TTP Workshop
October 10-12, 2014
Intercontinental Hotel,
Carolina, Puerto Rico
Trading The Big Wave
Issues
Workshop Home Page ... FAQ Index
In the Workshop we frame issues as problems.
We specifically identify two situations:
(1) the situation you have (and)
(2) the situation you want.
Absent these two situations, you don't have a problem.
The table below lists some of the issues participants plan to bring to the Workshop.
The Condition I have | The Condition I Want |
I have constant pressure, for most of the time, on the top of my head. My hairs fall out at faster rate then the growth of new hairs. | I want to release the pressure on my head. New and thicker hairs, consistent in color with my other hairs grow at a faster rate than falling hairs. |
[Name] and I live apart. We go through drama of me rejecting her and her continuing to want me. I want her also but I have a fascination with the idea of her and infidelity and porn and fantasies in general that keep me from living in the now.
My family rejects her since She stays with me during my freefall. They blame her and I encourage the blame by not defending her and by telling people my worries and my state of mind in general. The people around me reject her. I play the hurt person around people and they look out for me. [Name] takes the burden of this act. |
I want us to live together for most of the year if not all the time. I want support from my family for our relationship and for her well being and my well being. I want us to have a safe place to live and also a getaway home where we can have another safe and comfortable place to live if things heat up. I want us to have a safe house in San Francisco that we own. The house has a patio with grass in an upscale but friendly neighborhood close to chinatown, the pier with the aquarium and also the shopping district with the macy's. (I will ask [Name] to fill in the details about location). I want us to have a comfortable amount of cash to support ourselves ($100,000 for now) that we aquire by serving others and ourselves. I play the role of provider of shelter, funds, food and receiver and provide the seeds. She waters the plants. I share intimate relationships and (with the option that we can role play control centric relationships if she agrees). She provides me nurturing, unwavering emotional, and mental support. We share our thoughts and feelings. She keeps the house warm, the kitchen warm and the bedroom warm. We receive each other. I would like for her to stay physically, emotionally and spiritually faithful to me. I want her as an integral part of my tribe. I play the father head role. I provide for myself and for my Tribe. People no longer see me as the poor hurt little boy. I play a strong and smart active male figure. People around me look up to me. They see my girlfriend/wife. They see the support and the love she gives me. They see how loving and caring I treat her and how well I provide for her. We make an unbreakable team. She and I stay at the top of our game. We help others and give them nourishment. We help others to accept themselves for their special gifts. We recruit like minded people and create a strong support network of individuals. Our Tribe members come from around the world. We create bonds and friendships that last our lifetime and we pass down these Tribal bonds to the next generations. |
I have no trading system. | I have a trading system I can test using historical data. I can input different variables into my system and create a matrix from which I can choose the risk and reward that fits my personality. |
I try to drown out voices in my head (subconscious) process. | I would like my conscious and subconscious to talk to each other about sex and survival. |
I have no trading system and no money to manage. | I have a profitable trading system. I manage 10% of [Name]'s money. I manage 10% of my family's, grandma's money. I raise a total of 10 million dollars from my family and friends that I devote to my system. My family and friends support me in my trading. We have a intimacy centric relations. |
I live with my uncle. For the past couple of months I mope and have people sorry for me. I mope around like a little bitch. I feel shame that I sink so low. I betray [Name] out of fear and I get sympathy. | I have a place of my own in [City]. I have a place of my own in [Other City]. I have the ability to chose when and where I want to live. I have a network of supportive individuals in my places of residence. People look up to me. They respect me and the decisions I make. They see [Name] and they respect her. We overcome the limitations we put on ourselves. We heal ourselves and others. |
I have no system. I do not work on a system. I delay the commencement of my project. I have a programmer that I can ask to write my program once I have my system. | I devote 2 hours a day to work on my system. I create the model. I have my programmer write me a program for my system, that I can easily use to backtest and find the optimal solution. The most reward for the greatest amount of risk I can afford. |
I sit at work. I do certain tasks and I spend much time doing nothing. I flip flop back and forth between what I want. My conscious and subconscious processes fight with one another. | I would like my conscious and subconscious mind to talk to each other regarding work. I want them to come to an agreement on what type of work suits me so that I may finally commit myself to my work. |
