Introduction 1

Believing in Ourselves 2

Part I All of the Answers Are Already Within 7

Chapter 1 Finding Your Purpose-Center 9

The Groundwork 9

Clarifying Your Purpose-Center through the Mission Statement 10

Morita Therapy and Dogma 13

Purpose-Center as Self-Awareness in Style 17

The Dogma of Style 19

Summary 22

Chapter 2 The Time Is Now 23

In the Moment 24

Through Ryan Dempster’s Eyes 29

Summary 33

Chapter 3 Self-Honesty and Self-Esteem 35

The Foundation of Self 36

Honesty 38

Ego Versus Esteem 43

Esteem 44

Pride 45

Summary 46

Chapter 4 The Balance of Humbleness 49

The Importance of Humbleness 49

Mike Palumbo—Words of Wisdom from a Supertrader 50

Balance of Self: An Interview with Kevin Cuddie 54

Summary 58

Chapter 5 Be Courageous, Be Forgiving 61

The Vacuum Law of Prosperity 62

Interview with Dr. Michael A. L. Eckelkamp 65

The Need for Courage: Vic Frierson 67

Summary 70

Addendum 71

Chapter 6 An Investigation of Fear 73

Fear Defined 74

Acknowledging the Predator 74

Good Cop 77

Bad Cop 78

Deciphering the Difference between Good and Bad Fear 79

Event Timing and the Conditioned Reflex 81

Overcoming Good Fear 81

Defeating Bad Fear 82

Fear and Morita Therapy 84

Fear Is the Only Paradigm of the Market 85

Personal Unconsciousness 90

Summary 90

Chapter 7 Overcoming Adversity and Anxiety 93

Turning the Tide on Death—Bob Williams 93

The Basics of Anxiety 99

The Bulkhead of Anxiety 108

Summary 108

Chapter 8 Cause and Effect 111

The Foundation of Cause and Effect 112

Cause and Effect in Trading Decisions 113

Altering the Cause Variables 115

Interview with Joe Ritchie 117

Adding on to Joe’s Words 119

Experience as the Most Important Cause Variable 121

Summary 121

Chapter 9 Emotional Intelligence: The Intuition Wild Card 123

The Roots 124

Emotional Intelligence with Emotional Identification and Acceptance 126

Application to Trading 129

Emotion Versus Intuition 131

Summary 132

Chapter 10 Developing Intuition 133

Levels of Intuition 133

Planning for Intuition 137

Developing Intuition 138

Incredible Intuition through the Eyes of a Publisher 139

Top-Down Processing 142

Intuition in Trading 143

Summary 144

Chapter 11 Expressing Gratitude 147

Gratitude as a Psychological Study 149

Gratitude and Trading 151

Summary 154

Part II Beyond Emotions 157

Chapter 12 Confronting and Defeating Stress 159

A Little Stress Is Good 160

Recognizing Stress 161

Matt McCall on Stress and Investing 164

Summary 169

Chapter 13 A Medical Evaluation of Stress 171

The Facts behind Stress, from Dr. Royce Peterman, md 173

Summary 178

Chapter 14 The Necessity of Relaxation 179

Sivananda Principles 179

Breathing to Deal with Three Stressful Moments 180

Summary 185

Chapter 15 Affirmation and Visualization 187

Affirming Ourselves 187

Visualizing Success 190

Summary 191

Chapter 16 Avoiding Self-Destructive Behavior 193

Understanding Why We Blow Up Leads to Recognition 193

Thwarting Self-Destruction and Cleaning Up the Mess 195

Summary 197

Part III Developing Your Game Plan 199

Chapter 17 Creating a Trading Plan 201

The Plan 202

Trading Plan Integrity through Philosphy 204

Summary 206

Chapter 18 Understanding Risk 209

Managing the Big Picture 209

In Closing 212

Summary 213

Chapter 19 Change Is Constant 215

Change Is the Only Constant We Can Count On 216

When Life Blows Up, Make a Change 218

The Law of Flotation Wasn’t Based on the Contemplation of Sinking Things 220

Summary 221

Last Words 223

About the Interviewees 227

Notes 233

Bibliography 241

About the Author 245

Index 247