Mind Muscles

Breaking the Cycle – The Thrivewell Journey Podcast

Richard Friesen — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 22:53:50 +0000

In this conversation, Richard Friesen shares his insights with The Thrivewell Journey podcast host L.Michael Burt. Rich and Michael discuss the complex relationship individuals have with money, emphasizing the psychological and neurological factors that shape our beliefs and behaviors around financial success.

Listeners learn the importance of identity, awareness, and reframing our understanding of money as a means of delivering value rather than a source of evil. Find out how to overcome self-sabotage and cultivate a healthier relationship with money and explore the profound connection between personal purpose, financial success, and the impact of societal beliefs on individual financial health.

They discuss the importance of delivering value, the journey of self-discovery through Joe's story, and the necessity of aligning financial goals with a higher mission. The dialogue also delves into the influence of political and cultural beliefs on financial perspectives, the role of spirituality in resolving financial conflicts, and the power of visualization in achieving success. Ultimately, they emphasize the importance of understanding and overcoming myths about wealth to cultivate joy and grace while pursuing financial health.

Go here to watch this episode and find out more about The Thrivewell Journey.

The post Breaking the Cycle – The Thrivewell Journey Podcast appeared first on Mind Muscles.

Robert Middleton of the Ordinary Visionaries Podcast interviews Rich Friesen

Rich Friesen — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 19:58:53 +0000

In this interview with Robert Middleton, Richard Friesen discusses his evolution from pursuing grandiose dreams to embracing a more grounded vision of life.

Rich shares his varied career history, from being a glassblower to becoming a successful entrepreneur and trader, highlighting his talent for recognizing shifts in the market and being able to act on them, which he attributes to his visionary abilities.

Rich’s experiences at the Pacific Stock Exchange, where he advocated for all-electronic trading and secured multiple patents, demonstrate his forward-thinking approach. He delves into the psychological and cultural dynamics of money, which he explores in his book, A Private Conversation with Money. He discusses the “three-chair exercise,” a practical tool he uses with clients to help them uncover their unconscious beliefs and emotions about money.

By visualizing money as “certificates of appreciation” rather than merely a financial commodity, Rich encourages a mindset that focuses on delivering value to others. This shift, he argues, leads to genuine fulfillment and wealth. The conversation also touches on broader societal issues, such as the cultural reliance on technology, fragmented communities, and the need for deeper human connections. He advocates for the idea of a new spiritual revival, one based not on traditional religions but on meaningful, human-to-human connections.

Rich concludes by emphasizing the importance of living with intention, contributing to others, and reimagining our relationship with money and wealth. The interview closes with a discussion on the potential for ordinary visionaries to foster genuine conversations and connections that move beyond surface-level interactions.

Conversations with Money Website – https://conversations.money/
A Private Conversation with Money Book – https://www.amazon.com/Private-Conver…

About Ordinary Visionaries:

Ordinary Visionaries features in-depth interviews with ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. These people have a vision and take action to make that vision real and make a difference in the world. Are you an Ordinary Visionary?

Ordinary Visionaries host: Robert Middleton
All the Ordinary Visionaries Interviews: https://actionplan.club/OV

The post Robert Middleton of the Ordinary Visionaries Podcast interviews Rich Friesen appeared first on Mind Muscles.

Rich Friesen and Jeffrey Feldberg discuss Wealth Strategies on the Deep Wealth Podcast

Rich Friesen — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 20:12:22 +0000

Episode 318 of the Deep Wealth Podcast features host Jeffrey Feldberg discussing the deep connections between mindset and wealth creation with Richard Friesen, founder of the Mind Muscles Academy. Visit The Deep Wealth Podcast here.

Richard shares his personal journey from working on the trading floors to developing a software company sold to Hewlett Packard, and how overcoming internal limitations was key to his success. The discussion delves into the impact of early experiences on wealth mindset, the importance of understanding the value one brings to the world, and practical strategies for dismantling financial self-sabotage.

Employing the techniques like role-playing and guided visualizations, Richard demonstrates how redefining one’s relationship with money can lead to both financial freedom and personal fulfillment.