I have a natural trend to give unsolicited recommendations and I feel bad for not receiving recognition by others for my recommendations for something they "didn't seek". I encapsulate as lack of validation all those events. I feel like an approval junkie. I generate too much drama and lose time. |
I want my attitude to not be looking for others approval. I don't want to give more not requested recommendations. I don't want my self steem depend on others approval. |
I go to a friend house and I talk about the market, he tells me that he earned XX% per year. I ask him: where do you invest?. He answers that he buys mutual funds and also trades stocks. I ask him how do you do in trading, he evades the answer until he talks about the losses. I tell him the emotional trading system does not work. It took me a lot of money and time lost to find out. He asks me if I trade and I answer I won't until I develop a mechanic system. I do not want to participate. I congratulate him for the XX% of profit and I tell him to pay attention because he is in a bull market and he made the profits from an index fund. Some days later, I give him a trading book. I ask him some days later, what about the book? He answers he threw it away. I feel despised, unqualified because he did not appreciate my "not requested" help. I feel bad for not trading and not having my mechanic system in the market. I generate too much drama and lose time. |
I don't want to give any more unsolicited recommendations. I want to feel those feelings to not lose any more time in dramas. |
I invite 4 people to attend a webinar about management for free. I ask them if they want to participate in a couple of 30-min sessions each one, they say yes, and I send them the training material. No one of them participates and they don't thank me for the training material. They avoid my calls. Although I know this is an experiment and this can happen for many reasons, I feel bad (no validation). I generate too much drama and lose time. |
I don't want my self-esteem to depend on the success of an event. |
I am looking for a job. This search brings all those feelings of not being validated, from 1998 when I was in the same situation. I can't find a job that year until I start my own company, that company lasts for 14 years until it is over. I earn 3 to 4 times more than an average manager in that time. My profits hide my issue with the validation. That validation issue keeps hidden for around 14 years but the feeling is real. |
I want to avoid attaching those drawdowns to validation. I want to have a fun and rewarding job in the financial area in a small to medium size company in growth. |
My decision of not trading without having a mechanic system is because some time ago I evaporate my trading account for not having a system. I feel stuck and wish to participate but I generate too much drama and lose time. I lose too much time doing research. |
I want to design and trade a mechanic system profitable 2/1. |
I have some friends that have no limits when asking for favors. I tend to be a little bit hard and tell them directly if they are crazy, I tell them that with their incomes they are able to pay for a hotel, a taxi or a lunch, and not stay at my small apartment for free. This kind of answer obviously generates an infinite drama with the person and with my family. I also feel not validated, disqualified as my time has no value. |
I want to have a system to be able to manage those situations avoiding dramas and losing friendships and time. |
I have many years procrastinating a project. I spend my time doing research about the theme without executing. I have read hundreds of books about the topic. I spend a lot of time with this topic. |
I want to execute my project and make a positive trend. I wish to earn a lot of money. |
Until very recently, I depend and live off other people for my survival. This trend starts at birth. At birth, I depend on my mother to provide and take care of my survival needs. From 1 ½ to 8 ½ years old, I depend on my grandmother to provide for and take care of my survival needs. From 8 ½ to 14 years old, I once again depend on the mother. From 14 to 16 years old, I depend on the foster care system. From 16 to 21 years old, I depend on my long-term foster parents, and foster care system. From 21 to 23 years old, I depend on boyfriend/his family, and foster parents. From 23 to 25 years old, I depend on boyfriend and his family, and friends. 26 years old, I begin to depend on and fend for myself. I have a full time job that I enjoy. In a week more, I save enough money to rent an apartment. However, I currently, live pay check to pay check. I have a tight budget and do not have extra funds. I want to work for myself, and earn substantially more than I do now. | I am fully self-sufficient and self- reliant. I work for myself, my business as a salon/restaurant owner (salon 17th century inspiration) is financially, personally, and socially lucrative. I can afford to live in whatever neighborhood I desire, in whatever country/location, I choose to inhabit. |
