COACHING
FX
needed for soldiers fighting in challenging and ambiguous counter-insurgency zones.’
When you read through the list of benefits and the US Marine study findings it would be hard to find any of those abilities that you would not want to have as a trader; and the great news is that you can train yourself to develop them.
THE AWARENESS ADVANTAGE
“…without self-awareness, you would have little ability to moderate and direct
your behaviour... You need
“I am able to control only that of which I am aware. That of which I am unaware controls me.” John Whitmore
Stress Reduction (MBSR) course prior to deployment to combat zones and found that those who completed the course in comparison with those who did not showed raised levels of cognitive control, increased self- awareness, more situational awareness and improved emotional regulation.
The following are excerpts from the paper highlighting the benefits in more detail.
‘Extended their working memory under stress.’
‘Safeguards them against distraction and emotional reactivity and lets them maintain a mental workspace that ensures quick and considered decisions and action’.
‘Besides offering some protection to combatants from post - traumatic stress and other anxiety disorders, the mindfulness training enhanced the clarity of thinking
this capacity to free yourself from the automatic flow of experience, and to choose where to direct your attention. Without a director you are a mere automaton, driven by greed, fear or habit.” David Rock, ‘Your Brain At Work’.
A primary reason for developing your mindful awareness and attention is to raise your level of self-awareness to a new level, beyond reflection, to actually being able to notice your experience in real time, recognising in that moment the impact of your thoughts and emotions, noticing any impulses or urges that you may have and being aware of any habits that may be at play.
From Socrates to the self-help era the maxim ‘Know Thyself ’ has been banded around as a key principle to being happier, healthier and wealthier, to performing at a high level. But what exactly is it? Kevin Oschner, Head of Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Columbia University, New York explains it as “Self- awareness is the capacity to step outside your own skin and look at yourself with as close to an objective eye as is possible.”. Neuroscientists have coined this ability as having an ‘impartial spectator’ and former fund manager Tom Basso who appears in New Market Wizards by Jack Schwager provides an interesting insight into his own self-awareness in Van K. Tharps book ‘Super Trader’…
“In situations where I felt I needed improvement or in which I wanted to improve my interactions with other
FX TRADER MAGAZINE April - June 2013 31
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