“I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.” ~ Muhammad Ali

The previous post reminded me about a conversation I had last week with Prince (a.k.a. Chartreuse). “Ugly“, Prince and I were discussing trading over drinks, dinner and then drinks again. Prince was fascinated by the fact that Ugly and I were trading stocks full time and was peppering us with questions. He wanted to do a video interview with us but we never got around to it. Perhaps we’ll still do it in the near future. There were a few things in particular that really piqued Prince’s interest.

The first thing was when I told him that I know nothing about the fundamentals of the stocks that I trade and often have no idea what the companies even do. Most people, when they learn that I’m a trader, think that I’m studying financial statements, economic reports and the like. They’re often taken aback when I tell them that all I do is look at squiggly lines (charts). That was very much the case for Prince. I wish that his reactions were being videotaped. To me they were much more entertaining than anything Ugly and I were saying.

We also got into some interesting discussion when I told him that I have more losing trades than winning trades. I think he was contemplating trying to trade for a living until I told him that part. But the real kicker of the evening was when Prince responded to something we said with a comment like “so you guys just focus on the present moment”. That “present moment” stuff is repeated over and over in my trading affirmations CD so I had to whip out my iPod and ask him to take a listen. Here’s one of the tracks from the CD:

He listened to about 30 seconds of the track and pretty much fell out laughing. He passed it to Howard who did the same. They asked me if I seriously listened to those affirmations and I got into some of the reasons why I do actually listen to them. As you all know, and as the previous post illustrates, having the proper state of mind is crucial to trading success. While I don’t necessarily like some of the things said on the CD (”You are favored by God to…”) nor the choice of background music, the CD does a good job of reinforcing important principles. I like tho think of it as audio CliffsNotes for the book “Trading in the Zone“. The CD (MP3s) is an excellent, and quick, way to reinforce much of what’s in the book.

I knew that playing the affirmations would evoke quite a response from the guys but I had no idea it would become the running joke of the weekend. Jeff and Adam, the video producers of WallStrip even got in on the fun. I’m sure we’ll be doing something on those affirmations at WallStrip. Prepare to be amused…

It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. ~ Claude M. Bristol