I try to have people understand me and what I see. I try to convince them. I feel I get nowhere with this tactic and maybe even dig myself a bigger hole. I feel the wolves coming out to get me, an uneasy feeling I try to block out. I no longer use partying / spending money /ballin' to make these voices go away. Somehow people think I continue to stay sick since I have a desire other than what others spend their money on. My family thinks I stay sick while I gain strength and a stronger resolve for myself and those I love. The less I say and try to listen and see the situation, the more people think I withdraw into myself. I see each person clearly now. | I want to have resolve within myself. I take what others say into consideration but ultimately make my own decisions and pray that they will still love me. I want to show up at work early in the morning and work later and harder than my coworkers. I want to show my family I gain strength and that I can more than succeed to do this office work. I accomplish my office task of revising and proposing a new budget for the next fiscal year. I show my family my strength of will and character and I go to the workshop and see you. |
I sit with a friend and we discuss how I fair at work. Enthusiasm, seeps out of me as I speak about how surprisingly agreeable my work life and environment are. The position of accountant's assistant, at a growing high-end wood flooring construction company, suits me well. To company owner's and management's relief and surprise, their decision to hire me, with no experience in construction accounting, and very little accounting work experience, I learn quickly the construction accounting software and produce/contribute to the well being of the company sooner than they anticipate. The blood drains from my cheeks, the close lips turn down in a frown, my brows, and forehead furrow into a frown of concern, dread and panic. I feel the dread in my throat, my throat muscles contract and in the middle of my throat passage, a lump or rock jams the passage, it is hard for me to swallow. My breath is a rapid, warm, and shallow. I lean forward in my seat as I feel dread settle in my stomach and feel the energy drain from my muscles (arms, legs). I place my elbows on my knees, my head hangs, as I cradle it between the cusp of my clammy palms. |
I actively and graciously, accept responsibility for myself, and the situations that I experience. I do not shy away from responsibility, experiences, or challenges. I accept responsibility of the results of all my decisions including the failures and/or mistakes. I understand that my intentions = results, and actively make use the snap shot process to clarify, define, and manifest intentions. I no longer work at as an accountant's assistant. I enjoy the freedom, security, experiences, and opportunities that I have as a woman of independent means. I own, run my own business. I thrive and experience success. I have constant motivation, passion, energy, and confidence. I love what I do as a private salon hostess and owner. |
I smoke during the work day. I smoke before I work out and I smoke after I eat. Recently I keep my cigarette intake to 4 a day. I smoke when I feel lonely and I smoke when I want to delay something. I also smoke to get away from or take a break from a situation. I also smoke during the calm after the (emotional) storm. | The situation I want: I use proactive solutions to my feelings. I would also like to find a different way to deal with my feelings when life moves fast. |
I do not know how to deal with anger and I suspect sadness behind this anger emotion. | I learn to feel and express my anger and other emotions in a productive and intimacy centric way. |
What I share with you next feels highly personal to me. Please keep this to yourself unless you feel that this may be a great help to others. I have shame, fear, anger, sadness, and probably other emotions related to this. I share this with you so that I can first admit to myself what I have trouble admitting. I pray that this helps me. I read the post on April 15, 2013 "Women Prefer Tribe Members". I see the picture you attach of a lovely woman and her smile that lights and lift my heart. I would like to make [Name] that happy. This post gives me strength to type this to you. I would like to admit what I want so that I may experience this feeling of what I want. I pray the truth sets me free and I gain the strength to live freely and to promote freedom for [Name] first and forthmost and then myself and my family. I feel my heart beat. I have a frown on my face. As I think of telling you this and I see a way for my feelings to open up my eyes tear and I feel the corners of my lips turning up into a smile. I can make her happy. I would like to dedicate my life to something greater than myself. In my dream, when you ask me what I want. In my head I think "I want to have a bigger dick so I can abuse her with it". As I type this I feel my face go back into a frown my eyebrows furrow and I feel blood vessels. I feel blood trickle in the vessels of my right leg on the back part below my buttocks. I lay on my stomach, my face still in with furrowed brows and pouting lips. I rest my head on my forearm. |
