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How to Create a Morning Routine for Trading Success

Watch the Full Trader’s Mindchat Show interview with Mike & Melissa Lamothe here!


Author and Entrepreneur Tim Ferris said, “If you Win the Morning, You Can Win the Day.”  But how do we build a morning trading routine so that we can set off on the right foot to win the day?

If you are like me, you don’t yet have a morning routine.  Perhaps you are prone to hitting that SNOOZE button a little too often, or maybe you don’t even know where to start.  On our recent “Trader’s Mindchat Show” I chatted with Top Trading Mindset Coach Michael Lamothe to get some ideas on how to build a strong morning routine to work for you.  It all comes down to bringing more positivity into your day.

 

Here are 3 Key Ways YOU Can Create a Morning Routine for Trading Success:

 

 

1) Prime Yourself for Trading Success

There are many ways you can start your morning off right and set yourself up for a routine for success. One way to avoid that SNOOZE button is to try the 5-second rule.  Mel Robbins, life coach and entrepreneur, wrote a book called “The 5-second rule!”  It is when you wake up, and you are contemplating going back to sleep, countdown 5,4,3,2,1.  By doing that mantra it helps get you out of the bed and ready for the day ahead.

Next is to jumpstart your system!  Main idea is to prime yourself.  Something Mike learned from Tony Robbins event “Unleash the Power Within” is a priming exercise which involves motion, breathing and meditation.  During the meditation you are filling yourself with the outcomes you want to see, living it like you already lived it, and focusing on gratitude.  Gratitude can act as an antidote to fear. You can’t hold both emotions, fear and gratitude, at the same time. So focus on gratitude.

This isn’t the only priming exercise out there, but the key component is doing something that is going to help set you up for the day.  Mike’s morning routine has shifted over the years.  After he wakes up, he is drinking 10 ounces of water, and making that more of a habit.  Then he goes to the gym and does high intensity interval trading. Though that’s his preference right now, he says the main idea is to get up and get the blood flowing. This can be accomplished by going for a walk or a run, doing yoga, riding a bike, or any number of other exercises. There’s plenty of things you can do right in your own home.

To help with his morning routine, Jocko Willink, a retired navy seal, will lay out his clothes the night before.  He preps all this the night before so that it’s one less thing he has to think about.  You roll out of bed, clothes are there, and you’re ready to go!

Meditation is also a great way to jumpstart your day.  When Mike read “Tribe of Mentors” by Tim Ferris, he read that several of the people interviewed meditate using the Headspace app or do some form of  meditation.  So he started with 5 minutes, and then perpetually increased and found that he enjoyed it.  Now he is doing a morning and an afternoon meditation to balance and re-focus.  Brendan Bruchard does a a type of transcendental meditation using a mantra where you continue to repeat the word “Release” over and over again (checkout Brendan’s “Release” meditation here).  There are many different ways you can meditate, so it’s important to find the right one for you.

While all of these will help you transform your life, the changes won’t happen overnight. There are times you’ll slip back. Maybe hit the Snooze button. Recognize that there are bumps in the road and sometimes we’ll trip and fall. But the key is in getting back up.  Try one first and try to make that into a habit.  It takes approximately 66 days to install a new habit.  See which is the best fit for you.  If you want to try the MARA 66-day Challenge tracker to help with this process for your trading, be sure to get it here:  Mara-66-Day-Challenge.pdf (marawealth.com)

 

2) Weed out the Negative Media & Environment

Are you surrounded by negativity?  Are you glued to the TV and being impacted by the distressing news you are hearing?  This will play a major role in your market decisions since this fear propaganda can have a negative effect on you.

