00:02now the background when I was asked to
00:05make up this presentation it took me a
00:08while to decide what to talk about and
00:12since I have a finance perspective I had
00:16somehow to bring in some finance and
00:20more more specifically the psychology of
00:23fineness okay so here it is one of my
00:31biggest hobby is myth-busting Sal
00:34Viscuso myth-busting that means taking
00:38some concepts I've been doing that all
00:40my life you hear things a thousand times
00:42after a while you start believing it's
00:44the truth right and it takes a while to
00:48realize sometimes it's just conditioning
00:51okay so I enjoyed doing that with small
00:55things and big things so I will combine
00:57myth-busting with finance and I will
01:03give you the my statements in few
01:06minutes okay so I teach finance I've
01:10been doing it for 20 years it's funny
01:14it's fun can be boring sometimes but
01:18it's a very interesting topic I've done
01:20some research about it and for the past
01:23few years I'm also trading financial
01:25instruments you know what that means
01:27right and since I'm tea I'm researching
01:33I'm doing trading and I'm researching
01:36traders do you know that traders you
01:39know people who buy and sell stocks
01:41currencies right you understand that
01:44they the the the success rate is less
01:47than 5% that means if we have hundred
01:50people here less than five will make
01:53sometimes even less than that so why is
01:57that the question you know deserves some
02:00research now trading is very fun very
02:03exciting very unpredictable okay you buy
02:08yourself stock you hear some news you
02:10think it's gonna go up but it's go down
02:11you think it's gonna go down it goes up
02:13you don't understand alright so how can
02:15you make money in such and predict the
02:18predictable environment well the the
02:22trick is to get into the psychology of
02:24trading the mistake of some people is
02:27that they think there is some magic
02:29somewhere okay there's some magical
02:32strategies or this some magical
02:33indicator or magical formula I will find
02:36and then I will make millions of dollars
02:38but trading is very hard right for
02:41psychological reasons just like almost
02:44any field psychology is very important
02:46so let's explore that that the minds the
02:51mind of a trader of financial trader
02:54okay it's very interesting okay a
03:00successful trader has a poker face just
03:06like mine what is the poker face
03:12poker voice no idea well first of all at
03:20poker if you see successful traders
03:23talking expressing their ideas you don't
03:27know if they're happy
03:28or said okay you don't know if they're
03:33having a good time or a bad time they
03:35just have the same tone same face and
03:39they keep it for a long time to them
03:42being in the marriage of funeral is the
03:44same thing okay making money or losing
03:47money or at least in appearance is the
03:49same thing okay they they control their
03:53emotions okay you cannot stop emotions
03:57or things popping up in your head but
03:59they don't let these emotions control
04:00them okay they are highly organized
04:06and highly disciplined okay they wake up
04:11everyday at the same time they do
04:13exactly the same routine they don't
04:15think they work like like machines okay
04:20they they have the same working hours
04:23they have the same resting hours they do
04:25their exercises at the same time every
04:28day okay so they are highly disciplined
04:33beyond the normal person and in trading
04:42the characteristic of trading is that
04:43you make money and you lose money
04:45sometimes okay that's that's part of the
04:47nature of the game and to them when you
04:51see them a successful successful trader
04:54is you know when they win make money or
04:56lose money it's exactly the same thing
04:58you will find the same they will still
05:00go out there and do the same routine and
05:02do the same thing do their exercise have
05:06their dinner at the same time etc
05:08nothing really changes so I have to have
05:11this poker life they don't show their
05:12face okay and that's really the nature
05:15who let the characteristic of this
05:17personality they have also what we call
05:21a probability mindset and and here I'm
05:24about to get into my statement and what
05:27is the probability mindset a probability
05:29mindset that means they think in terms
05:32of probability and this is not very
05:34natural very few people can think in
05:37terms of probability what does it mean
05:39really think in terms of probability
05:41they don't think in a deterministic way
05:44like people who you know would like to
05:48have a fixed salary would like to have a
05:50fixed life would like to know what they
05:52will have for dinner tonight
05:55etc now these guys they can have a
05:58winning month they can have a lose in
06:00month etc so probability means that they
06:06get into something and they know the
06:08probability of success and the
06:09probability of failure just like when
06:11you flip a coin right if flip a coin
06:13what is the probability that you will
