Introduction

PRELUDE

Hi, this is Mike Lamothe. Thank you for taking the time to read The Trading Mindwheel. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The process has been truly transformative for me.

The purpose of this book is not only to provide you with the basic framework for successful trading, the skills involved, and what it really takes, but also to show you how personal mindsets, psychology, and beliefs are interwoven into all aspects of trading. To drive this point home, I've decided to share with you some of my personal story-triumphs, failures, misfortunes, personal pain and suffering, and what it finally took to overcome those challenges and reach success.

What I've learned through the years is that at just about any juncture, things could have gone completely off the rails. Sometimes they did! However, unlike the movies, as long as we still have breath in our bodies, there isn't some absolute point of no return. There's ALWAYS a way for us to get back up, dust ourselves off, hit the refresh button, and carry on.

Enjoy the journey.

THE START OF SOMETHING LIFE CHANGING

It was June of 2018. We were gathered to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. A small gathering of close family and friends at my dad's favorite restaurant in Port Jefferson, New York, the Lobster House. After we ordered some appetizers and a round of drinks, with my three-year-old daughter, Lily, squirming in my arms, I held up a beer from a local brewery, took a deep breath, and stood up to say the following words:

Even now this is challenging to say . Dad, more than 30 years ago you rescued me from what could have turned out to be a really, really terrible life. You are my hero.

A few years ago I read this book called Your One Word by Evan Carmichael. The idea he had was that there's one word that acts as your guiding light. Your north star, so to speak, and I discovered that my one word was "Inspire." There were a few exercises in the book that led me to pick "Inspire," but until recently I didn't fully understand why. I've now come to realize that it came from you!

A big part of this "one word" concept was developing a credo. Three other words help you define your one word. I chose "Believe," "Perseverance," and "Love." Again, I was doing the exercises but not fully comprehending what led me to select those three words. And then, it dawned on me. .

Throughout my life, Dad, you've always believed in me even when I didn't believe in you or in myself. When you and Mom divorced all those years ago and I came to live with you, it was hard. I was told many negative things about you, and back then I believed them all. I struggled with those negative beliefs for the first ten years we lived together. Perhaps you were able to tell I was struggling by my words and my actions. But despite all that, you never stopped trying, and you never stopped believing in me. For a decade you persevered to be the best dad you could be, not knowing if I would ever realize how hard you were working or even show you an ounce of love in return. You showed me so much love for so long that I just had to tell you this-you're my hero, and you're the person who has made me want to inspire others. And I know I don't tell you this enough, but I love you.

Less than a year later my father died of a sudden heart attack. As much as it pained me to lose him, I was at peace because I had told him what I needed to say. I was filled with so much gratitude that I got to say what I wanted to say to him before he passed. So grateful that I didn't leave those words on the table. What I said in that speech I would never have said if I hadn't put in the work to understand my beliefs, where they came from, to shift my perspective, and to view what was once anger, guilt, and sadness from a traumatic childhood to now be important teachers. To understand that where we start out doesn't have to be where we finish. To understand that we have the capacity to begin these shifts in a heartbeat.

The most important things between us were said. He knew how I felt. He knew everything he struggled through meant something. And even as I sit here and type this it brings a tear to my eyes . and that's the thing-that's the important thing. Life and all of its experiences can serve us if we allow them to. It may not seem like it in the moment, but even the harshest, most painful things in life can serve us. It's crazy how small actions such as reading a book and doing the suggested exercises can lead to results far greater than we could ever dream of.

You may be saying to yourself, "That's an incredible story, but what does this have to do with trading?" Well, I'm glad you asked because the answer is EVERYTHING. It has everything to do with trading!

I decided to write The Trading Mindwheel because it is our beliefs that can either help us or hinder us with whatever it is that we wish for. Be it the ability to openly express our feelings, overcome childhood trauma, build a fortune, live a happy and fulfilled life, or simply trade better. I find it helpful to think of beliefs as you might an operating system in a computer.

Imagine, if you will, that you are getting ready to place a trade. You sit down at your computer, turn it on, and wait for it to boot. It takes a few minutes. but this is okay and totally normal to you. You're used to it. After all, this machine has served you well for the last 20 years, and as they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," right? It's been trusty, reliable, and comfortable, and you're used to it.

Sounds ridiculous, right? Who is still using the same computer from 20 years ago? But what if I told you that this is what most of us do with our belief systems? We continue to run the same old programming from 20 years ago. Perhaps it's time we take a look around and consider an upgrade!

This book is designed to help you discover and install many of the upgrades needed for successful trading. It will help you question and challenge the status quo. It will introduce you to the building blocks needed to lay the foundation for your successful trading future. We all need upgrades from time to time, myself included. The sooner we can admit that to ourselves, the sooner we can begin the process. If we're truly honest with ourselves about where we're at, it makes figuring out the path of how to get to where we want to go a lot easier.

Throughout this book, you will encounter many exercises. Just like my first book, The MARA Mindshift Guide: A Trading Beliefs Workbook, if you want to get the most out of this book, you must do the exercises. Skim through this book, and you'll still get value, but you'll be leaving a lot on the table.

Some simple coffee table wisdom my dad used to give me all the time was, "Always do your best." Has anyone ever told you that? It's simple advice, but how often do we find ourselves doing less than our best? Here's another question, How often do we find ourselves attempting to do more than our best? I don't know about you, but I've found myself on either side of that coin multiple times in my life. Funny enough, I've found it to be like a balancing act and one often leading to the other. Doing less than we're capable of and then scrambling to make up for the lost time, being gung ho for something new and exciting, rushing in without much of a plan or the wrong expectations, attempting to take on everything at once, and quickly becoming overwhelmed. Have you felt this way?

To stay on track, perform at our best, and achieve the results we're after, I find it best to:

1. Develop clear goals;
2. Develop plans to meet those goals; and
3. Focus doggedly on consistent execution of those plans toward those goals.

We'll discuss each of these-goal setting, plan development, and execution-in detail in later chapters. For now, think of goals as you would think of putting an address into a GPS. The more specific we are, the easier it will be for us to get from where we are to where we want to go. With clear goals, even when life puts up roadblocks and we get knocked off track, we can still find our way over, around, or through to get back on track.

You may find some of the exercises in this book to be easy, some of them hard, some of them quick, and some may take a while. All of that is okay. All of that is part of the journey. What I promise you is that it will all be worth it, and your efforts will be well rewarded in ways you may never have imagined.

In this book, we're going to leave no stone left unturned. I'm going to share with you everything that has led to my personal success and the success of the thousands of traders I've coached and mentored through the years. I'm going to share with you the ongoing efforts, strategies, and tactics we use for continuous improvement.

Maintaining success that lasts takes a certain level of tenacity and perseverance. I believe that we're all capable of this. That we all have it within us. And even if you're reading this and you're at a point where you're questioning if that fire within you has gone out, I'm here to let you know that it can always be rekindled, relit, stoked-and it can grow!

While this book shares much of my story,...