I would like to join a Tribe where I can find safety to let out my feelings, take part to build a safe community that encourages and promotes freedom of expression. I would like to marry [Name]. I want my wife to have a deserving husband and I would like to step into that role. I love her, provide for her and protect and share intimate moments with her. I see myself with a Tribe once a week, and when I come home, [Name] greets me with a warm smile. On some days she cooks at home and bring the tribe a meal after we have our meeting. I work to keep our lines of communication open and to establish rapport with her to receive her fully and unconditionally. I would like to hold myself accountable for my actions and I may need Tribe to get me to see what I would rather keep hidden from myself. I work to provide income for our family. I find work in San Francisco to build something with others. I would like to build a community. I build myself from the ground up. I keep myself away from drugs and other medicinal response patterns. I think about fear which I feel in the past I feel my light slowly dimming a little. I want a way to proactively deal with my fear. As I type this I find my spirit rising. I think about what others may think of me and I feel some fear of judgement but I also have tears in my eyes from the feeling that others may benefit from my pouring my heart out. I feel pressing on both sides of my head. |
I like living with worry. When I have no worries I think about things in my past and my future to worry about. | I would like to listen to my worry and use it as a tool make improve my situation. |
I fear failure so I do not try. I do not work or contribute much to anything. I do not know my own self worth. I stay idle while my mind runs all over the place trying to "figure it all out". | I would like to feel this feeling. I would like to increase my own self worth by working. |
When I do things I like to explain my reasons for doing such and such. I try to convince others and myself about what I do and what others do "is correct". | I do not try to convince others. |
I don't listen to my wife feelings. | I listen to my wife feelings and acknowledge her as she is respectfully. |
Not managing a fund. | Managing a fund with 50 million NOK under managemen |
I am eating more food than I need and I am also eating when I am not hungry. I am eating to medicate my feelings. | I eat only when I am hungry. I am not eating to medicate my feelings. |
I do not own any companies. | I would like to open my own company that exports raw materials and other goods from [Country] abroad. We stay within the laws and regulations. We make friends along the way and we make a profit. I use this company and its profits as a tool to create and strengthen bonds and friendships by providing a living and nourishment and close community to all stakeholders. |
I let others sway me. I always think something is wrong with me. | I would like to accept myself as I am without judging. Then I would like to improve. |
I am a trader with exceptionally high potential to be one of the absolute greatest and recognize that eliminating a handfull of behaviors will put me well on my way in short order. I want to deal with whatever feelings stand between me and being one of the absolute best traders ever. | I am one of the greatest traders that has ever lived. I trade to my full potential. I have felt the feelings that had previously prevented me from achieving my potential and finding the right ways to achieve my full potential. I feel grateful. I will always be able to give. |
Apprehensive about big jumps in success. I feel like being wildly successful might somehow make me 'bad". When I am faced with big jumps in baseline success in trading / success happens quickly, once I realize the implied windfall by projecting out X months, years etc. I become preoccupied with maintaining outlier performance as the standard and engage in excessive risk/poor risk management/poor execution / errors (code, calculation, implementation etc) . Losses are the typical result, I then question my worth and ability. |
I accept that I can have rapid success and that I can still be me. I accept my ability, and trading/empathy gift. I feel worthy of success, deserving of wealth, deserving of happiness and stability. I feel calm and secure in my ability to be consistently great when trading and to allow myself to accept losses, protect capital and trust that there is no limit or expiration on my ability to trade. |
A climb that starts slow, accelerates to impressive heights then crashes: I trade well for many weeks in a row, even months. I make money nearly every day. I begin a run with small percentage wins each day and careful implementation. I am trading well and in a way that is congruent with my systems, my research and my beliefs. It feels great and the results are great. I feel greedy and competitive. I am attached to the idea of how much I will make if I continue doing well. I'm tired. I am losing now. Today. I "come to" after a series of massive losses in a day or one huge loss. I stop trading for a while to think about why intend to do well then suddenly intend to win then intend to lose. I reflect and learn. I restart the cycle. |
A steady rise in profit with occasional jumps up and pauses. I am committed to trading well. My trading results do not include the blowouts and deviations from the kind of trader I can be and want to be all the time. I continue trading well and take breaks to assimilate the success and integrate the progress. |
I feel a sense of fear that if I focus on trading 100% instead of my other businesses, I may not be able to support my family and our lifestyle. |
Trading pays the bills and some. I have stable confidence and results/behavior. I focus on trading and trading related development 90% of the time. The legacy businesses run successfully with the help of employees. 90% of my income comes from a small percentage of taken out of trading profits each month. The percentage taken from profits is 3x my overhead. I have no fear of a blow up in trading or in any other area of my life. |