06:19so you don't know exactly in each flip
06:21if you will it will be head or tail
06:23right but you know if you do it ten
06:25thousand times what will happen it would
06:28be 5050 this is how they think so to
06:32them you have to keep doing the same
06:35thing over and over and over thousands
06:38of times in a very boring way without
06:41thinking to get their probability of
06:45success which to use v2 them is more
06:47than 50% right so it's okay if you lose
06:50sometimes you know you will win more
06:52than you lose but this is so heavy
06:55on to think in mind that it's you know
06:5995% of the people cannot do that okay
07:02usually because they don't know how to
07:04do it so these people they're not
07:08projecting in the future I'm talking
07:11about these people like they're aliens
07:13there are supernatural in a way they
07:15have no projections in the future right
07:18they they don't think about tomorrow
07:20after tomorrow well actually they think
07:23about it but it's it's not it's not
07:25affecting their emotions right they are
07:28here now okay they can feel their body
07:31did their sensations they can hear you
07:33they can analyze what you say in an
07:36unbiased way which is very hard because
07:38the mind tends to be projected in other
07:41things that are not here right this is
07:44the natural way of doing things to them
07:50nothing is a problem it's it's a
07:51situation everything is a situation
07:54whether we perceive it to be good or bad
07:55we are in a situation we have to manage
07:58okay so if the situation is what we call
08:03bed well I will get rid of it as fast as
08:07that translates into them when you have
08:09a losing trade I will not let the loss
08:12go very far away I will get rid of it
08:16now before the loss gets bigger okay and
08:19that's very hard to do because we don't
08:22accept a loss so sometimes we have a
08:25losing possession and we keep a losing
08:27possession and so it gets worse and
08:29worse and worse and worse okay when a
08:33situation is bad then you try to make
08:35them all or good sorry what we perceive
08:37to be good we try to keep it as long as
08:41possible make the most of it okay so we
08:45pronounce the good situations and we
08:47shorten the bad situations and this is
08:49the probability mindset this is how you
08:51win it's this is similar to what people
08:54say you know you do it over if you fail
08:57you do it over you fail keep doing it
08:59until you succeed it's kind of similar
09:02but it's not exact it's a probability
09:04way of thinking now the interesting part
09:09is that and here it's a little
09:13controversial because positivity is is
09:15really a big thing for everybody right
09:18well these guys they don't do what they
09:21do in terms of Passau positivity okay
09:23and I will go as far as there is a
09:25confusion of what positivity is because
09:28I don't really think positivity gets you
09:29the good things okay it's other things
09:32that will get you there positivity is
09:35more of like sugar it makes you feel
09:38but if since we live in a world of
09:40duality if you think about positive but
09:42there is no way that you can forget
09:43about negative things okay so it's a
09:46tricky concept so it's not about
09:49positivity positivity is the future it's
09:51not now these guys are not about hope
09:54again hope is similar to positivity okay
09:58I'm not really you know saying these
10:00things are bad what I'm saying is that
10:02they have a dark side to them okay
10:07positivity and hope can be very tricky I
10:10know people who've been positive all
10:12life and they really haven't done much
10:16but when you see them they're positive
10:18you know if you throw something bad at
10:19them they will look at it from a
10:22perspective and they won't interpret it
10:24as being good so they always play in
10:26this ping-pong game of good bad good bad
10:28you cannot think about bad and not good
10:32or think about good and not bad so you
10:34always play in this ping-pong game and
10:36it's very tiring believe me
10:37can be very tiring for some people okay
10:40so not positivity no hope so we replace
10:44this concept by clarity they have a
10:46clear mind what is a clear mind a clear
10:50mind is a mind that is here present that
10:53is not affected by the future the past
10:56by the hope no it's here completely
10:59empty and biased interpreting things as
11:04they are not as the mind thinks they are
11:08okay and we will replace hope by focus
11:12so into the world of trading in finance
11:16we change positivity and hope to clarity
11:20and focus in other words we want to be
11:23here and not there okay
11:27so what's wrong with positivity I'm not
11:31saying it's wrong I'm just talking about
11:33the dark side of positivity okay well
11:37you know that saying the people are
11:39positive you know that saying when life
11:40throws that you are limited what do you
11:42do you make a lemonade right that's
11:45that's famous saying for for the
11:48positive community which is almost
11:50everybody but the problem is is if you
11:54have a lemon do you know how to make
11:56lemonade if you know what I'm saying
