How my parents lost over half a million dollars….
…and how losing traders are exactly the same
In 1998 my parents won the state lottery (Tasmania, Australia) to the tune of just over $509,000, which was ten times their annual combined earnings. However, in four short years after winning the money, they were dead broke. They had gone from living in their own home with a mortgage, a job each and a little left over money at the end of each month, to bankruptcy and having to live in government housing. The whole ordeal split them apart. It took six more long years before they were able to reunite.
So what happened?
It happens to around 90% of lottery winners in fact. This is an eerie statistic as it is similar to failed businesses, retirees and traders (80-90% of businesses fail in the first two years, and of those 80-90% fail in 5 years; 90-95% of people retiring from the workforce retire with a lack of money; over 90% of traders either consistently lose or break even).
In recent times I have been researching the mind and how it operates and have found the whole subject fascinating. As disturbing as this may sound to some (some will see this as a revelation), the reason for the statistics above are the same, whether it’s success in business, money, health or anything we seek; we all achieve exactly what our sub-conscious mind is programmed to achieve.
What this means is that although my parents won an awful lot of money (in their eyes this was a huge amount), their sub conscious was never programmed for that level of wealth. Subsequently, their sub conscious went into action and did its job; to readjust them back to their pre-programmed level of existence, i.e. just over broke.
Therefore what one needs to understand is that your results in life are all to do with your programmed sub conscious. There is also a true story of a trader who is able to take a $10,000 account and turn it into $250,000 with ease, but once he gets to this level always self-sabotages.
My parents didn’t purposely lose half a million dollars. Heck, when I remember their state of mind after they got down to their last $50,000 and even then they could not find a way to hold onto that, it was heart breaking for me. They were just being led by their own sub conscious.
The older people get the harder it is to re-program their sub conscious because their body is actually addicted to their habitual way of thinking (Evolve Your Brain by Joe Dispenza D.C). So even when trying to offer helpful advice they were not capable of heeding it, their habitual ways, habits, beliefs about themselves were stronger than their desire to be above ‘just over broke’.
When you understand what was actually going on in the minds of my parents and this trader, while they were self-sabotaging, you’ll understand how the mind operates when seeking to achieve anything in life. It doesn’t matter whether it’s good health, fitness, fame, love or success. If your sub conscious is programmed for mediocre results (as most are due to our social systems and those in charge), then it has to do its job and ensure your results are mediocre.
Believe it or not, the environment we are exposed to i.e. our education system, the news, advertising etc, is all meant to keep us mediocre.
To change this you must use the same tools ‘they’ are using and re-program your mind for success (or whatever it is you want).
Happy Trading
Dean Whittingham
Pentagonal Trading © 2004 - 2007
