According to a study done by the University of Bristol, about 78% people who set New Year resolutions fail. So, ever since 2007 I haven’t worried about committing to “new years resolutions”. And every year since then has been more fun and productive than the last.

In this post I’m going to lay out the 3 steps I use to make each year even better than the last…

Step 1 – Write Down Your “Top 10 Experiences” From This Year

Can you think of a few big things you did this year? Instead of starting the year by making big promises to yourself about changes you’ll make, why not take a minute to reflect on the some fulfilling experiences you had over the past 12 months? After all, gratitude plays the biggest factor in someone’s level of happiness.

Here’s an example of my top 10 list for 2011:

1. Trekked the Himalayals in Bhutan - My biggest physical challenge of 2o11 was a trek through the Himalayan Mountains with Outward Bound International. My first time above 16,000 feet was tough but very rewarding.
2. Hosted a 7 day trading seminar - We had our first week long trading event in Austin, Texas for Emini Academy students.
3. Hiked part of the Appellation Train with my Dad – This is my highlight of the year! There’s nothing more rewarding than “surviving” and connecting with my Pops while disconnected in a beautiful part of the country.
4. Launched a new Real Estate company - I partnered with one of the biggest real estate investors in Texas to take advantage of this depressed real estate market.
5. Learned important lessons about hiring and firing – I like to consider myself a great vision planner, but not a great manager. I’ll be posting about some of the top lessons I’ve learned when hiring and managing team members.
6. Hosted 2 mastermind meetings for top trading companies – The New York and Las Vegas mastermind parties turned out to be great times and extremely productive.
7. The birth of my nephew – My sister keeps popping out amazing kids. It’s keeping my parents off my back, for the time being.
8. Kicked-back in the U.S. Virgin Islands - My fiance and I took a pre-honeymoon on St. Thomas and some other Virgin Islands. It’s definitely underrated!
9. Wrestled tigers in Thailand - Before setting off into the Himalayas I got to jump into a pit with over a dozen full-sized tigers.
10. Started 3 other projects with top-level entrepreneurs

Step 2 – Plan for Your “Top 10 Opportunities & Experiences for the Coming Year”

Forget setting meaning less goals. Achievement is great, but at the end of the day the most important thing is experiencing life! Making a million dollars doesn’t mean much if you didn’t enjoy the process.

So, instead of worrying so much about the end result, why not start by imagining what the experiences are going to be like?

Here’s an example list from some of my possible opportunities and experiences for 2012:

1. Implement the latest trading technology into our futures trading strategies and software
2. Help create solutions for would-be home buyers that can’t buy and desperate sellers who are upside down on their homes. Create a massive real estate portfolio and income stream in the meantime.
3. Get married!
4. Enjoy the process of increasing my trading skills and kicking off a trading journal to help other traders learn from my mistakes and breakthroughs.
5. Take 3-4 months away from “producing” to experience new cultures, people, and food
6. Learn to ski in Vail, Colorado with my new wife
7. Continue to build my team of bad-ass key players by filling 3 key positions
8. Publish and launch “project-x” for active traders
9. Evaluate big opportunities each week and be flexible and open to ideas
10. Start one new passion project that helps an emerging segment of entrepreneurs

Step 3 – Create a Plan for Hunting for Opportunities Every Day

Day traders are constantly hunting for “high profit potential trades”. In other words, they’re constantly on the prowl for trades they know have a high probability of winning. The concept of “hunting for opportunities” can apply to any area of life for entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone who wants to grow.

There are a million and one reasons why only 12% of people actually follow through on their New Years Resolutions. Overwhelm, lack of focus, and procrastination are among the biggest reasons. But I think most people just get bored with chasing meaningless or difficult tasks.

How much better would your life be if you stopped chasing and started living? I think the difference between frustration and freedom starts with the quality of your questions. For example, check out these questions that could turn your focus from goals to living:

• What’s the one thing I could do to make today a great experience?
• What am I taking for granted or ignoring that could lead to huge growth?
• Why am I spending time on this right now? Is it bringing me closer to my vision?

I hope you have the best year yet. And feel free to leave me a comment if there’s anything else you like to do to prepare for a coming year.

The “work-life balance” says you should separate your business life  and personal life.  It says you should focus some time on your work life and some in your personal life.  Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s not possible for entrepreneurs to operate that way.  For business owners, their business is their life.  Now, that doesn’t mean someone has to be a slave to their business. Quite the opposite actually…

Working in Sprints – Keeping Life Exciting and Motivating

“But what about the four hour work week Chris?  You’re a huge proponent of that idea.  Is that lifestyle really possible?”, my buddy asked me at dinner last night.  As much as I love to travel and spend as time “off the grid”, it’s impossible to only work 4 hours a week every week and develop, build, or create something of value.  It takes a tremendous amount of focus and energy to create a cash-flowing business, develop a skill like day trading, or put together a high-performance team of employees.

