Since trading is such a mental game, I'm always looking for ways to improve my focus and state of mind. One exercise that I have found very helpful and revealing is the Wallet Exercise.
I learned this technique while listening to an Abraham-Hicks audiobook called The Law of Attraction.
The basic premise of the entire audiobook is that we attract everything into our existence, regardless if we realize it or not.In other words, we only receive what we focus on or allow into our lives.
There are two poles to every desire, the presence of it or the lack of it.Many times we think that we are focusing on wanting something (money, relationships, objects, etc.) but really we are focusing on the lack of it and therefore continue to be without it.
The audiobook gives 22 exercises on how to retrain your mind to focus on the positive and not on the negative. So what is this wallet exercise?
It's very simple.
Go to the bank and get a $100 bill and put it into your wallet.
Do NOT spend it, just keep it in your wallet.
Now as you go through your day, imagine yourself buying everything you want with that $100 bill.True, $100 doesn't go that far but it will get you a cup of coffee, a new shirt, gas for your car, a nice dinner, etc.
You get the idea.
The key word is imagine! Don't actually spend it but the exercise is to realize that you could buy all those things if you wanted to because you really do have a $100 bill at your disposal.
So at the end of the day you may have spent that $100 bill a thousand times in your imagination.
That's the equivalent of spending $100,000 in a day!
This is a huge step to getting rid of any feelings of poverty that you may have. The confidence that a $100 bill will give you is pretty amazing.
Now what am I learning from this experience?
After reflecting on how I react in a store, I have found that I actually had some trouble imagining myself spending that $100 on whatever I wanted.
I am so used to making my money stretch as far as possible that I have ingrained in my subconscious the image of me NOT buying things.
This was a real wake up call in terms of where I am when it comes to my relationship with money.
The great part is that now that I know what I am currently focusing on, I can take steps to focus on what I really do want.
But don't take my word for it, try it yourself!
