The Trading Doctor Update Janice Dorn, M.D, Ph.D January 17, 2006                                                          Genius is that energy which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates...                 ~ Samuel Johnson , 18th Century Literary Titan

It took speaking on a radio program Sunday to cause me to finally come to grips with something I realized that I knew. 

Well, I knew it, but really didn't pay much attention to it until a couple of months ago.  Driving back from the gym one night, it was surrounding me with sound.  After almost 10 years of rapt devotion, I had (with a couple of exceptions) stopped listening to and watching financial news programs. . It didn't happen all at once, but then such things rarely do.  It happened gradually and almost imperceptibly.  I just didn't want to hear any more.  It was like a constant barrage of words and images: this or that "expert" getting on money programs, talking every which way about his or her opinion and prediction concerning why to buy, what to buy, when to buy, why his or her system had the best track record, why people should put money with these guys or those guys or whatever.  After a while, it just all blended into a kind of cacophonous confusion that was not serving me or my trading in my fathomable manner. 

When did I actually stop listening to and watching financial news?  Well, I distinctly remember that I muted CNBC about four years ago and still have it muted except for "Breaking News" which itself is on the verge of being  muted since, at this time, almost everything is “breaking news.”  Anyone who watches Bloomberg TV overnight knows that every time some company reports earnings (and it is usually some UK or non-U.S. company of which I have never heard), the caption "Breaking News" appears at the bottom of the screen.  Hold it!   How much “breaking news” can we have?   Maybe all news, by definition, is "breaking" since it appears to be just happening, so maybe the TV and radio people should just have a constant drumbeat pounding out "Breaking News" all day and all night.  In any case, whatever it was, it felt like it was “breaking” my brain and I just didn't (and don't) want any more of it.

Nonetheless, I love speaking on occasional live programs on Financial Talk Radio, especially with a gracious and charming host like Pat Gorman.  Pat and his wife Linda are super people, and were kind enough to invite me to speak at Wealth Protection 2007 this coming March.  Needless to say, I am always thrilled to be on Pat's weekly radio show. I will spare you my insights into cognitive dissonance and move smartly along.  We had such a great time on the show Sunday that we are going to do it again this Sunday.  Instructions on how to access Sunday's show, plus a replay from this coming Sunday's show , plus details of how to get into Wealth Protection 2007 will follow.

But I digress.

What is wrong with me? I am a trader, so why wouldn't I want to be right on top of all the “breaking news” all the time?

The reason is that I am a trader.  How's that for circular reasoning. Is that circular?   Because I am a trader, I don't want to hear or see the news. I want to see or hear the reaction to the news or the reaction that occurred before they could get the breaking news in costume and makeup to get it on the air and show it breaking.  By the time I've heard or seen it, it's usually too late to make money.  By the time the market gets the news, the price action is already in there, so what good is it doing me?  Oh, yes. Of Course!   It is EXPLAINING (or attempting to explain) why this or that happened. 

Quite frankly, I am pretty much had my fill of people explaining why this or that happened.  Did it make money for me or not? Tell me that.  Tell me what is going to happen, BEFORE it happens, so that I can position myself accordingly.  Tell me how to be more flexible so that I can switch positions in a minute or get to take a couple of handles out of that movement as it is going on.  Or fade it, or fade the fade of it, or something. Tell me the now.  Please don't tell me the past.  The past is a memory.  Tell me the future if you can, but don't predict.  I mean, actually tell me something that no one else knows so that I can be there and ready.  If you can't tell me the future (which is a mystery), then don't tell me the past (which is history). 

That leaves us with the present, which is a gift.  Get it?  Present= gift.  That's not too trite or cute, is it?

What am I listening to on the radio these days?   Perhaps it's because of my love of dance and music and UltraWeekend-type house stuff, but I am listening to a great radio station.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) I can only get it in my car or in less-than-optimal sound over the internet.   Go figure.  It's a Phoenix radio station that I can only get in my car driving around Phoenix.  Why can't I get it on the radio in my home?   I have no clue why I can't get it on the radio in my home.

In any case, the music rocks, and people call in all day saying:  My name is so-and-so, I'm from here or there and I AM ENERGY!   I love hearing that because it is a statement of joy.  It is also the truth.  

A strong, successful man is not the victim of his environment. He creates favorable conditions. His own inherent force and energy compel things to turn out as he desires... Orison Swett Marden, founder of Success Magazine

People are actually admitting that they are Energy, even though they are spelling it slightly differently in keeping with the call letters of the radio station. However, every one of these people is saying a great and fundamental truth and one which the trader (and everyone else alive) may want to take very seriously.  We are energy.  We are pure energy and our energy is all we really have.

If you watched The Trading Doctor December Newsletter, Five Steps To Trading Mastery, you will remember that I spoke about five types of capital, and how to strengthen and preserve them.  What I was talking about was energy.

What kind of energy?  What is this thing?  Energetic vibration is the language of the Universe.  Modern science calls the energy field all around us "subtle energies."  However, you don't need modern science to know about this or to confirm its existence.  You have felt it, and, for thousands of years, religions and cultures have described the phenomenon.  it has been called by many names, including  Mana, Ka, Prana,  Ki, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, Kundalini Qi, and just plain Good Vibrations (ala The Beach Boys).

