The Psychology of Trading by Brett N Steenbarger

Problems are solutions that have outlived their usefulness.

-- The Woman Who Could Not Love

To be a good therapist, I had to be aware of my natural reaction so that I could act in precisely the opposite way...
The resolution to problems can be found in what people are doing when those problems are not occurring.

-- The Woman Who Could Not Love

A great man, Nietzsche once remarked, is only the play-actor of his ideals.

-- The Woman Who Could Not Love

Frozen, he takes the opposite of a solution-focused approach: He continues to do what isn't working.

-- The Student Who Wouldn't Study

(Exercise, then talk aloud describing what you're going to do) As the research of James Pennebaker suggests, talking out emotional experiences is a powerful means for reprocessing them.

-- The Student Who Wouldn't Study

The traders who reported the greatest success (and who were willing to have me verify their success in case studies) tended to score high in conscientiousness...
Success in trading is related to the ability to stay consistent and plan-driven.

-- The Student Who Wouldn't Study

Meanwhile, his head thrown back and his arms shaking, the client continued the chant: "I am Woolworth! I am TG&Y!"
The student was unfazed. He looked straight at the agitated man before him and quietly asked, "What's for sale?"
From my perch behind the observation mirror, I could feel my heart stop. Instinctively, I knew he had asked the right question.
The man paused. His tone became flat and emotionless. "Nothing," he replied.
"Why not?" the student asked. "Why isn't there anything for sale?"
The man stopped his pacing and gesticulating. For the first time, he looked at his interviewer. "The shelves are bare," he said.
"How about the customers?" he continued. "Where are they?"
His face a contorted, anguished mask, his eyes burning far too brightly, the man whispered, "They're all gone." For hours he had been tryign to get people to pay attention. He was not a patient. He was a store -- a dark, empty store with barren shelves. He needed to be restocked. I was stunned. The other graduate students seemed indifferent. Some even snickered. I looked from one to another, desperate to see if anyone shared by epiphany, the eye-opening realization that was to forever change my professional perspective: he was simply speaking a different language.

-- The Woolworth Man

Once you cultivate the capacity to observe yourself, you create the freedom to do what doesn't come naturally.

-- The Woolworth Man

People lose money in the markets because the person who places the trade very often is not the same person who manages and closes the trade.

-- Traders Out of Their Minds

One of Freud's greatest insights was what he called the "repetition compulsion"...
People repeat the same patterns in various ways and on various scales throughout their lives. Freud saw clearly that unresolved conflicts led to a loss of free will. Without resolution, people are condemned to eternally relive the past.

-- Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

The self-as-child, the self-as-adult, and the self-as-observer suddenly merge in a seamless testament to the complexity of personality.
Developmental levels are often reflected in this multiplicity: This was a seminal recognition of Jean Piaget.

-- A Dose Of Profanity