The Impact Of Belief On Trading
If the external environment can express itself in an infinite combination of ways, then there is unequivocally no limit to the number and types of beliefs available to be acquired about the nature of our existence. Put it in another way, there is a lot out there to be learned about. Hitherto, the nature of humanity suggests that we don’t live our lives in a manner consistent with this statement. If it is true that it is possible to believe almost anything, why is it we are always arguing and fighting with each other? Why isn’t it all right for us to express our lives in a way that outlines what we have learned to believe?
There must be something behind our relentless attempt to convince others of the validity of our beliefs and repudiate the validity of theirs. Contemplate that every conflict from the least to the most significant, whether between individuals or nations is always the result of conflicting beliefs. What is it about our beliefs that makes us so intolerant of divergent beliefs?
It might be that beliefs are not only structured energy but also energy that seems to be conscious, to the extent of having some degree of apprehensiveness. Lest, how could we account for our ability to recognize on the outside what is on the inside?
That energy has a degree of mindfulness, is a difficult concept to accept. There are abundant observations that support this possibility. To give an example, everyone wants to be believed. It matters not what the belief might be, just the experience of being believed feels good. These positive feelings might be universal. Notwithstanding, no one likes to be disbelieved. It does not feel good. If someone says they don’t believe you, a negative feeling would reverberate through your body and mind. This phenomenon is also universal. By the same token, no one likes to have their beliefs opposed or challenged. Everybody seems to respond in the same way- arguing for, defending your beliefs and attacking back.
When expressing ourselves, we seem to embrace being listened to. Contrastingly, it is difficult to be an open listener, sans thinking about how we are going to express ourselves the moment we can politely/rudely interrupt the person speaking. What is the irresistible force behind our inability to listen without waiting to interrupt?
Being around people with similar beliefs feels comfortable and secure. We go on avoiding people and conversations that are conflicting with our beliefs. Essentially, the moment we acquire a belief, it seems to take on a life of its own, causing us to recognize and be attracted to its likeness and repulsed by contradictory beliefs. Taking into account the vast number of divergent beliefs that exist, if these feelings of attraction or comfort, and being repulsed or threatened are omnipresent, then each belief must somehow be conscious of its existence, and this conscious, structured energy must behave in characteristic ways that are mutual to us all.
There are three characteristics you need to envision in order to effectively install the five fundamental truths at a functional level in your mental environment: Beliefs seem to take on a life of their own, and hence confront any force that would alter their present form, all active beliefs demand expression, beliefs keep working anyhow of whether we are consciously cognizant of their existence in our mental environment.
Beliefs repel any force that would alter their present form. We may not understand this dynamic as to how beliefs maintain their structural integrity but we can observe that they do so even under extreme adversity. Throughout human history, there are many examples of people whose belief in some cause or issue was so formidable that they chose to endure indignities, torture, and even death rather than express themselves in a fashion that violated their beliefs. This is an apt demonstration of how powerful beliefs can be and the extent to which they can resist any attempt to be violated or altered in any manner.
Beliefs seem to be manifested as a type of energy or force that naturally resists any other force that would cause them to exist in any form other than their present form. This does not mean they cannot be altered, it simply means that we have to understand how to work with them. Beliefs can be altered, just not in the style you may think. Once a belief has been forged, it cannot be destroyed. There is nothing we can do that would cause a belief to cease to exist or to evaporate as if it never existed. This assertion is modeled on the basic law of physics. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transformed. If beliefs are energy-structure, conscious energy that is aware of its existence- then it can’t be eradicated.
The easiest way to work with our beliefs is to gently render them inactive by extracting the energy out of them. This is called deactivation. After deactivation, the original structure of the belief remains unblemished, so technically it has not changed. The contrast is that the belief no longer has any energy. It has simply become lifeless. Without energy, the belief does not have the zeal to act as a force on our perception of information or on our behavior.
An example could be that as a young child many of us were raised to believe in Santa Claus, or the tooth fairy. In plenty of cases these are examples of now inactive nonfunctional beliefs, even though they are dormant they still exist in our mental system, they just exist without any energy.
