The Power of Aligned Action in Trading
In this discussion, we are talking about the impact and purpose of taking aligned action! This term is relatively popular across many arenas and for good reason. It is really critical to actual growth and real movement in life and goal pursuits! To start us off, let's be specific about what exactly this term means. If you ask Google about aligned action, you will read: “Aligned action means your every move is connected to a future vision. The only reason you take an action is because you see its purpose in fulfilling the bigger picture. It's like understanding that certain threads weave together to create a tapestry.” Makes sense right? And, it can truly be on any scale too - from the grandest of big picture goals, such as all of our trading sessions, back-testing research, and psychological journal entries that have been directed action at becoming 7, 8, 9 figure profitable and impactful traders. But it also includes smaller, more mundane and day to day experiences, such as driving to the grocery store, selecting your food, waiting in line to purchase your items, and then taking your food home. These actions were purposeful to supply the nourishment you need in your home for you and your family. Actions aligned with a goal. So, it really applies to so much in life.
In the book Why should white guys have all the fun? by Reginald Lewis, this line really caught our attention, “Winning or losing is secondary to how you play the game.” We instantly took a moment to realize that the statement is in full alignment with the specific and strategic actions we’ve been taking to better our own trading game. The context of this quote was in a sports environment, but as we’ve pointed out before there’s a lot of parallels between trading psychology and sports psychology. When you can separate yourself from the emotions tied to winning or losing, go full in how you play your game, the operation of it all, then the odds of winning are in your favor. It's almost inevitable. One could say even better odds than sports because we are a one member team at least on the charts when executing and so we don’t have to factor in our teammates falling short. Our only job is to manage ourselves and honor our processes. Those of us that have been at this for quite some time know exactly what those are and it has everything built in to set us up to play our best game and stay in the game.
When our actions align consistently with our words, this harmonious energy can really cultivate trust, coherence, and authenticity, both personally within yourself and with the people you interact most intimately with. That congruence of mind and actions allows us to go through life with integrity and purpose, and build more genuine and deep relationships.
“When our behaviors match our intentions, when our actions are equal to our thoughts, when our minds and our bodies are working together, when our words and our deeds are aligned… there is immense power behind any individual.”
~ Dr. Joe Dispenza
So it’s really easy to grow complacent in life. We’re all adulting and that sometimes seems overwhelming, so it’s very common to stop taking action required for a constant renewal and transformation of one's mind. But we’re meant to change, evolve, and be brand new every day! Learning to trade really helped us be more mindful of this because it was such an undertaking and upgrade to our identities. The more and more we stepped into that new role, the more and more we recognized that same intense tunnel vision we took on to learn how to trade could be applied to so many more things. However, you can’t be wishy washy, you really have to put the pedal to the medal, chart your course and rechart it as many times as you need to while feeding your self-belief and clarity with your destination. If you want something different, you have to do something different. This applies to all areas of life: personal development, relationships, health, and of course I’m gonna say trading. We’ve had to stop ourselves many times and get over our pride and ego and admit when we are doing the same shit and getting the same results. If I want something different I must do something different, and you can kick start that even when you're not feeling and performing your best. In fact, that’s when it’s most important! It’s easy to plan and strategize when you’re on your peak, but when you’re in your valley, it’s easy to think you can will your way back to the peak. You can have feelings like ‘I was just there right’ and then your confidence takes a blow in an instant? You cannot just will your way back. It’s just not the case, this is where aligned action is needed to do the work so you can make your next move your best move. We love to say “there’s nothing to it but to do it.”
We really liked how author and speaker Steve Maraboli put it when he said: “Intent without dedicated action is simply not enough. Action without a clear intent is a waste. It is when these two powerful forces are aligned that the energy of the universe conspires in your favor.” When we can create specific clarity on our intentions, then we are in a position to take inspired, thoughtful action that is in alignment with your true goal - or “North Star” if you will. You can more quickly manifest what you desire because you’re clearly showing up and doing the work that is in alignment with the outcomes you want to attract into your life. And when you start moving in sync with these ideals and the plan you have constructed to start knocking down goals, it all feels so much more harmonious, easy, natural. Like the forces are lined up and urging you forward. There is a momentum to that energy that just feels right and powerful.
One question we like to ask ourselves all the time is: ‘Is this action serving a feeling or a purpose?’ This is almost like a quick self-check in with the devil and the angel on each shoulder right? You can apply it to all the things big and small. It’s really an exercise in being honest with yourself. Most people that love us will validate us even on our BS and/or reflect their own feelings onto us. We like to think that only we fully know what our purposes and intentions are that are going to either serve us or defer us. We always have that ability to tap into that inner voice that tells us exactly what we need to do. It’s not outside or around us but comes from being so in tune with or aligned that we can start to shorten that time it takes to recognize an action that is in true alignment with our path or something we need to give a hard pass and not another thought.
Check out this quote on this subject that really is a great analogy from Brian Tracy. It reads: “Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.” That’s a pretty clear visual representation of alignment that we loved! It made me think about the importance of aligning my short term actions with my long term goals. Each day just flows much more smoothly when we take small steps and follow through with what we know is gaining us ground towards our big picture dreams. We can cut the focus off barriers or fears or any negative worries and aim it towards the why and how of our life’s pursuits. This focus helps us steer away from the toxic or unhelpful wastes of time and into the productive and purposeful choices that make us 1% better each day.
Recently we took in this amazing conference on developing confidence from speaker Florencia Andres, and one big takeaway from that was to try and catch yourself doing all the things you are doing right instead of the few you are doing wrong! UGH, that was so very impactful and of course she explained how that’s just not the norm in society. Instead weaknesses and bad news gets all the attention and travels much faster than strengths and good news! Think back to our childhood, to how we came up in school. The meetings and talks were mostly centered around what we need to be doing better at or what we’re doing wrong, not so much all the things we are showing ability, strength, and talent in. We do this to ourselves even as adults because it's ingrained in us and something we’re really going to work to break free from. We are challenging ourselves to create our own personal success highlight reel centered around all the promises we are keeping to ourselves each and every day to better ourselves in all the facets of life as it’s a much healthier, productive, and empowering approach to aligning our actions so we can be, do, and have whatever we want. Practicing this act really reminds us of one of our favorite sayings “Where your awareness goes, your energy flows.” Yes please, we need all the good energy flowing, to me, through me, and out of me!
One final quote that really needs to be read on this topic is by entrepreneur and author Darren Hardy. It is: “The rhythm of daily action aligned with your goals creates the momentum that separates dreamers from super-achievers.” Ok, this, right?!?! We market mamas love a strong rhythm that feeds our momentum towards achieving all of our goals! Let’s all take that energy into our days from here and do what we do best!