Visualization

Visualization

·        Mental Practice or simulation of an event

·        Suggesting a certain reality to our minds to make it happen

·        Designed as a supplement to regular practice

·        Using the same mental pathways as regular practice would, strengthening the connection

·        Used widely in elite performance areas like sports

Who uses Visualization?

·        Musicians, scientists, athletes

·        Mental practice enhance the work you are already doing but cannot be used to replace work you must do.

·        Peak performance in every field dream big and use mental practice

·        Major Olympic teams mandate their athletics work with psychological coaches

o   Mental Practice

o   Dealing with Choking

o   Setting Goals

Why does it work?

·        We are suggesting a certain reality to our minds

o   Suggestion is powerful: Mind – body connection is very strong

o   Placebo effect

o   Our brains can’t tell the difference between reality and imagination

o   Studies have shown that mental practice reinforces regular, deliberate practice

Visualization in A Trading Context

·        How does it work?

o   Similar Technology for different uses

o   Suggesting good trading behaviors and practices

o   Setting goals

o   Managing state and emotions

o   Reinforces good trading fundamentals, but cannot replace them

Simple Relaxation Exercises Example 1

·        This is the foundation of all visualization exercises.  You need to slow down and be able to focus.

o   The Routine

§  Find a comfortable place

§  Become aware of tension in the different parts of your body; let it go

§  Breathe slowly and deeply – a breath every 10 seconds

§  Progressively relax your muscles, head to toe, letting the tension out of every muscle, until you feel completely relaxed

§  Imaging your being massaged and all the good feelings

Simple Relaxation Exercises Additional Examples

·        Imagine a staircase taking you down into deeper levels of relaxation

·        Imagine yourself on a secluded beach, each wave washing against the shore is relaxing you

o   The rest of the world around you should fall away gradually

o   This is the state we will get into for all of our visualization work, especially at the start

Mental Practice Exercise

·        A mental walkthrough of good days work patterns and your emotional state

o   GET RELAXED

o   You and your disciplined trading day

§  Preparation and market open

§  Following the market and your positions

§  Imagine yourself putting on a position that meets your set up criteria

§  Imagine yourself cutting a loser

§  Imagine yourself taking profits

§  Imagine yourself reviewing through your review process

Points to keep in mind

·        Mentally practice the process

·        Imagine yourself doing things well

·        What kind of mood and emotional state do we want?

o   Calm, focused, “in flow”, feeling good and like you are super productive

o   Imagine yourself keeping this state in the face of noise and potential distractions

o   Imagine staying positive through adversity

Dialing up the intensity

·        Changing the representation itself dials up or down the emotional experience

o   With pictures, make them as big and bright and colorful as possible

o   Add in sounds – reassuring voices, music that pumps you up, a cash register or ATM sound

o   Play with feeling – change your experience to them, spin them differently, borrow other good feelings

·        Use dissociation, watching yourself to tone down the emotional impact

Example: Think of going on vacation

·        Now, change the representation

o   The feeling of sand under your feet

o   The sound of waves lapping on the shore

o   The clear color of water

·        Redo the first walkthrough, changing the image

o   Up the brightness, move the image closer

o   Add in good, confident, focused feelings

o   Add music, a cash register sound

Setting Goals

·        Goals must be measureable, defined, with timeframe and evidence of achievement – the “goals state”

o   SMART criteria

·        Imagine yourself in the future, experiencing the evidence of achievement

o   Your account statement shows your P&L target

o   Your % returns on your report to investors

o   Feeling good / sense of accomplishment

Setting Goals – Timeline

·        Relax and become aware of your memories

·        Your brain stores memory on a continuum, a timeline

·        How does your brain represent time – where are the past and future in the relation to you

·        What does your future look like?  Can you imagine event and changes that got you to that point

·        Come back to the present – your goal MUST pull you powerfully

o   Getting married, having children, traveling, freedom

o   How would you fit a new goal on?

Setting Goals – Timelines / Do this exercise multiple times per day

·        Float into a future date, hover over the date you’ve set for your goal

·        Imagine your “goal state”, float down into it, live in it

·        Look back in time to present, imagine all of the events and changes that got you to that point

·        Come back to the present – your goal MUST pull you powerfully