11:57because there is always a gap okay and
12:01if life gives you what you think is
12:03lemon is it really a lemon because
12:05sometimes what you think is bad you
12:07think something happens bad to you you
12:10wait a little bit you realize it wasn't
12:12so bad because it threw you into
12:14something that opened some doors for you
12:17okay so it's always a mind
12:19interpretation what appears to be bad
12:22can be good in a longer perspective and
12:27okay so there is this gap well an
12:31example would be okay I want to have
12:35this nice house but I don't have a nice
12:38house now there's a gap and that gap can
12:44can widen why well because you start
12:49wondering how on earth am I gonna get
12:51the money to get this house right is
12:53this legitimate right so you can get
12:56into a vicious cycle of thinking that
12:58widens the gap and it happens all the
13:00time okay like what he just said before
13:05you know it's it's it's not because you
13:08think positive about something that it
13:10will happen okay because there is there
13:14is now a reality that is in front of you
13:16that keeps throwing you away from it so
13:19at the end it might get worse and this
13:22is what happens to most people that's it
13:24reality so it's not easy to manage so
13:28closing the gap is between what you want
13:32and what you see right now because what
13:34you see right now can be very bad
13:35according to your judgement okay but
13:40it's here so it's affecting you and it's
13:42hard to get away from it that's why most
13:45of the rich people are from family who
13:47have money most of the poor people are
13:50from families who do not have money
13:52that's the way it is because that's what
13:54you see it affects you all the time
13:55so the people who go from one to the
13:57other is because they they applied you
14:02know the very high self-discipline or
14:07some kind of self pressure self clarity
14:13that will call their what that got them
14:14to there and and it's really a minority
14:16we have to be real about it the last
14:20thing about positivity you know or
14:23before last thing is that you know
14:27positive it's positivity and hope
14:31willpower motivation these things need a
14:36lot of energy isn't it right
14:39you have to keep pressure in yourself to
14:41remember to think about this all the
14:43time right and this this you know in a
14:46sort of funny way can be fueled by sugar
14:48yeah I mean if you want to motivate
14:50yourself all the time keep repeating
14:52affirmation all the time keep doing all
14:53this and you might have to eat a lot of
14:55sugar because you need that energy it's
14:57an energy that you need that will go
14:59away so I know a lot of fat positive
15:01people I'm sorry about that but that's
15:03it's it's one of the risks if you use
15:06positivity in in I would say wrong way
15:11and it can lead to depression that's I
15:14mean there are scientific studies about
15:15this you know people tend to ignore the
15:17dark side of these things but there are
15:20some negative or some studies that
15:22actually link positivity to to
15:25depression why because this of this gap
15:27that I said the gap between what you
15:28want but you really want that what you
15:30have and that you cannot close by not
15:34closing it you can have some mental
15:36issues okay all right so we want to
15:42replace positivity and hope with clarity
15:48and focus okay so clarity and focus that
15:52means you are here okay not there I'm
15:56not in tomorrow I'm not in the other
15:58building I am here I'm watching you I'm
16:00trying to fill you I'm trying to fill
16:02the building without any bias judgment
16:07okay this is what clarity is I'm empty
16:10in my mind so I cannot just you based
16:12off of all my programs so I can judge
16:17this is what clarity is and of course
16:21focus goes with clarity that means I
16:23have to find a way to focus on you to be
16:26here right here right now okay so I
16:30really believe that you know a lot of
16:32people who make it you know who do good
16:36things they talk about positivity but
16:38somehow they have this clear mind okay
16:41and they add positivity to it and they
16:44have very nice mix but some people just
16:46cannot make it with positivity okay and
16:49they are not given the right directions
16:53into starting working on unclear in
16:56their mind before they can become
16:58positive okay so when you are clear it's
17:02not that you have no emotion that's not
17:04really exact but it's we are human
17:08you cannot stop thinking you cannot stop
17:11emotions but what you can work on is
17:14stopping or limiting the impact of your
17:17emotions on you okay and that can be
17:22done with some work okay so no emotions
17:29things are what they are not as I am I'm
17:33seeing you as you are hopefully not as I
17:36am not filters of my mind this is you
17:39know this is how traders make money
17:41because they are able to judge the
17:43market based on what it is not on what
17:47my mind is okay on what happened
17:50yesterday one week ago etc okay that's
17:53what clarity is I cannot judge things