Visit Deep Wealth website for many resources on building wealth, health and happiness:

Do you want to increase profits, the value of your business, and optimize your post-exit life? Stop your search. The Deep Wealth Podcast reveals powerful strategies for your success. Up to 90% of liquidity events fail. “Successful” liquidity events leave 50% to over 100% of the value in the buyer’s pocket. Your financial freedom is on the line. You have one chance to get it right and make it count. Let The Deep Wealth Podcast be your North Star to welcome success and fulfillment. In the process, you’ll extract your deep wealth for your business and personal life. Here’s to you thriving and prosperity while you remain healthy and safe!

The post Rich Friesen and Jeffrey Feldberg discuss Wealth Strategies on the Deep Wealth Podcast appeared first on Mind Muscles.

LEELOO Trading 2024 Clear Minds for Trading Serious: Episode 1 with Rich Friesen

Rich Friesen — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:08:50 +0000

As part of the 2024 CLEAR MINDS FOR TRADING series with Chris of LEELOO Trading, I am going to be teaching a 5 episode set on trading psychology and trader mindset.

The first in the series is called Persistent Trading Mistakes – how to stop repeating the same destructive and costly trading errors again and again. We dig into the bad habits traders can pick up which after a time become hard coded in our brains.

Without being aware of how these habits entrench themselves and without having a mechanism for dislodging them, it is hard to change our trading behaviors.

We will be posting each session into a dropdown on our LEELOO Trading page as it is published. You’ll be able to watch the episode right there or on the LEELOO Youtube channel, with plenty of opportunities for grabbing a special deal limited to this series, such as the Leeloo Bundles in the banner below:

The post LEELOO Trading 2024 Clear Minds for Trading Serious: Episode 1 with Rich Friesen appeared first on Mind Muscles.

Inside Out Trading

Rich Friesen — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 21:42:11 +0000

I had a great discussion with Brian McAboy on Inside Out Trading about specific limitations in trading, often rooted in childhood experiences or beliefs.

If you’re interested you can check out the full episode here: https://insideouttrading.com/podcast/035-interview-w-richard-friesen-mindmusclesfortraders-com/

Brian McAboy is a trader, trading coach, and business consultant. He is also a retired Mechanical Engineer and Quality Engineer.

Having been a business and personal growth enthusiast for over 2 decades, Brian specializes in helping traders and business owners (both present and future) find their success through helping them develop personally to realize both their potential and their dreams.

Brian’s years of experience Quality Assurance and Business Consulting allow him to provide unique, effective and refreshing resources to the traders of the world. His focus is helping traders achieve self-sufficiency through the application of Quality and Business principles and practices that result in proficiency and success.

Visit Brian’s website here.

The Inside Out Trading podcast is here.

The Consistent Profits Podcast YouTube channel.

The post Inside Out Trading appeared first on Mind Muscles.

How Most Traders Fail

Rich Friesen — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 14:17:10 +0000

Yes, most traders fail to realize their dreams.

Yet most traders continue to try harder doing what they have been doing. Although it doesn’t seem rational, we as humans with our human brains continue to hope that tomorrow will be better.

It is this hope that keeps us going. But then we lose hope. Then the dream crashes.

We lose confidence in our strategy and more importantly in ourselves. Then we flounder and look to new gurus, new indicators and new strategies. All this in an attempt to revive the hope that we need so badly.

Trading is one of the most rewarding professions in the world and because of that, it triggers both the best in us and the worst in us. The major problem we as traders face is that our brains are built for survival and work well in the jungle of our ancestors and the jungle of work.

But our brains’ mechanisms for trading do us more harm than good. At the Mind Muscles Academy we call these ingrained patterns of behavior NEMES, or Neuro Meta Structures. This frame of thinking gives us traders a big boost when it comes to creating the new behaviors that serve us better.

How?

Once we recognize our repeated trading mistakes as “NEMES” or patterns in our brain, we are then relieved of the guilt and shame of moral failure. It is not our fault. No more blame or self-criticisms. Just acceptance that our brains are reacting how they were meant to react.