As you sit, reading this, if someone were to come up to you and say Santa Claus was at the door you would treat it as a joke or as irrelevant. However, if you were five years old and were taught to believe in Santa Claus and it had a positive connotation, you would instantaneously be charged with positive energy that would compel you to jump up and rush to the door.
Once you realize Santa Claus did not exist, it did not demolish your belief in Santa Claus nor cause it to exist; it just took all of the energy out of the belief. It was transformed into a nonfunctional, dormant concept about how the world works. Now, you have two contrasting distinctions about the nature of the world that exist in your mental system. One is that Santa Claus exists, the other that he doesn’t. The difference between the two is the amount of energy they contain. The first is virtually lifeless; the second has energy. Ergo, from a functional perspective, there is no contradiction or conflict.
The key to effectively changing our beliefs is in understanding & consequently believing that we really aren’t changing our beliefs, we are plainly transferring energy from one concept to another, one that shall help us to fulfill our desires or achieve our goals.
All active beliefs desire expression. Beliefs fall into two salient categories: inactive and active. Active beliefs are energized. They have adequate energy to act as a force on our perception of information and our behavior. Inactive beliefs are just the inverse, for whatever reason they no longer are energized hence they no longer act as a force on our concepts of information or how we express ourselves.
As soon as something taps into our beliefs it seems as if we can’t halt the flood of energy that is released. This is explicitly true about beliefs we are passionate about. You may feel obligated to express your belief or not depending on your circumstances. As an instance, if you were speaking to a superior at work you might not express your belief at that point of time but perhaps you will when you get home to your spouse. Plausibly, you will just run your belief or argument using your internal dialogue. Some way or other, your belief gets expressed, notably if someone states a conflicting view.
What ensues when one or more of your beliefs are in conflict with our intents, goals, desires, or dreams? This conflict can have a profound effect on your trading. As discussed, beliefs forge distinctions in how the external environment can express itself. Distinctions by definition are borderlines. Human consciousness, on the other hand, depicts to be larger than the sum total of everything we have learned to believe. This expansive quality of human consciousness gives us the ability to think in any direction we choose, either internally or externally of the boundaries imposed by our beliefs. Thinking outside the boundaries is often cited as creative thinking. When we resolutely choose to question a personal belief we make our minds available to obtain a brilliant idea, inspiration, or solution to the issue at hand.
Creativity by definition brings forth something that didn’t exist beforehand. Frequently, these creative ideas can cause us to be attracted to, or desire something, that might be in direct conflict with one or more of our ideologies.
To overcome this frustration you must take the energy out of (deactivate) the old habits and beliefs and supersede them with new energized beliefs and habits. To deactivate the old habits and beliefs, you need to optimistically charge the new beliefs. This may require quite a bit of effort and time. Eventually, with each successive positive experience, you take energy out of the old beliefs and spawn positive energy for the new belief. If there are conflicting beliefs and we are unwilling to expend the effort to deactivate the negatively charged belief, then acting on our new belief shall be a struggle at the very least, perhaps impossible as well.
Even though the new system has a proven edge and you accept the idea of the nature of probabilities and you “know” the next trade is just another in a sequence of trades that has a probable outcome, you are still nervous. You are still vulnerable to several of your fear-based trading errors.
What is the origin of your potential to interpret the market information as threatening?
Your expectations!
When the market doesn’t conform to what we expect, the up & down movements seem to take on a threatening quality. Inevitably, we experience anxiety, stress, or fear.
What is the source of our expectations?
Our beliefs!
If you are still experiencing negative states of mind when you trade you must surmise that there is a conflict between what you “know” about the nature of probabilities and any number of other beliefs in your mental environment that are arguing (demanding expression) in favour of something else. Be mindful that all active beliefs demand expression even if you do not want them.
When you believe at a practical level that every edge has an exclusive outcome (it is a dominant belief without other beliefs arguing in favor of something different), you will experience a state of mind that is blissful (free of fear, stress, and anxiety) when you trade.
Up until we actively train our minds to expect unprecedented outcomes we will continue experiencing only what we know. When you earnestly believe that you don’t need to know, you will be thinking in terms of probabilities. Then you will have no reason to block, discount, distort, or deny anything the market is imparting about its potential to move in any particular direction.