17:56well if I'm positive positive is
17:58tomorrow no you know what I mean okay
18:01and these guys are single minded of
18:03course because they are very focused and
18:05they have realistic expectations okay
18:09realistic expectations and I think
18:14somebody touched on that is that you
18:16know it's things are not as simple as
18:19you might think you know for example few
18:21days ago or few weeks ago I was
18:23interviewing one guy to work in finest
18:27Academy for me and he wanted to impress
18:29me and he the first thing he said you
18:32have to hire me I'm the future Warren
18:35Warren Buffett I am very positive very
18:38you know I told him first of all Warren
18:42Buffett is not a trader he's an investor
18:43where he invests in financial instrument
18:46but he's not a typical trader and I
18:49don't like that much positivity and I
18:59wanted to say something but it's gone
19:01but anyways I ended up hiring him
19:05not because of him because because it
19:08was really funny because he knew about
19:10finance somehow okay but but you know I
19:14told him you know Warren Buffett is not
19:16an investor and it's not realistic there
19:18is only one what Warren Buffett there
19:20will never be another Warren benefit you
19:22know people like Warren Buffett Bill
19:24Gates Steve Jobs or whatever these big
19:27names this these people we call them
19:30statistical outliers I don't know if
19:32anybody knows what that means
19:34Siddiq alive even I mean just listen to
19:37Bill get he said he says that I am here
19:38because I'm lucky there's nothing about
19:41you know being positive or something
19:43okay of course if you do good things
19:44good things will happen to you
19:46but don't expect to become Bill Gates
19:48expect something good to happen okay so
19:53these guys that's what I mean by realist
19:55and realistic expectation you have to do
19:58your best you have to work hard you have
20:01to create expectation and objectives and
20:03expect to good things to happen but
20:06don't try to be you know something that
20:10is purely a statistical error okay for
20:14example I am statistical error because
20:17I'm almost two meters right how many
20:18people are two meters I'm the tallest
20:21guy in the building right that's that's
20:24what bill gate is you know it's like a
20:26two meter 20 basketball player you know
20:29you will have very few people that will
20:31get to that point and usually it's pure
20:33luck it's not success that is pure luck
20:37it's the extent of the success that is
20:39pure luck okay however let's remain
20:44positive right if you work hard if you
20:47do good things good things will happen
20:48but just don't be unrealistic
20:56okay now I will just finish by giving
21:01you talk you notice maybe how a little
21:04bit to become clearer first of all you
21:09know if since we're talking about
21:11success we enjoy success we'd like to
21:14well success first of all it's up to you
21:15to define it you define what success is
21:18for you if success is having a salami
21:20sandwich that's fine it's nobody's
21:23business to judge you right if success
21:25for you is to have a lot of money good
21:27for you just make sure that you don't
21:29have that gap that you can get there
21:30that the gap is not too strong for you
21:32okay so you define what success is
21:36then you clear your mind try to find or
21:39learn some tools that will help you
21:41clear your mind okay learn to live in
21:45the moment right now you know I want to
21:47be here not there I want to judge thinks
21:51as they are not as I am that's another
21:55way of saying walk the path of
21:56probability the path of the probability
22:00is repeating the same thing exactly
22:02without thinking over and over and over
22:04and over and over right and the
22:06statistic will be on your side at the
22:08end by probability you will win when you
22:12do it hundred there is nothing it's not
22:15a miracle it's purely mechanical when
22:17you repeat things over and over
22:18statistically speaking you will if you
22:20choose a good distribution you will win
22:22okay so it's not magical okay
22:28it's exactly like a blind box right a
22:33blind walks successfully by going this
22:36way then this way then this it's never
22:37straight bad okay that's that's the the
22:40the probabilities way of thinking okay
22:43well how do you pick have a clear mind
22:48well I'm sure there are many ways but to
22:51me I think the best way to just learn
22:53how to breathe it's as simple as that
22:54simple does not mean easy right simple
22:58just means that you know the path is
23:00very clear if you learn how to breathe
23:02I'm not necessarily talking about
23:04when you've learned how to focus on your
23:07breathing you learn to become single my
23:09if you focus on your breathing you are
23:11here okay so this is an exercise that
23:15you can read about it research it but
23:17it's it's clarity or mind care clarity
23:20is directly linked to to to how you
23:24breathe if you breathe well if you learn
23:26how to breathe you will have a clearer
23:29mind and maybe you'll become a good
23:31trader okay thank you very much