The good news is that once we identify these unwanted behaviors as NEMES, it is possible to create new neural connection, patterns of behavior and trading actions that serve us better and lead to consistent results.

How?

Neuroplasticity! Neuroscientists used to think that our brain power was fixed, but for a couple of decades now we have known better. We can intentionally create new neural connections that lead to new behaviors that get us to our goals.

If the solution is creating new neural connections, then we can be far more effective than if we are changing behavior with sheer will power. We now have a method of change that maps to our neurology. We can get off of that roller coaster of hope and despair.

Here is the productive model we have developed and refined with our private clients and our Mind Muscles community:

Define the current behavior and then the preferred behavior
Locate the trigger that activates the unwanted NEMES
Create exercises and simulations to experience the preferred behavior
Make commitments to your fellow traders of what will be changing
Measure your progress
Allow yourself to notice and appreciate your progress and how good that feels
Take your behavioral success to your fellow traders for celebration.

Creating positive new trading behaviors can be accomplished on your own by following these steps. However, it helps to have specific guidance and access to online courses that you can refer back to and do the exercises whenever you need to.

It has become apparent that all of us improve more rapidly with the right kind of community support. Our online courses create a foundation for change, but community expectations and support create clear channels for enjoying successful trading behaviors.

Want to get off of the roller coaster?

Create a new path for yourself that involves changing what you believe and how you behave. More “discipline” will only add to pressure. Follow the steps above and always celebrate even your smallest success.

The post How Most Traders Fail appeared first on Mind Muscles.

Do you have a Trading Addiction?

Richard Friesen — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 18:59:24 +0000

How do you know if you’re addicted to trading?

Signs of a trading addiction

Some of my students and clients are addicted to trading. Yes, addicted. In the same sense as alcohol, gambling, sex or nicotine addiction. Some of my traders have come to me after they have lost their spouse, their retirement and their work; and they’re hoping to make enough profits to pay next month’s rent.

They hold on to the dream with white knuckles.

With one thousand dollars in their trading account, they still hope to become rich in spite of their history of destructive trading behaviors. They see no other alternative to trading to make it big. To give up the dream is unthinkable. There are no alternatives. They are terrified each trade will put them out of business, so they can’t pull the trigger. If a trade goes negative, they hold on…they have to believe it will come back. And if they have a couple of ticks profit…they take it immediately.

Trading has taken over their life.

They have ignored friends and family. They have lost motivation at work, or quit or lost their job. Their drive is fueled by a fear of failure on one hand and the excitement of calling a profitable trade on the other. They no longer find joy or connection in other aspects of their life. It is trading that supplies the adrenaline that keeps them going.

What is an addiction?

The medical definition is:

Addiction is a psychological and physical inability to stop consuming a chemical, drug, activity, or substance, even though it is causing psychological and physical harm.

The Mind Muscles definition is:

The attempt to fill an empty hole in our hearts with a substitute for our heart’s desire – connection, love, purpose and meaning. The addiction has less to do with the drug or behavior…than what we are missing in our lives as human beings.

Addiction can range on a scale.

I know that most of you are not full blown addicts. Most of you manage to live full lives outside of trading. And, we all may have bits of ourselves that use trading to fulfill a dream and the hole in our hearts. However, the more that trading is a substitute for our core human needs, the more it can be an addiction.

Is every tick a referendum on your self worth? Do you get a thrill when a trade moves in your direction? What does that thrill mean? Does it mean you are a worthwhile person? Does it mean you can prove to your dad you are smart? Does it mean that you are right and the dummies are wrong? What is that thrill about?

Here is an exercise to help you:

Are you in a profitable trade? When you are in a trade that is going your way, and it feels really good…what deeper meaning does it have? What does it say about you as a person? Capture that wonderful feeling, then ask several times, drill down…what does that great feeling say about you?

Is the trade going against you? What does that feel like? What does it say about you as a person? What deeper meaning does it have? Ask these questions several times, drill down. What does that feeling say about you?

We all have some form of addiction of varying degree. The question is, to what degree does our addictive behavior impact our life? How badly do you need to succeed at trading? What happens if you don’t? How severe will that experience be?

