So How do Traders Break Their (Bad) Habits?

In my previous posts, I observed the process of recovery from addiction and that this process does not entail "unlearning" anything. Instead, it requires the addict to learn new behaviors and consistently utilize these behaviors. In so doing, he reinforces the new, adaptive behavior and by not utilizing the old, maladaptive behavior, allows it to atrophy. So there it is. Easy, right?

Well, perhaps not so easy. The process is long and hard. First, the addict must admit that he needs help. That he is powerless to change by himself. Usually, it means that the addict has hit a nadir or hit bottom. Only at such a time, when he is unable to lie to himself anymore, will he be motivated to seek change and be willing to put in the hard work that is required.

Here's a fun story. In the 60's, there weren't many options available to psychiatrists. There was Psychoanalysis, which typically took seven or more years of once or twice weekly therapy session. And even then, the patient wasn't cured, only better able to control the symptoms. The drugs available to treat psychiatric illnesses were terrible - full of side effects. And, when that all failed, there was electroshock therapy and frontal lobotomies! Remember Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"? This, incidentally, was when L. Ron Hubbard formed his hatred of psychiatry.

So anyway a grad student wondered if there were any people who had "cured themselves." He put an ad in the San Francisco Enquirer asking if there were any phobia patients who had cured themselves. He chose phobias because it was easy to determine the state of their condition. Phobia patients are "all-or-nothing." They don't suddenly, on the 20th floor, recall that they have a phobia about elevators. They won't even approach them. Just the sight of one will make them sweat! So this grad student put his ad in the paper and was surprised to find that there were hundreds who answered his ad!

And all of them told essentially the same story. After years of therapy and drug treatment and even electroshock therapy, all of which went nowhere, they all had an epiphany. They essentially had an out-of-body experience, looked hard at themselves, and said, 'Hey! What I'm doing is Stupid!" And the moment that they decided to stop acting stupidly was the moment that they gained control over their phobias. The moment that happened, they regained control of their lives. They still had some work to do, but they no longer required drugs, electroshock therapy or psychoanalysis. They had, indeed, cured themselves.

Now notice that they didn't say, "I'm stupid." When you say that, you admit that you are powerless and unable to do anything to help yourself. But saying, "What I'm doing is stupid" gave them a behavior to target and permission to do something about it. Does this start to sound like our addict who hits bottom and admits that he needs help? Or going to AA and standing up and saying, "Hi. My name is Joe and I'm an alcoholic?" In each case, it requires the individual to step outside of himself, shine the light of cold, brutal truth on himself AND LOOK AT HIMSELF. And if he doesn't like what he sees, he can then say, "What I'm doing is stupid."

This, in the field of addictionology, appears to be an essential first step. In the Church, one must first acknowledge the fact of sin before one can seek absolution. Then, one is given a penance to perform. In our case, it's a series of steps, of tasks, of rehabilitative efforts to gain full recovery.

So everyone. Stand up and state, loudly and firmly, "What I'm doing is STUPID!" Or "Hi. My name is ... and I'm acting stupidly." AND TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT YOURSELF. It's not enough to just go through the motions. You have to really look at yourself, really commit to the statement, and really commit to the long, hard, effortful process upon which you must now embark. To do anything else is to delude yourself into thinking that you can get a "quick fix" and then go on with your life, untroubled. There is no free and easy cure. That is what Trader's Coaches promise you with their five or six 30-minute "coaching sessions" - over the phone! And for thousands of dollars! (Sound like psychotherapy?) They may even throw in some "motivational" tapes or relaxing music to help you along (sound like the old, ineffective drugs?) Let's hope the next step is not electroshock or lobotomy!

The point is, that you must be willing to put in the work to make a change. I've spent the time in all my previous posts to lay the groundwork so that you will see and know what the steps are, how long it will take (many, many repetitions) and how much effort it will take to force yourself to avoid the old behavior and repetitively reinforce the new.