Is Your Financial Thermostat Set Too Low for Your Trading Goals?

In today’s episode, we are going to be discussing the concept of a financial thermostat and how your default setting may actually be holding you back from achieving the trading success that you know you deserve! It’s no secret that trading is linked with money; if you think about what initially drew you to this industry, most people would agree that it is the allure of making life-changing money.  After all, what do we spend most of our days fantasizing about? How life as a successful trader would look like! Luxury homes, large bank account balances, exotic sports cars, and really, the freedom of time to do whatever you want whenever you want.  Now, if you’ve been with us for any amount of time, you’ll be aware that it is the logical side of your brain that actually desires and wants these things, but it’s really the subconscious mind that actually runs the show! So if your relationship with money is not aligned with your financial goals as a trader, then you will find a way to self-sabotage yourself and your results.  Our goal today is to help you identify what your default financial thermostat setting is and how to adjust it so that you shake out the beliefs that don’t serve you and replace them with those that will!  Your Relationship With Money  Before we dive into what a financial thermostat is and how to adjust it, we believe that it is important to first identify your relationship with money.  Every single human being has a certain relationship with money and as traders, the type of relationship that we have with money will impact the trading decisions we make regardless of whether they are in our best interests or not. A lot of successful trading has to do with planning your next best trade and waiting for the market conditions to align so that you can execute according to your plan. The issue for most people is that they are unable to follow the plan successfully and this is where your relationship with money may provide some insights into your own trading behaviors and habits.  The unfortunate reality is that if you have an emotionally unstable relationship with money, then regardless of how hard you work, you are setting yourself up for failure as a trader.  Think about your own thoughts and beliefs that come up when you think about money. It might represent things like social status, security, safety, scarcity, opportunity, even resentment. Did you know that a majority, if not all, of these beliefs, were formed during your imprint years up until the time you were about 7-8 years old? These beliefs were created by the things we heard, by what we saw, and by specific incidents we experienced as a child.  Most of us don’t know why we make the choices we make about money and wealth because they are the result of programs we run in our minds automatically based on the beliefs we learned during those crucial imprint years! So for example, if you grew up hearing things like "Money doesn't grow on trees" or "Money is the root of all evil" or you saw your parents struggle to pay the bills on a monthly basis, then your default reaction to material things might be "I can't afford that". This leaves a negative imprint on your psychology because you associate money with feelings of scarcity, pain or even resentment. In an industry like trading, where you have to risk capital, regardless of whether you want to make money or not on a logical level, if you truly believe that money is scarce then this will override your logical thoughts and sabotage your ability to follow your plan.  Now that we have covered your relationship with money, we can move on to the concept of your financial thermostat. What is a Financial Thermostat?  Your financial thermostat is actually very similar to a regular thermostat!  The thermostat is set to keep your room temperature within a certain range - so the thermostat regulates the temperature automatically and will kick in to ensure it