Negative news is being spewed out all the time. But realize there are two stories being told.  There’s the story being told in the media. But there’s also the story that the market is telling.  Mike prefers to listen to the market.  The difference is between listening to what people are saying and watching what they are actually doing.  If you’re looking at a price chart, that’s what people are actually doing and Mike focuses on that.  If we’re in a fearful state and started to think the world was ending, we’re not focused on what’s actually happening. We’re seeing the world through a fearful lens. We don’t want to see things worse than they are… we don’t want to see things better than they are either! We want to see things AS THEY ARE. …And we don’t get that from traditional media.

Therefore it’s more important to focus on what’s actually happening and we can do that by paying attention to the price chart.  Price is price!  It’s a reflection of the decisions of all market participants at that point in time.

When you see heavy volume coupled with a move in price it’s a sign of what the major players are doing with their money. We’re talking about the major hedge funds, pension funds, and mutal funds of the world. They’re operating with billions of dollars and they can’t move in and out of the market like we can. It takes them weeks and months to accumulate the amount of shares they want. IF we’re astute and pickup on their buying, we can ride their coattails.  This has helped many traders for many years.  It’s a winning strategy.

Have awareness of events and take headlines with a grain of salt. For example, it’s important to know when important events like earnings are coming up. If stocks X, Y and Z are scheduled to report earnings a month from now, Mike will have it on his calendar and know so there will likely be some volatility on those days.  Mike prepares for that.  This kind of awareness also applies top things like Fed announcements. There’s the story the media tells us and then there’s the story the market is telling. Have you ever seen the market drop on positive headlines? How about seeing the market rally the news has us thinking the world is coming to an end? Listen to the story the MARKET IS TELLING and you’ll never be too far off the mark.

It’s important to be aware of what is going on in the world, but do a self check first.  How are YOU feeling? The mental state you’re in can effect how you view things. And remind yourself of what your plan is, and make sure you review it often.

3) Build a Supportive Community

Do you have a community of people supporting you to help you when you need it?  Maybe you need a guide to help be a positive force in your environment, especially if you are surrounded by negative people in your life.  To be your best as you build a new routine, or lifestyle is to have people in your corner cheering you on. Especially people who have already been there, done that, and can help you when you fall flat.  It’s like running a marathon, you need a guide or a team to help push you.

You are the average of the 5 people that are closest to you!  So think about that for a second and do some reflection about who is in your life and who will help to propel you forward.

There are many great virtual opportunities available during this pandemic that can help you find the support you need to win the morning and build a strong morning routine for yourself.

One such community for traders is the Trader’s Mindchat Room on StockTwits.  This room is a supportive global community where like-minded traders share their ideas and Mike even goes in on a daily basis to share his ideas, plans, and support traders in the room.  It’s an environment where you are surrounded by people who are moving toward the same goal.  You will realize that you’re not alone and that there are people who will help guide you!  You will have a clearer path forward.

If you’re not already in the room, you can join FREE for a 7-day trial.  Click here to learn more:   TradersMindchat (stocktwits.com)

 

Get Ready…Get Set…Go!!

You are on your way to building your strong morning routine!  Remember, change is inevitable, but progress is not.  Progress is something we need to work toward.  And the way that we will continue to make progress is by having strong habits and building a strong morning routine to prep us for trading success!

 

Subscribe to the Mara Wealth YOUTUBE channel https://www.youtube.com/marawealth for more great trading education and guest interviews!

 

No matter how you get started, the most important thing I’ve learned is to start!  If you are interested in the market, this is the best time to learn and get your feet wet.  MARA Wealth is here to help guide you, so you don’t get kicked around as much as we did.  Click here to get your free 10-Step course download of The Trader’s Thoughtbox today!

And join us in the Trader’s Mindchat Room. We discuss everything trading and provide you with a supportive community to help you during the highs and lows!  You don’t have to do this alone!  We are here for you every step of the way!  Click here to start your FREE 7-day trial!

 

To continue crushing it with your trading, check out the following MARA blog posts:

The Four-Walled Prison of a Trader’s Mind

A High-Value Trading Process Sets You Up For Life

4 Ways to Boost Trading Confidence!