What story are you telling yourself about your trading? No doubt it’s some version of the story you’ve been telling yourself about yourself, your past, your life, and/or your future.

As we live our lives, there’s a story line that runs underneath us. It’s an explanatory line that passes for inevitable truth, but is really just a story that we’ve accepted as undeniable inevitability. It’s a ready made repeatable explanation, excuse, or worse, a self fulfilling prophecy.

Some scarcity making examples are the following:

· They’re out to get me.

· I need to be perfect.

· There’s not enough to go around.

· Life is rigged and unfair.

· Only the wealthy can do this.

· Life’s a struggle.

· You have to work hard for everything.

· I’ll never be or have enough.

· If I’m not in control, I’ll be out of control.

· The government should do something about this.

· No one in my family gets ahead.

· It’s not my fault because of what my parents did.

· It’s all a case of blind luck.

Well, it doesn’t take much imagination to see what such story lines could do to one’s trading. I’ve talked with traders who honestly believe the minute they put on a trade, some force out there is committed to turning it into a loser. I’ve had traders suggest they have to have a perfect system and perfect execution in order to succeed; and, of course, they can’t create the system or even if they could, they can’t implement it. One trader told me he became uncomfortable when he was winning because he was taking money from others. He actually was relieved when he lost. Another trader was told by his father that only the big boys could succeed in futures. The trading explanations go all the way down the story lines, and seriously impede the trading.