If you read the latest Trading Doctor Update, Your Most Precious Commodity or  any number of articles in The Trading Doctor Archives, including  "As I Lay Dying", "Trading, Life and Kindness" or  "Trading Competence",  you know that it is all about energy.   As traders and human beings, we are pure energy.  We have only so much energy to devote to the tasks which face us, in and out of the markets.

Just as the absolute goal of trading is to preserve and grow capital, the absolute goal of living life is to do so in such as way as to manifest and strengthen radiant mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health and wellness. This morphs into preserving and growing financial capital by trading well.   Living well leads to trading well, which leads to better living and better trading.  It is a cycle of energy flowing freely within and around you.  

One of the first steps toward successful and consistent trading and optimal wellness is the recognition that you are, first and foremost, an energetic being.  Like the markets, energy flows constantly and is always in motion.  Life is an energetic process and everything, from subatomic particles to your DNA and cells, resonates with its unique signature frequency.  As traders and human beings, it is imperative to do what it takes to unblock, release and balance our brain-body energetic forces.  This way we trade and live effortlessly and in flow.

The Einstein equation was simply a recipe for the amount of energy necessary to create the appearance of mass. It means there aren't two fundamental physical entities--something material and another immaterial--rather only one.  That is called energy.  Everything in your world, no matter how light, how heavy, how large, how small, boils down to a collection of electric charges interacting with a background of electromagnetic and other energetic fields... B. Haisch, from The Field by Lynn McTaggert.

The best traders do whatever possible to live life in energy balance.  That means getting rid of all energy “vultures” (people, places and things) and allowing positive energies (people, places and things) to flow freely through them so as to enrich, renew and restore.  I have heard the same story so many times: "Dr. Dorn, I don't know what to do.  I give and I give and I give, and I feel like no one appreciates me and I feel totally worn out all the time.  I don't have anything more to give.  I am just a total empty worthless wreck."   

That is absolutely correct.  That is a description of a total worn down mess.  This is the culture of victimization and entitlement. People believe that the more they give, the more they should get.   It doesn't work that way.  If you chose to give your energies, then do so with no expectations.  Abandon all attachment to outcome, and stop trying to get people to do things back.  They either will or they won't, and you don't have any control over that. 

It is up to you.  Give, give, give and expect back and you will be as a dead battery.  How is that working for anyone?

Give when you want to, or when some great feeling comes upon you so that you give with absolutely no preconception of getting anything in return.  If something comes back, it is wonderful and you get more energy.  If it doesn't come back to you, it doesn't matter because you didn't expect it.

Attend to your energy fields.  Watch yourself in your daily interactions.  Particularly watch the amount of energy that you burn up or that is stolen from you through the millions of bits of information that come hurling at you throughout the market day.  The choice is yours: You may preserve your energy or allow it to be dissipated like the drip, drip, drip of a Chinese water torture, slowly eroding the energetic foundation of your being.

The best traders are energized, charged and ready to go.  They have done what needs to be done for their radical self care, preservation and recharging of energy.  They, by the way, are your competition.   It's a game, and those with maximized energy reserves are fierce competitors.  Watch any sports event.  Who do you want to be?   The guy who is worn out after a few innings or the “energizer bunny” who just keeps going and going and going?

The best way to start conserving and strengthening your energy reserves is to get rid of toxic people, places and things. Make your life a "No- Energy- Vulture Zone."   That means friends, spouses, relative, cluttered environments, a trading room that you don't feel comfortable and happy in all day, and polluted food.  There is more than enough polluted food to go around these days, so beware.  What you put into your body is the kind of energy that your cells are receiving.  Garbage in, garbage out is not specific to programming.  It is indicative of and applicable to all aspects of life.

Other things you can do to rev up your energy:

§         Exercise daily to a sweat.  I mean sweat.  Detox.

§         Use colors like red or orange which cause your brain to wake up

§         Train your brain daily (if you want more on this, please ask me.)

§         Have sexual intercourse in different positions or places other than in the bedroom. 

§         Get lost.  Go outside and drive or walk somewhere you have never been.  Literally get lost and enjoy being "temporarily disoriented."   If you don't want to go outside, try taking a shower blindfolded or drying yourself with a towel in a different way from which you usually dry yourself.  Try it, and let me know.

§         Clean up the clutter, both in your house and in your brain.  “Defragmentation” is freeing!

§         Listen to the kind of music you love.  Don't use it as background.  Sit quietly and really listen to it.  Feel it  deeply and let it refresh and restore you.  Listen to music you haven't heard before.  The brain thrives on novelty and will give you energy in reward for the experience.

§         Eat clean, preferably organic, food.  My personal belief at this time is that intake of organic food causes a person to vibrate at a higher energy level.  It works for me.  Try it and let me know.

§         Cut out all junk food, fried food, fast food and most of the stuff you are attracted to as "comfort food."  These will sap your energies and put you in a mental fog.

§         Laugh more, take it easy on yourself, lighten up and smile as often as possible.

Traders need all the clean, pure, unfettered energy they can get.  You have the answers inside you.  The wisdom of your body is never wrong if you listen to it.  Really listen.  Open heart and mind.  Energy rocks!

I have to go for now, because I am dialing in to say: I am Janice from Phoenix, and I AM ENERGY!

Energy is the essence of life.  Every day you decide how you're going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal by maintaining focus... Oprah Winfrey