Ask yourself these questions:

Awareness and acceptance of our current state of mind can feel really good. It takes a lot of energy to hide from ourselves, and it can be a huge relief to acknowledge our experience and accept ourselves as we are right now. Then we can ask, what do we want instead?

1. Do you hide your trading results?
2. Do you have wide mood swings depending on recent trading results?
3. Do you trade from your phone?
4. Do you feel the markets are manipulated against you?
5. Have you blown up more than one account?
6. Have you disconnected from other parts of your life?
7. Do you feel compelled to check the charts from your first waking moment?
8. Do you brag about your profitable trades and not mention your losses?
9. Do you feel restless if you are not trading?
10. Do you try to convince your family that this time you will make money?
11. Does your trading impact your restful sleep?
12. Do you experience a reduction of your libido?
13. Do you believe there is no alternative for your life if you can’t make it trading?
14. Are you experiencing more frequent and longer times feeling depressed?
15. If you have a losing or series of losing trades, do you try to “make it back?”
16. Do you trade impulsively out of emotional reaction?

How big is the hole in YOUR heart?

How do you experience your life? Just like a drug that substitutes for a full and rich experience of life, trading can provide the same distraction. If the hole in our hearts is big enough, trading can feel like it will fill that hole. Profitable trades can become like a hit of heroin and a delicious moment of joy. In that moment, in that microsecond, all life’s issues are resolved. And, it feels so very good.

Recall times that you felt good about yourself.

Your world was full of connection and you had a meaning in your life that was bigger than yourself. If you can find that time in your life now, you can create it again. If it is a challenge to find that time in your life, it can be created. The good news is, that once you see what is missing to keep you from experiencing a rich and meaningful life, you can start to create new behaviors that step by step give you the experience you are longing for.

Trading can now become a viable profession.

The markets are now a joy to watch and are not out to get us. In fact, they pay us to succeed!

We can enjoy our profits as THEY are, rather than demanding they provide validation for who WE are.

Can we help?

If you find yourself anywhere along the spectrum, I want to help you create a vision of yourself and the markets that feels better, honors your values and gets you to your goals. Book a time at rich.ycb.me to talk.

The post Do you have a Trading Addiction? appeared first on Mind Muscles.

Combat Trading: How combat training teaches trading psychology

Rich Friesen — Wed, 17 May 2023 13:24:22 +0000

A lesson in Combat Trading

How does a boot camp that teaches small arms combat, help traders develop a master trader’s mindset?

I just spent four days in the Nevada desert in an intense small arms combat training camp with live fire. I returned after a long hiatus while building the Mind Muscles Academy. I have often said that the challenge of a trading career is second only to combat. I had four days under the Nevada sun to again fully appreciate the value of this assumption.

Why did I do it?

Many of my friends are going to be shocked to find out that peace-loving Richard Friesen, who is known for his empathetic coaching, attends weapons combat courses and even co-wrote a paper on the psychology of self-defense training.

Over the last two decades, I have been slowly adopting the practice of less ideology and replacing it with more direct non-judgmental experience. As a result, I have been able to step into many different worlds and experience them from the inside. Each world I embrace expands my flexibility and gives me more creativity and options in my own life’s choices.

What does this mean for you, my readers, students and clients?

Small arms combat and trading trigger the same primitive survival brain reactions that sabotage our results in both arenas. In the heat of the “battle” on the field or the markets, humans not only miss the best choices for peak performance and response, but often make the worst choices available.

Do you repeat the same trading errors over and over again?

There is a reason, and it’s not your fault.

You see, your trader training is created with your higher level cognitive brain. Most “self-defense training” is learned under ideal “laboratory” conditions. However, the fight or flight response takes over when we are seriously threatened in combat and these self-defense skills are then lost when we downshift into our fight or flight response.

The same thing happens when we are trading.

Why does trading trigger our survival mechanism? Because we have loaded a lot of expectations to our trading success. For some of us it is a dream of financial success which can be an obsession. For others it can prove to our family and community that we are capable after all. For some, it may even come down to a test of our worthiness as a human being.

Trading and combat can trigger the same survival mechanisms.