Friends and family offer/request for me to trade their capital. A fund offers to back my trading. Other express confidence in my ability based on their appraisal of me and my (punctuated) periods of high returns with high a daily Sharpe. I feel hesitant. Afraid of 'outside' capital and reluctant to be 'beholden' to someone. Feel like an impostor. Not ready to not blow up. |
I trade well consistently and have completely eliminated the periodic risk binges at the root - in a paradigm shift. I'm comfortable trading third party capital along with my capital and have attracted like minded investors that contribute the right intensions. We have several million dollars under management and are attracting many additional investors. |
People sway me to make decisions that I do not keep. | I would like the clarity to make decisions that I keep. I find out what the agreement is before I decide whether to accept or not. I have the clarity to see and understand my agreements. I keep my agreements. I clean up the agreements I have and continue forward making agreements that I keep. |
I do not like to admit my mistakes or even consciously know when I make mistakes. | I would like my self esteem to not depend on counting how many times I am right and how many times I am wrong. I would like to realise and admit my mistakes and contribute a solution to fix it or let it go. I want to cut my losses. I want a personal life system that cuts my losses and focuses on long term prosperity. I would like my self esteem to depend on my character and my integrity rather than being right or wrong in a given situation. |
I buy my plane tickets late. I procrastinate. I waver between going and not going to workshop as an excuse to buy late. The price of my tickets increase from 400 dollars when I first check the price to 750 dollars by the time I buy. I allow this to happen often. | I would like to act proactively instead of procrastinating and save money in the process. |
While I continue to grow a great deal in my ability to express myself, I see areas where I hold back and block myself from free, open creative expression. A specific area where I see this is in my practice of the musical instrument I began playing almost two years ago. I should say "in my lack of practice", because I notice that I give up in frustration when I do not correct a mistake and easily make progress. I believe that making a mistake triggers shame and humiliation in me, as if I reveal that I am not good enough (and never will be). While I have released myself from this belief in many areas of my life, and can freely express myself including mistakes, I still judge my creative expression such as music or art more harshly. I feel as if I lack some essential ingredient necessary for being "good enough" in those areas. I feel inadequate and unworthy. |
I practice my instrument regularly, with gusto and pleasure. I enjoy working on areas where I want to improve and I feel satisfaction with both my effort and with my performance, however "good" it is. I improve my skills to the point where I feel comfortable playing with others and enjoy the feeling of sharing a musical experience in a supportive environment. I play my instrument with others on a regular basis, twice or at least once a month. |
I don't have an album or history of performing music. | I want to form a band. We work together to record an album and go on tour within the next 12 months. All people with involvement in this project enjoy the process. I feel proud of this album. People listen to it and want to play the songs twice in a row. It resonates with them; they feel something and their bodies move. |
My back shows a dull to sharp pain in the left lumbar region most days. My body shows a poor structure - basis: curvature of the spine, larger muscles on my right side, dropped right shoulder with my head tilting to the right. My eye alignment shifts to accommodate this curvature. I generally feel stiff and make groaning noises. | I don't want to experience this pain anymore. I undertake an exercise program and realign my spine/neck, shoulders and eyes. My body becomes strong and flexible, it appears strong and proud. |
I have $82k in cash. | I want to increase this figure to $1.4m in cash, representing a difference of $1.318m. I want to acquire this difference through trend following trading of equities and commodities futures. I use the workshop to increase my knowledge of building a trading business. I manage money for clients and myself. I have a system and strategy that I can demonstrate that works. I charge well and I offer clients a money back guarantee. |
I don't have satisfaction with my skill level using the rocks process. | I want to obtain mastery of the rocks process; I share these new skills with my tribe. Tribe benefit, family and friends benefit, people seek my counsel. |
I do not have a system. I have a tribe that does not receive me. | I have a system that I run. I have 2-3 clients for whom I trade 10+ million dollars for. My clients support and receive me. I receive them. We both grow together and prosper. I have a hedge fund. I trade from my spacious and naturally well lit home office in SF. I live with my GF. I continue my spiritual studies/martial arts/meditation. I continue my workouts. My body feels great. My mind feels great. My spirit soars. I feel powerful. I have the ability to create. I make my own decisions. I live with the surround myself with loved ones. I survive and prosper. I serve my tribe. My tribe prospers. I improve everyday. I achieve mastery of the Rocks process. I have mastery if TTP. I receive my tribe. I contribute to the art of TTP. I ride my winners. I cut my losses. I manage my risks. I use stops. I stick to the system. I file the news. |
