Knowing what you want is the doorway to getting what you want.

Knowing what’s holding you back from having it is the turbo charger to creating a life that you love.

“When you can’t wait to get up in the morning to live your passion you have aligned with your highest values and feel like you are fulfilling your life's mission.”

When  January comes around it can feel like Groundhog Day, where you seem to write down pretty much the same trading goals as every year without ever achieving them … until you finally figure out what's missing.

Wealth can't speak but it's always listening, we don't attract to us what we want, we attract to use who we believe we are. Who do you think you are?

What we believe we deserve determines what we attend to and how we attend to it. What we focus on determines which actions we take, and the actions determine the outcomes we create, in a cause-and-effect scenario.

If you are not experiencing trading success to the level you know you are capable of as yet, then your goal setting is the exploration into solving the puzzle within you to pinpoint what is missing, and then creating a performance improvement plan to bring it into who you are as a trader.

So, here are 3 common mistakes that stop traders in their tracks on their journey to reach their highest goals:

1.  Using Goalsetting as a dream factory of what you want rather than who you are becoming 

When I work through the goal setting process with my traders, I say to them 'Tell me your goals and I know your dreams, tell me your standards and expectations of yourself, your habits and routines for who you are becoming and I know what you will achieve in life'.

Dreaming up a goal and writing it down is the fun part and that is where the productivity stops for most. The real essence of goal setting is to create a process of identifying the areas where you need to grow and evolve so that you can reach your full potential.

Start small and build on a solid foundation: If there were 2 important changes that need to occur in order for you to be totally successful and reach your goals, what would they be?

Have more  in yourself? Be more disciplined? Break patterns of self-sabotage? Get over fear of taking a loss? Write down anything and everything that comes to mind. Most of them can be resolved if you would just acknowledge it and do something about it!

Use the wheel of life to help you identify 3 areas of life outside of trading that if you improve on those will help bring out the best in you for your trading.

Focus On Process: If The Process Is Good The Profit Will Take Care Of Itself!

Write down your goal, and then create an action plan on what you will do every day with no excuses in order to achieve your dreams.

Do you have rocky family relations that need to be addressed and you don't know how?

Do you feel there is more available for you in your career but you have been stagnating for a while now?

Are your finances in a mess? (Get the free Blueprint for Profits and Freedom ebook to learn how to improve your money mindset)

Is your health suffering? Many traders battle back problems that contribute to stress, they don't eat well enough which leads to fatigue and thus impacting their ability to perform at the highest level in the highly demanding world of trading.

Which are the areas of personal and professional development you want to address? Do you need to learn conflict resolution? Assertiveness? Learning how to make better quality decision?

Is your life balanced with hobbies and fun so that a bad day in trading is balanced out with positivity in other areas?

Whom do you call first when celebrating a win? When you need a ride to the airport? Who would come and pick you up late at night if your car breaks down and you need help? How is your relationship with your immediate family? Do you have a close circle of friends? 

Now go through the same process for your trading in the areas of mindset and skillset development.

2. Thinking Too Big Can Lead To Overwhelm

By all means, think big, but I question if it is useful to set a goal of making $10,000 a month net profit if you are currently only producing losing months. That can not only lead to overwhelm, but also promotes self-doubt, with that little voice giving you a lot of reasons why you will never achieve it.

Instead: Keep Your Big Goal As A Target And Set Yourself Up To Win Big By  Breaking $$$ Goals Down Into Goalposts On The Way To The $$$ Big Goal!

I found the most effective way is to use a % increase rather than a $ increase as a goal post. So, if you are currently making $1000 profit per month, set your target for example on increasing your profits by 10% each month.

Now use the $$$ goal as a feedback loop for the quality of your process. If you don't reach your goal, all it means is that your need to go back to the drawing board and explore what to improve in your skillset, mindset or if any area of your life maybe interfered in your ability to perform well.

Also, consider what resources do you need in order to be able to do what is required. Do you have any time restrictions, do you have any financial restrictions, are there still more techniques you need to practice the skill of?

3. Not Addressing Potential Obstacles That Could Stop You From Achieving Your Goals!

This is often the most important aspect and the most uncomfortable area for traders. Ask yourself what has stopped me in the past from achieving my trading goals? This might include time, money, not having the right opportunities, lack of motivation, procrastination, lack of self-belief, not knowing how to achieve it, or maybe you don’t know what has stopped you.

If you look back to the past with regards to not achieving your goals and failing to follow through on your plans, what patterns have you noticed occurring? For example, do you often put lots of energy and enthusiasm in at the start, then within a couple of weeks find you’ve lost motivation? Do you put off getting started for so long you just give up? Do you start too many projects at once, and end up overwhelmed and under-motivated? Identifying your unique patterns is key to changing them.

What about limiting beliefs? What you tell yourself can also stop you from achieving your most prized goals and visions. For example, if you have decided that this is the year you will achieve financial freedom through trading, but you have an underlying belief that ‘It’s impossible to make money in those markets’ or believing ’I don’t have what it takes’ (it doesn’t always need to be a thought, it can just be a feeling) those subconscious influences will sabotage your plans, you will miss the opportunities, you will never feel confident enough to pull the trigger and take a risk etc. Listen to what you tell yourself about what you believe limits you and then find a solution for it! 

Working on a new strategy rather than cultivating a new trader identity

In it's essence, the biggest factor that leads to lack of discipline is how we as traders relate to winning and losing. It is your money mindset that shapes the way you feel about your profits and losses. That's why there is no point in looking to the outside thinking the answers lay in another trading strategy, if you are not prepared to look within and realise "You are the strategy".

Your self-image will impact your values and your beliefs about money, and vice versa, your values and your beliefs about money are simply a reflection of what you believe about yourself and how much you value and respect yourself. 

It is your thoughts and emotions about money when you are in a losing trade and don’t want to take a loss or if you are in a winning trade and are afraid your profits will be taken away from you, even though your analysis tells you your trade is still solid.

List 3 things you can do each day starting now to move forward with achieving your goals. Maybe read 1 trading book per week, listen to webinars, or learn how to meditate. Enlist the help of a trading buddy, partner or coach. To establish your own accountability, tell them what you intend to do. This puts the power squarely in your hands to determine your results.

Take action daily and review your goals weekly. Many small steps towards your goal will move you towards the accomplishments you wish to attain. I have a strict schedule each day, like an elite athlete on what I will do to become a better trader than the day before. I always strive to be better than I was the moment before.

That's why I'd like to invite you to watch the special webinar replay "Why Your Money Story Could Hold The Key To Stopping Your Self-Sabotaging Trading Habits".  In this webinar you'll 

- Learn what it is in our relationship with money that has such a big impact on our daily trading decisions.

- Learn all about your money story and why your money story could the reason for all your trading struggles.

- Learn how your money story and your trader identity are closely intertwined.

- Learn how to find your money blocks and move them out of your pathway once and for all.

- Learn how to resolve all your trading struggles by creating your new powerful money story.

Click here to watch the special webinar replay.

 Remember, there are no limitations, except those that are self-created…and those you can change!

Mandi Rafsendjani

Your Performance & Mindset Coach, High Performance Trading