I know it doesn’t make sense, but the survival brain experiences just black and white…survival or death. And because we load up our trading success with a critical importance (it can even feel like a life or death struggle), our survival brain hears this loud and clear and goes into action when required.

So, with this in mind, what can combat training teach me as a coach about our training process?

First, here are excerpts from a paper I wrote a decade ago when I first started self-defense training. (The full paper is in the “Inner Circle” library for our members). After you read this excerpt, I will then apply them to a trader training methodology that we are creating at the Mind Muscles Academy:

"In order to design effective self-defense training, we need to train in situations that are as realistic as possible.

Martial arts or firearms marksmanship training often miss this essential ingredient.

No matter what level of self-defense training you have had or even if you have had none at all, we encourage you to ask yourself the following questions when selecting self-defense training:

Is this training geared to my real risks?
Does this give me the experience of being in a realistic situation such as I might encounter?
Will I experience the same physiological and emotional responses in training that I will under assault?
Does it take me through what feels and ‘smells’ like a real experience one successful step at a time?
Is it simple to learn and easy to repeat?
Can I gain substantial effectiveness in just a few sessions?

The more the training is able to answer “yes” to these questions then the more safe and secure you will be after you train."

The training I experienced last weekend was precise.

Precise to the point that every part of my body and its positions were defined to maximize peak performance. The retired Armed Forces trainers had been there and done it. They had been through combat for real. And their job was to create the simulations that would give us the same experience.

Posture, finger placement, muscle movement, focus, timing, weapon position...you name it...it was precise.

Every possible action was defined in detail.

The instructor’s job was to start slowly and build the absolute best practices and processes without error. The theory was that if you start sloppy, muscle memory takes over and it's very difficult to break the bad habits that inhibit peak performance.

Every little behavior that was “off” was corrected immediately.

And then the demand was that we speed up. With enough repetition these minor little movements and positions started to instill themselves in our “muscle memory.” Needless to say four days was not enough, in fact, not nearly enough to create the complete muscle memory that I would need in actual combat. However the process was enlightening.

We broke every action down to its essence and repeated it over and over again.

Just like in trading, there is a set up scenario. They used a color coding today note a continuum from safe to immediate danger. And in each of those states you presented a different mindset and set of behaviors. There were multiple evolving set ups each of them requiring a different response.

They taught decision process. How do you make a decision in each of these scenarios.

There is the set up, and then there is the decision process, and then there is the execution.

Once the action is completed they had a series of action after action drills to make sure the world was back in a safe space. We were graded on everyone of the processes involved from the set up to the action the after action drills.

By day four of the training some of the processes were to be completed in under two seconds.

In case something went wrong, we had malfunctioned drills. We rehearsed those until my hands were so sore I could hardly move them.

Combat and Trading processes compared:

I was one of the two oldest men in the group of forty.

As a result, my physical flexibility, speed and memory retention was just not competitive with the younger men, some of them with previous military or law enforcement experience. I had to play a continual game of catch up. But for those who know me, it is the challenge that gives me a charge.

The simulations created significant pressure.

Of course, the stress was not nearly as great as real combat, but in this model of training, if you repeat over and over the best practices, when you are under stress they will be automated. We were given real world stories of how this worked and failed.

So on the long drive home, I begin to think, what about this training process applies to trading?

This is the process I want to expand with our clients and community.

What if, imagine what if we as traders did not have any destructive or unhelpful processes that we had to undo?

What if, just imagine what if, from the ground up, each of us had a mentor that created all the details of a traders mindset and supported us in bringing those forward one step at a time.

What if we were to create simulations that tested each of those beliefs and behaviors while under pressure and continually invited the trader to come back to peak performance?

What if we built into muscle memory all the peak performance processes that those of us who have been through the trading wars have refined and developed during our lifetime of trading?

My passion is continually bringing the best practices of peak performance to the Mind Muscles community.

Would you like to expand your own unique and creative performance? Let’s talk to see how this can best be done. With our online courses, Mind Metrics application, Master Mind groups and private coaching, let’s find what works best for you.