When learning something new, if it doesn't come easily to me then I frequently
get upset & stop. |
I want to stop that stopping. |
I am extremely disappointed in myself in that after 10 years of studying trading books and the psychology of trading, I have not been successful in developing my own trading system. The more I learn about the markets and trading , the more I respect the need to have a complete system in place before I start. Many friends and family members know about my passion for the markets, and when they ask how I am doing , I am embarrassed to say , "I'm not trading yet". Some I have heard laugh behind my back about this issue. | I have developed my own complete trading system that only has me invested during uptrends. I trade my wife and my retirement account with my system. I don't fear trading because my system limits my losses during large market down turns. My mother asks me to trade her retirement account because my system continues to outperform the process her advisors are using. I don't care about what others think about my ability to trade and am grateful to all those {especially my wife } who have helped encourage me along the journey to become "good at trading". |
I have little skill in playing my instrument. I rely on others for my financial well being. I rely on others for my financial well being. I do not know how to code. I do not know accupressure. I have some knowledge of the human body. I have an off again on again relationship with my GF. I have a bit of knowledge on martial arts. I do not track my daily activities. I do not have enough daily activities to track. |
I enjoy making money and watching my bank account rise. I enjoy spending money on loved ones. I enjoy the process of coming up with ideas, implementing my ideas, and enjoying the fruits of my efficient labor. I help others help themselves. I keep myself safe. I know coding enough to make a decent living with side projects. I enjoy coding. I code and run my trading system. I master my own body. I have extensive knowledge and skill in repairing and optimizing the human body. I use my skills to keep my loved ones healthy. I keep my body in optimal condition. I express my inner philosophy through my bodily forms and movement. I have a steady relationship. I stay loyal to her. I see her and I accept her. She stays loyal to me. She sees me and she accepts me. We receive each other.
I sleep 8 hours each day with the option of max 2 hr afternoon nap. I spend 2 hours training my body and practicing movements. I spend 1 hr a day maximum for leisure/unproductive mindless music youtube watching. I practice music for 1 hour per day. I code/work on my system for 5 hrs a day. I clean up my living space for one hr a day. I cook for 1-2 hrs a day (also multitask while cleaning). I spend 2+ hours with my gf if she allows me to do so. |
Currently, my trading results are inconsistent. I have profitable days, but also unprofitable ones - sometimes the equity drawdown is very high relative to account size. On the days that I am unprofitable, I often over-trade. I have a tendency to chase the market on these days. Oftentimes, I miss a move and they try to make up for "lost time" by being too aggressive and/or take the opposite trade hoping for a trend change. This most frequently occurs on strong uptrending days. Additionally, I try to capture each and every tick in the market, feeling overly confident in my belief in what is going to happen next - which usually results in account churn and more losing trades. I mistake action for progress, feeling that I need to do something otherwise I'm not getting anywhere. And when I am on the right side of the trade on such days, my expectations for major market movements are too high - I have a tendency to think the market will move much further than it actually does. And finally, after profitable days and/or weeks in the market, I often become over-confident and euphoric, thinking about how many lots I can begin trading and how vast my profits will be. This euphoria often takes me out of the correct mindset for trading. |
My intent is to generate income from my trading activities on a weekly basis. At the end of each week, I desire to be profitable for the week and to draw half of my profits for living expenses and to re-invest the other half to be able to increase lot size. I know I can be a profitable trader when I am in the right mindset. I desire to be in this right mindset for trading with each trade that I take. I am extremely patient when I trade, I calmly wait for profitable opportunities and do not hesitate when the opportunity arises. I accept it when I miss trades, remembering that will always be more opportunities. I recognize that good trading is often uneventful and I do not feel a need to trade out of boredom, remembering that the market is not concerned about my plans or timeframes. And after profitable days and weeks, I desire to not be overcome by feelings of greed and/or euphoria. I desire to temper my desire for rapid progress with realism, calm and composure. |
Yikes!
Here Comes Another Workshop.
Count Me In.