Daily positive affirmations are short statements that help you become the trader (and person) you want to be.
Affirmations are a powerful tool that's used by successful people in business, pro sports and many other professions.
This post will show you how to create empowering positive trading affirmations of your own, or you can simply use one of the 19 affirmations listed at the bottom of this page. You will also learn how to use them to get the best possible results.
How Affirmations Work
Affirmations are conscious phrases that gradually overwrite your subconscious programming.
There are many external influences that have contributed to your positive and negative subconscious programming. As a result of these influences, there are things that you have been telling yourself over and over, for years.
These statements get deeply engrained in your subconscious and become part of your identity and reality.
Here are some positive examples:
- “I'm capable of anything.”
- “I always find a way to make it work.”
- “I have many wonderful friends.”
- “I always find the perfect teachers when I want to learn something.”
If you keep telling yourself these things over and over, you'll believe them.
…and they ultimately become your reality.
These programs have been running deep in our brains for our entire lives, and many times we don't even realize that they are there.
The only clue that there's a negative program running, is when we aren't getting what we want in life. This is what forces us to stop living on autopilot and be more mindful of what's going on.
Positive affirmations help us reverse our negative programming.
Before we get into the process of creating and using daily affirmations, remember that affirmations don't work instantly.
It took you years to create your negative programming. So it could take anywhere from several months to a couple of years to reverse that programming.
Be patient and consistent.
3 Steps to Writing a Powerful Trading Affirmation
1. State it in the Present, as if it has Already Happened
Your mind cannot tell the difference between something you vividly imagine and something that has actually happened.
So take advantage of this fact.
If you keep telling yourself that you're already a successful trader, you will feel successful on the inside.
That becomes your identity.
From there, your brain will find ways to align your internal feeling with your external reality.
But isn't this lying to yourself?
Not at all.
You have the ability to become a successful trader.
Unless someone has a major handicap, I believe that anyone can become successful at trading. I've seen people from all walks of life become consistently profitable traders.
Therefore, that ability is already inside you. It's up to you to choose to embrace that potential, or reject it.
By creating positive affirmations, you choose to develop that ability and acknowledge your full potential.
So when you write an affirmation, word it in the present, and as if it has already happened. You can see a few examples at the bottom of this post.
This will trigger your brain to see this as your new reality and make it easier to overcome the inevitable roadblocks along the way.
2. Be Positive, Short and Specific
Next, keep your affirmations short, stated in the positive and as specific as possible.
Why state it in the positive?
Your brain automatically removes the word “not” from most sentences. So the affirmation “I will not let my trades affect me emotionally,” registers in your brain as: “I will let my trades affect me emotionally.”
This is why it's so important to state your affirmations in the positive.
When you keep them short, they are easy to remember and more likely to stick in your brain. Bonus points for creating affirmations that rhyme. That makes them even easier to remember.
Then make them as specific as possible.
A specific affirmation brings up a more vivid image in your mind and makes it more real.
3. Include Action and Emotion
Finally, emotion is the key to making this all work.
You can make almost anything happen, if you want it enough. This means putting all of your desire and passion behind it.
So include action and emotion words.
It also helps to start with the phrase “I am” because that programs your identity.
Alright, enough with the theory. Here are some examples…
19 Positive Affirmations for Traders
1. “I am relaxing and having fun after I place trades.”
There can be a strong tendency to write a negative affirmation like: “I won't overtrade.” Using a positive affirmation puts you in the state of mind that you really want to be in, instead of stressing about overtrading.
2. “I am happily driving my Tesla Roadster on the Pacific Coast Highway, with the top down, at sunset.”
If you want a certain type of car, then painting a scene like this can help you imagine yourself in the car.
3. “I am excited to fill out my trading journal every week because it makes me a world-class trader.”
Make filling out your journal a positive event, not a chore.
4. “I am enjoying the view from the custom-built home that I designed with my wife.”
Think of what you want to create with your trading profits and how you will enjoy your creations.
5. “I am excited about following my trading rules because the profits give me freedom and security.”
Instead of beating yourself up about not following the rules, remind yourself what happens when you do.
6. “I am curiously watching the charts and only take the very best trade setups.”
This is a much better way of saying “Don't take bad trades.”
7. “I am enjoying the freedom, abundance and fun that comes with professional trading.”
After all, this is what you really want to get out of trading right?
8. “I am grateful that I effortlessly pay for every expense and luxury in my life.”
Instead of saying, “All of my debts are paid off,” an affirmation like this will help you be more relaxed with having abundance through trading.
9. “I am excited about learning new trading skills because they pay for my adventures.”
Education is very important in becoming a successful trader and this affirmation can remind you to keep learning.
10. “I am crying tears of joy when I receive thank you letters from the kids I help in Peru.”
Giving to a charity can be a great way to spend your profits. Connect to that emotion of helping others.
11. “I am extremely grateful for all of my profitable trades.”
This statement can help you focus on being grateful for what you have. Some traders may write something like: “I'll do my best to not execute bad trades.” Then of course, your brain excludes the “not” and you continue taking poor trades.
12. “I am lovingly supporting my children with trading and helping them develop to their fullest potential.”
What are your biggest reasons for trading? If one of your reasons is to give your kids a great life, then this is a fantastic affirmation to use.
13. “I am running 5 miles effortlessly because of my fun workout routine.”
Exercise is very important to successful trading, especially since we do a fair amount of sitting in front of the computer. Having an affirmation like this will remind you to get some exercise.
14. “I am confidently checking my bank account balance after my monthly deposit of $100,00 in trading profits.”
Make the number specific and make it clear that you withdraw profits on a regular basis.
15. “I am feeling completely in sync with the primary trend and effortlessly take trades in that direction.”
If you are a trend trader then this is a great affirmation to use.
16. “I am feeling extremely relaxed as I fly first class to my vacation in Jamaica.”
First class…Jamaica…very specific.
17. “I am attracting abundance into my life, in a way that's the best for everyone involved.”
There can be a tendency to think that abundance in your life means less for others. When you phrase the affirmation in this way, it removes this mental roadblock and helps you allow more prosperity to come into your life.
18. “I am energized by my exhilarating daily morning routine.”
Some people might create an affirmation that forces them to get out of bed in the morning to do their morning routine. But when you phrase it like this, you are more focused on the benefits…and less on the early wakeup.
19. “I am feeling centered and make great trading decisions because I meditate in the morning and evening.”
Meditation is another activity that can have a huge positive effect on your trading, but it can seem like a chore in the beginning. An affirmation like this can get you excited about doing it.
Take Action Now
Now it's your turn!
Create your own positive affirmations or use a few from this list. Regardless of which affirmations you use, write them down and keep them somewhere that you'll have easy access to them.
The key to success is to keep your list manageable. I would suggest starting with 3-5 affirmations and see how that feels. If you can manage that for a couple of weeks, then consider adding a few more.
What you don't want to do is add a ton of affirmations, then get discouraged from doing your daily routine because there are so many affirmations.
Keep it simple.
Repeat your affirmations at least 2 times per day, every day. The most powerful time to recite your affirmations is just before you go to sleep. This is because while you are sleeping, your mind tends to replay the last thing you saw before you went to bed.
Remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint. Keep doing this on a regular basis you will start to see changes over time.
If you use positive affirmations for awhile, and only see minimal changes, then consider going deeper with advanced trading psychology.
Do you have any awesome affirmations to add to the list? Share your affirmation in the comments below…
