Page 500 - THE MARKET WHISPERER

496 PART 16 - Preparedness and Empowerment

indicates a poor level of self-confidence and deficient self-esteem. People
who are born with a strong sense of self-confidence are very few and far
between. The rest of us need to learn methods for improving our self-
confidence.

Self-esteem is built while we are young. Initially, we develop insights
such as “I’m good at…” or “I have a problem with…” At this point, we switch
our brains onto autopilot and adopt positive or negative programs as
though they are decrees from heaven. One random unsuccessful coping
episode can create the feeling of failure that causes us to quietly accept that
the situation is due to our own negative traits. The feelings we experience
during failure are, in fact, the way we choose to translate reality. We
may translate failure into disappointment, depression, lack of appetite,
oversleeping. But we can choose differently: we can translate failure into
challenge, the urge to improve, to feel adrenalin flowing strongly. Only you
can choose how to translate your reality. What differentiates between the
behavior of an outstanding athlete and a failed one? Their perception of
reality. Being confident of winning lets the outstanding athlete translate
reality positively. The way sports champions translate their reality is
identical to the way successful stock traders translate theirs. When Thomas
Edison was asked if he felt he had failed after 700 attempts at developing
the ideal electric light bulb, he answered that he had discovered 700 ways
that do not work.

If you were not born with Edison’s self-confidence, don’t throw up
your hands helplessly. Self-confidence can be improved through diverse
techniques known as “internal communication.”

Boosting Self-esteem through Internal
Communication

Internal communication includes those 1000 words that pass through our
minds each minute. When we think, we use our own unique vocabulary,
telling ourselves what is allowed and what is not, who we are and what
we think about our abilities and limitations. The key to self-confidence
depends on the words we choose. To improve self-esteem and self-
confidence, we need to examine our vocabulary of words and phrases, and
if necessary to change our internal dictionary.

We need to peel away all words that do not offer a positive contribution,
such as “perhaps,” “I’ll try,” “I can’t,” and more. Do these strengthen or
weaken you? Change them to “I can” and “I will succeed.” Talk about yourself