My “work” strategy is similar to the way a sprinter competes.  I take long breaks and plenty of me time, but there are short bursts of intense-focused activity.  For example, after I got back from my month in Australia, I went on a 90 day business sprint where I launched a new company, coordinated a major launch, and published two experts.

Next, I’m breaking away from the daily grind by flying out to Bejing, China… then hopping over to the pristine mountain ranges of Bhutan for a 70-mile trek through the Himalayas.  I’ll get to re-group and plan out my next sprint all while meditating with some Buddhist Monks.

For me, this sprinting routine is the best way to keep my life exciting.  I always have something to look forward to that isn’t the same mundane routine of going to an office.  There’s always room to grow and expand, and always time to do and experience incredible things around the world.

Today we arrived at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for the 2010 Futures and Forex Expo.  As I was walking around the casino floor, I couldn’t help but think about the ironic similarities between the casual gamblers and most day traders.

The correlation between gamblers and most day traders

There was a guy sitting next to me at the Blackjack table; I could see the hope and anticipation in his eyes.  First, he gets a 7 which doesn’t get anything but a mild frown.  Second, he lands a 4.  His eyes light up like a slot machine that just hit a jackpot!  As a fellow “participant”, I can’t help but cheer him on when he doubled down.  Boom, the dealer slams down a King.  ”21 baby!”, he shouts.

It wasn’t a split second after his big hit that I realized how ridiculous his (and my) enthusiasm was about the prospect of making money at the Blackjack table.   Sure, one can play a strategy that has the best odds… but ultimately, the house has the edge.  After all, the Vegas strip wasn’t built making gamblers rich.  Some people don’t even know the rules of Blackjack, let alone have the confidence that they’re playing a winning strategy.  Yet some still have this unrealistic hope that they’re going to make a fortune sitting at that table.

Almost every day I talk to traders who are day trading FOREX or swing trading e-mini futures, who don’t know if their strategy has a possible positive expectancy.  Some traders know their trading system isn’t winning, but out of sheer desperation and not having any better options, continue to risk their capital.

Now I’m not bashing the excitement of gambling or denying the fact that some people make money gambling.  In fact, next to poker, Blackjack is my favorite “training game” to get me ready for trading.  I don’t sit down expecting to quadruple my money (even though it’s happened more times than once).  No matter if it’s trading eminis or gambing, the end result is the same: to make money.

The only way to run your business like a successful day trader

So, I think we should all take a step back and realize the only true way to become successful at this game of odds.  We have to become the house!  It’s vital that we find an “edge”, or something that shows you a profit potential.  Now I’m not talking about just over optimizing for historical conditions like the piece of junk trading robots.  I’m talking about using a trading strategy that gives you a statistical edge over other market participants, properly managing your risk and profits, and developing your skill to execute your strategy in the live market.  It’s easier said than done.

The market needs participants with the “gambler” mindset.  In the end, it’s the emotional decisions of the irrational traders that feed the small minority of profitable day traders.

There’s a lot of great information about Trading Psychology.  One person whom I have a lot of respect for is Dr. Brett Steenbarger.  His blog has been instrumental in developing a proper trading mindset over the years.

Apply Trading Psychology for consistent profits

So, after a single negative trading day last week, I’m back strong… I had an idea about what the market could do today based on some longer term charts.  Just to reiterate, I don’t care what happens intra-day on the monthly, daily or 60 minute chart.  But it gives me a good high level overview that can create a nice objective bias.

How we apply Trading Psychology in our professional trading group…

As I mentioned in our trading room this morning, you have to use trading psychology by learning to think one or two steps ahead of the market.  Basically, look at trading like a chess game.  Here’s what that means to me…

When I’m looking to get in a trade, I want to see the trade hit my target before I even get in the market.  If I can’t see the potential for the trade to work out, then I just sit on my hands.  Doing this gives me really strong conviction in my trade, and the confidence to hold for the target. 

A few students asked me how to develop a strong trading psychology and the ability to “think two steps ahead of the market”.  And the simple answer is this: practice, repetition, and burning those damn images into your mind.  You have to be able to close your eyes at any given moment and “define” a winning trade in your own mind’s eye.  I think about this stuff so much that I dream about it… dead serious!  And in some dreams I can actually feel the emotions and physical sensations of what it’s like to be in a trade.  If you gain control over trading psychology, then your day to day decisions making in the live market will become so much easier!

