertain in purpose or action
As you (Triffany) know I have a big battle with this issue of making goals or knowing exactly what I want. I’ve always just found myself living by the credence of Batman “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me” … I don’t often make long term goals or a business plan, but at the end of the day, I try to put in the long hours to make trading work for me (1 day at least), I might not have written that down or drawn a wall chart about it, but thats what I do … I find this true for me in most areas, short term definable goals I can do, like lets test this week or this month etc but long term goals are grey areas and are for me just an artists impression … I may not hold a gun with a defined target but the Louis is dead and Big Joe has his money so the end result is the same …
Does anyone else do the same ? Or are you The Joker … riddle me this
Great questions to ask oneself, thanks Triffany
Mmm, you really hit the nail on the head with this one Triffany.
And it’s really not something alot of us want to hear, especially when we start out… at least that’s how it was for me. We picture the ‘fun and glamorous side’, the taking holidays whenever we feel like it, the working in our PJs, sleeping in, beachside with pina colada in hand, making thou$and$ in minutes…. there couldn’t possibly be any w.o.r.k involved could there, not like another j.o.b surely?!
We’re blinded. And soon come to realise that trading has it’s own ‘baggage’. There’s so many little facets and tricks and levels, ceilings which we bump against and never break through unless we commit for starters.
It’s no wonder so few of us reach the other side. Most of us know the answer, and yet we convince ourselves otherwise.
We sure are a strange lot, humans…
Hmm, this Wednesday, July 14th….. I was hoping there would be a thread for traders, but I guess not today……. Anyone read this?
I don’t think there normally is one Jerry – only for Thur/Fri. So just post to the Wed WLW thread.
You’re a counter-trend trader yeah? Me too!
I shorted the Euro again on the little spike up, tiny position.
You don’t see today’s thread? Do you see Tuesday’s and Monday’s?? I’m worried.
I see all threads fine.
Ok…Its probably fine then. I imagine if the daily threads were missing for most I’d be hearing about it. Maybe Jerry just overlooked them or didn’t refresh outside of the cache or something. Thanks for letting me know.
Yes, Yaqui, I am counter trender…….. also shorted the eur, but took profit.
went long a little of Aby’s USDJPY….. looks like it could go a touch lower then up…. so I am searching for a bottom.
Looking at the USDJPY 4HR, We have now retested that 87.80 level from the impulsive move on 07/07/10 1pm EDT candle, if it closes now bullish on the 4HR this could be good news … not guarantees, but good.
Aby, just saw your note….. when does (or did) your 4 hour candle close? I think candles close at different times, depending on the platform and it time zone. The last 4 hour candle close on my chart had hi 88.176, low 87.844, and close 88.101….
You’re right but there was a move between the 7th and 8th July where the pair shot up from a low of 87.16 to a high of about 88.45 that impulsive move on the 4HR was not retraced to so i am hoping this is the retest and we can just go up from here on.
PS i am now short usdchf and long gbpusd, i posted that up on yesterdays thread till we get a new thread, but it triggered for me so i didnt wait