Please go here to request a no obligation creative conversation with Rich.

The post Combat Trading: How combat training teaches trading psychology appeared first on Mind Muscles.

The SET Development Exercise

Rich Friesen — Sat, 06 May 2023 02:18:28 +0000

Awareness and Acceptance — SET Development Exercise

Self-awareness is where we start.

Self-awareness is the foundation for a life that is in rapport with ourselves, others, and the world. If we aren’t aware of ourselves in real-time, then our options and choices become automated reflexes, repeating old patterns of behavior that no longer serve us.

There are many Eastern and Western traditions for expanding our real-time self-awareness. The Mind Muscles Academy model is the SET Awareness Workout. This is a step-by-step exercise that allows you to start where there is no clear beginning.

Self-awareness is free.

Building your personal awareness is available to everybody at every stage of success. You know for certain that if you go to the gym and consistently work out with weights under the instruction of a trainer, in a few months, your body will have reshaped itself. Your mind can accomplish the same thing!

We used to think that our brains were fixed, but neuroscientists now know that your brain is continuously shaped by our behaviors and beliefs. They call this reshaping process “neuroplasticity.” Everyone can build new “Mind Muscles” that are designed to expand their personal awareness.

We break down our awareness into three different areas of focus:

Sensations (physical)
Emotions (feelings)
Thoughts (quality)

You can start by simply setting an alarm to ring every thirty minutes or at comfortable intervals.

When it goes off, just notice your physical sensations. Take a slow trip from your nose to your toes. What do you notice? Leave the sensations as they are, without adjustment. Also, notice any judgments or self-criticism of what you discover, and let them come and go.

Now journal about what you notice, without changing anything. Keep the alarm set, and keep the journal up to date. Soon this will become a very interesting habit.

Once this becomes easy, repeat the process, only this time, notice your feelings or emotions. No judgments, just awareness.

Keep the alarm ringing and the journal up to date.

Once you’ve got this down, move on to the next step: your thoughts. When the alarm goes off, notice the quality of your thoughts.

Are they negative or positive?
Are they judgmental or kind?
Are you lost in the flow of work or pleasure?
Are you retelling yourself a story of hurt or unfairness?
Are you playing a mental movie to justify what happened to you?

Again, just notice; no changes are needed.

Once this becomes routine, you can run through all three aspects of awareness at the same time: your sensations, emotions, and thoughts. Again, no judgments, just curiosity, and awareness.

When you have accumulated plenty of information, review your journal.

What do you notice?
What patterns emerge?
What is helpful?
What no longer serves you?

Now you can ask, “What do I prefer instead?”

SET Awareness image at the top is by David Cassolato on Pexels

The post The SET Development Exercise appeared first on Mind Muscles.

How to Change Your Trading Psychology – Erik Smolinski esInvests

Rich Friesen — Thu, 04 May 2023 17:44:20 +0000

Erik of ESInvests and The Outlier Podcast talks to Rich Friesen about his background in options trading and trading psychology.

In this video, watch Erik ask Rich the right hard questions!

Rich explains how old beliefs and survival mechanisms in place since early childhood can be triggered by trading the markets, and what processes can be helpful to traders on their journey to become a consistently profitable professional trader.

Rich successfully used his background in clinical psychology to radically change his own trading results and eventually train the traders in the firm he built, as well as coaching entrepreneurs, independent traders, fund managers and other financial professionals in his private coaching practice over the years.

Erik is a Marine veteran, options trader, and investor. He started trading in 2007 and has spent over 30,000 hours honing his skillset. He has no secret tricks or “easy money” strategies.

Erik actively trades derivatives and invest in residential and commercial real estate as well as startups. His goal is to share quality information without the BS.

The Outlier Community is built to connect you with other driven people who are pursuing or have achieved financial outlier status.

They get together to capitalize on the hive mind to share ideas, explore stock market news, cover investing basics, options trading, portfolio management, investing psychology, strategy, money management, live trading ideas, workshops, and more.

No-one finds success solely on their own – we create it together.

Links:

The post How to Change Your Trading Psychology – Erik Smolinski esInvests appeared first on Mind Muscles.