Learning to manage your trading psychology and mental state game is a process

There are no short-cuts…  Only dedicated study to develop your craft.

Trading is a business and performance activity that must be measured over the long-term, but managed on a trade-by-trade, micro level.  For example, your main goal should be to come out net profitable over a period of trades, days, weeks, or months.  It doesn’t really matter if you win any single trade, only if you win over time.  On the other hand, you must make sure you execute each trade to the best of your ability.

Just like in poker, you’ll win some hands and lose some.  You’re not trying to take the entire table’s cash on every single trade, and you shouldn’t try and do that with the market either.  Instead of looking for the daily grand-slam, go for consistent base hits.  And if you work on a winning strategy, good risk management, and stay disciplined, you’re chances of being profitable are infinitely greater than shooting from the hip.

Don’t be over-eager to get into a trade.  If you open your trading platform too anxious to place a trade, chances are you’ll get yourself into a less-than-optimal situation.  So just sit back and relax; your trade could be right around the corner.  I always like to start with a prime trade; something I feel really confident about.  Just to reiterate, I don’t care if that trade works or not, I just want to gain self-confidence and know that I’m executing on my plan.  And when I’m in the zone, you don’t want to be on the other side of my trades.  So, when you get a “prime setup”, play them with confidence.  And play them as if they have the potential to be a grand-slam.  Not every trade will turn out to be a huge winner, but give it a chance to show you if it’s going to turn into one.  On the other side, if the trade starts to fizzle out, then don’t get attached by hanging on.  Get comfortable with scraping trades and getting ready for the next.

Don’t think about the money when trading.  Instead, focus on your performance and execution on every trade.  Of course you need to consider the risk on a trade, but your intra-day focus should be on your technical strategy and management plan, not if you’re positive or negative at that current moment. It’s possible to be winning, but trading poorly.  Sooner than later, it will catch up with you.

Ask yourself this question: “Is self-control really that hard?”  A lot of people slave away for 40, 50, 60 or more hours a week, often doing jobs they hate.  All you have to do is sit on your hands when the deck isn’t stacked in your favor, then play strong when they are.  This is often the most difficult part of trading for a lot of traders.  A person can be disciplined for 95% of the month, then have a temporary moment of laziness that can wipe out a major portion of their profit.  So, you must play like a professional until the game is over!

After a profitable trading morning session,  I decided to take the afternoon off to enjoy some time in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina.  And as I was sipping on some “cafe con leche”, the markets were going into a state of panic and confusion.  Within 30 minutes the DOW fell about 1,000 points, which dipped below 10,000 (around $9,869), then capitulated back up to $10,520 for a loss of $347.80 (3.2%) on the day.

I can only guess as to why it happened… CNBC says there was a mistake made by a Citibank trader, who’s fat finger hit “B” for billion, instead of “M” for million, which assisted in a huge sell-off in Proctor & Gamble’s stock.  Also, there’s been a lot of talk about the financial crisis in Greece and other European countries.  I think all that mess, mixed with emotional selling and stops being hit, sent the market into a frenzy.  

Cramer was live on the air when the Proctor and Gamble sell-off hit.  Historically, I haven’t been a Cramer fan, but I gotta hand it to him.  He made a very timely call live on the air to buy PG at a $49.25 bid, and in less than 3o seconds it was back up to $60.  I’m sure a few quick traders made an easy six figure profit.  Here’s the live Cramer video.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been talking about why we should see a some downside moves in the markets.  As I’ve mentioned on the Emini Academy Blog recap videos, we’ve been in an extremely over-exuberant bullish run since early February of this year.  We’ve seen both retail and institutional investors buying the hell out of the market, which we knew could not be sustained forever.  And as we approached the 61.8% retracement of the bear run from 2008 and 2009, we put in a nice head and shoulders reversal pattern.  We also saw professional traders get net short on the futures markets toward the end of March (another sign that a reversal was coming).  And as the retail investors were buying into resistance, the pros were selling down to support, which made for some nice oscillations and increased volatility.

I think today was a wake up call for people who had a unreasonable bullish bias on the markets.  In only a few short days, we saw the market dip to lows of the year, taking out a lot of stops on the way down.  Who knows what will come out of this craziness?  I’m sure we’ll see some investigations, speculation, and maybe even some regulation… but for the time being, I’m going to stay focused on what I do best and stick to my intra-day trading plan, and let the news anchors stress about where the markets are headed.

Stay profitable, disciplined, and sharp…

Until next time.

- Chris Dunn
E-mini Day Trader & Founder of the Emini Academy

Well, we made it down to Buenos Aires, Argentina and just got through our first trading day.

Well, it’s been a few months since I’ve been out of the country. Ever since our last trip to Costa Rica, I’ve been hacking away at the e-mini futures markets. Also, I’ve been immersed with our MAP Mastery class, which is a group of 30 traders who have invested 95 days to learn how to trade the MAP Trading Strategy.

Anyway, we kicked around a few ideas for our next trading trip, and the winner for this time of the year is Buenos Aires, Argentina! We chose Buenos Aires for a few reasons… First, it’s known as the “Paris of the south”. The rich culture and European influence makes for a really cool experience. Next (and most importantly), the internet is fast and reliable enough to day trade e-minis. We’re taking a few air cards just in case the main cable goes out, but I think we’ll be just fine.

Also, I’ve been wanting to improve my trading via laptop. I usually trade with two 22″ monitors, but I’m only taking a 15″ laptop with an extra 17″ monitor. It takes a day or two to get adjusted, but becomes natural after pegging a few trades.

We locked down a really sweet apartment right in San Telmo. This town square we’re staying around is where tango music was invented. I might end up looking like a dork, but I figure I’ll give it a shot. After all, when in Rome… or Buenos Aires.

So, any ideas where we should head in the summer? For our next trip, we were thinking about Italy or Ireland. I’ve never traded from Europe before, and I’m curious to see how the time change effects my game. Anybody have any experience with this?

Until next time…

Hey folks… We’re back from Costa Rica and we had a blast!  Not only did I accomplish my top-secret mission, but we got to do a bunch of cool stuff in the meantime.

I can’t think of anything cooler than day trading on the side of a volcano, then surfing in the Pacific the next day… that’s definitely the life for me!  And we’re already planning an extended stay back down there.  I always joke about trading from a tiki-hut in paradise… well, it’s come true.

Here’s a quick video with some pictures… and life lessons.

Many traders are their own worst enemies. How is it that Trader A can use the same system as Trader B, but they both see different results?

The answer lies in their execution, which stems from their self-talk. Webster defines self-talk as “one’s constant internal conversation.” Whether you realize it or not, you’re always talking to yourself. And the conversation going on in your head often dictates your actions.

For example, if you’re frustrated because you just had two losses in a row, then your self-talk may go something like this: “I can’t believe this damn market took out my stop twice, and then moved in the direction of my trade by 5 points each time! Either this trading system is awful or the market is out to get me!” Chances are, the next time you go to trade, you’ll remember the conversation you had earlier with yourself and miss out on a trade that could make up for your losses and then some.

To make sure you are using appropriate self-talk, I want to tell you exactly what NOT to say. Following is a list of the top five things a day trader should never say (out loud or internally):

1. “Ah, who cares? It’s only a sim trade.”

You must treat every trade as if you have $1,000,000 on the line. If you trade differently with Monopoly money than you do with your cash account, your trading results will always be inconsistent. To make matters worse, you’ll even develop some horrible habits. Trading can be a great business, but only if you respect it and treat it as one.

2. “I just know this market is going up (or down).”

Have you ever “just known the market’s going up”?  Emotional biases like those are deadly to your trading confidence.  In fact, what typically happens when you become stubborn and focus on one side of the market?  For many, the market punishes their wild behavior.

3. “This market always stops me out.”

If you say it, it shall be so. If you focus on “how bad it is,” you’ll just get more of the same. You must first come to terms with the fact that losing is a part of trading. Sure, people have had winning streaks that have lasted weeks, but eventually we all lose. If you’re losing more than you’re winning, go back and find out if it’s system or execution error.

4. “I’m down $500 for the day. I have to go back and make it up.”

Trying to “dig yourself out of a hole”  can lead to revenge trading.  Sometimes the best trade is no trade.  And the best time to shut it down is typically when the market isn’t cooperating.  One of the worst things you can do is try to “force” the market.

5. “This trade setup doesn’t meet my rules, but I’ll take it because I’m bored. 

Boredom is one of the top killers of traders. If you take trades just to do something, you’ll surely end up sorry. Just keep this in mind: You don’t need to be in a long or short trade to be actively trading. Being “flat” is a position, and sometimes the best one. Never take a trade because you’re feeling unproductive. Get up and get a glass of water, do some push-ups, or take the dog out.