Maria Iliffe-Wood

Author and Coach
I combine my coaching and writing skills to help you publish your book.

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

It’s an honour for my book to be mentioned in this tweet. 🙏😁

[Steven Goldstein @AlphaMind101]

I’m going to state it plain and simple. If you as a trader suffers from bouts of self-doubt, fears of inadequacy, concerns you may not be good enough, worries you’ll be found out, and so many more aspects that you feel are deeply personally to you, well your not alone, far far from it.

As a trader I too suffered from those aspects big time. It was debilitating, choking, stifling, and seriously undermined my ability to help me reach my potential.

To varying degrees, everyone on the planet suffers from these aspects of what is part of being a healthy functioning human. But that does not mean you should allow them to dominate you, own you, control you, in ways that catalyse the underperformance that is getting in the way.

Coming to terms with who you are, and realising you have imperfections, but that you’re not flawed, may just be the most powerful thing you can do to improve your chances of success.

There is I believe 3 stages of development every trader has to address when it comes to trading. The 1st stage, is the transactional level - What to do. The 2nd stage is addressing our behaviours, so that we can do the right things at the transactional level. This is where we start looking into trading psychology and read the likes of Douglas, Schwager, Shull and so on. But there is also a 3rd stage. This, I believe more than any other, is where the game is won in the long-term. This is where the masters prevail, and where success and failure stalk.

To understand this stage, think of that phrase you hear ever seasoned trader say. - ‘Trading, more than anything else, teaches them about their self.’ Many traders who don’t make it, tell you that what they got from trading was they got to discover who they really are.

This 3rd level is soul, self, you, the deep you, the real you, the you shaped by your past, your upbringing, how you came into the world, how you were nurtured in way that shaped your nature. This part of you is immutable, it lies deep within you, often covered up by layers of time, trauma, and efforts to hide it, change it, shape it!

The most successful people, not necessarily the wealthiest, are often people at peace with who they are.

Getting to this person within you, your true and real self, and aligning yourself with it, is often a lifetime’s journey that you never really complete, but which you get much better at. But the more you can bring your true self out, and the more closely you can align with it, the more powerful you will be as a trader, and a person.

But it’s not easy, it requires a major mindset reframe, and making this reframe sticky, and then staying with it. That’s some serious heavy lifting. - But it is possible, with time and effort, and it is this that will probably have a far greater impact on your trading than any ability to assess the market fundamentals, read the sentiment, accurately use charts.

If you really want to start doing something about these aspects, and start taking some degree of control and ownership of them, and their impact on your work as a trader, so you that you can start releasing yourself from the weight of your expectations and letting-go of the strangling self-judgment which goes with that, then you have to start now, because it’s gonna be a long journey.

Some books I recommend to help you, none of which are trading books:

The Inner Game of Tennis - Tim Gallwey
Zen and the Art of MotorCycle Maintenance - Robert Persig
Any of Eckhardt Tolle’s books
The Art of Learning - Josh Waitzkin
Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl
A Caged Mind - Maria Illiffe-Wood

I’m sure you’ll have some of your own. Feel free to suggest them.

[Steven Goldstein @AlphaMind101]

I’m going to state it plain and simple. If you as a trader suffers from bouts of self-doubt, fears of inadequacy, concerns you may not be good enough, worries you’ll be found out, and so many more aspects that you feel are deeply personally to you, well your not alone, far far from it.

As a trader I too suffered from those aspects big time. It was debilitating, choking, stifling, and seriously undermined my ability to help me reach my potential.

To varying degrees, everyone on the planet suffers from these aspects of what is part of being a healthy functioning human. But that does not mean you should allow them to dominate you, own you, control you, in ways that catalyse the underperformance that is getting in the way.

Coming to terms with who you are, and realising you have imperfections, but that you’re not flawed, may just be the most powerful thing you can do to improve your chances of success.

There is I believe 3 stages of development every trader has to address when it comes to trading. The 1st stage, is the transactional level - What to do. The 2nd stage is addressing our behaviours, so that we can do the right things at the transactional level. This is where we start looking into trading psychology and read the likes of Douglas, Schwager, Shull and so on. But there is also a 3rd stage. This, I believe more than any other, is where the game is won in the long-term. This is where the masters prevail, and where success and failure stalk.

To understand this stage, think of that phrase you hear ever seasoned trader say. - ‘Trading, more than anything else, teaches them about their self.’ Many traders who don’t make it, tell you that what they got from trading was they got to discover who they really are.

This 3rd level is soul, self, you, the deep you, the real you, the you shaped by your past, your upbringing, how you came into the world, how you were nurtured in way that shaped your nature. This part of you is immutable, it lies deep within you, often covered up by layers of time, trauma, and efforts to hide it, change it, shape it!

The most successful people, not necessarily the wealthiest, are often people at peace with who they are.

Getting to this person within you, your true and real self, and aligning yourself with it, is often a lifetime’s journey that you never really complete, but which you get much better at. But the more you can bring your true self out, and the more closely you can align with it, the more powerful you will be as a trader, and a person.

But it’s not easy, it requires a major mindset reframe, and making this reframe sticky, and then staying with it. That’s some serious heavy lifting. - But it is possible, with time and effort, and it is this that will probably have a far greater impact on your trading than any ability to assess the market fundamentals, read the sentiment, accurately use charts.

If you really want to start doing something about these aspects, and start taking some degree of control and ownership of them, and their impact on your work as a trader, so you that you can start releasing yourself from the weight of your expectations and letting-go of the strangling self-judgment which goes with that, then you have to start now, because it’s gonna be a long journey.

Some books I recommend to help you, none of which are trading books:

The Inner Game of Tennis - Tim Gallwey
Zen and the Art of MotorCycle Maintenance - Robert Persig
Any of Eckhardt Tolle’s books
The Art of Learning - Josh Waitzkin
Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl
A Caged Mind - Maria Illiffe-Wood

I’m sure you’ll have some of your own. Feel free to suggest them.

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

@AlphaMind101 Thank you for the mention Steve. It’s truly an honour to see my book listed with such esteemed people as Tim Galway, Eckhart Tollé and Viktor Frankl.

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

@Join_ZOE is there a problem with the Zoe app? It is constantly flashing to say checking for updates.

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

When I get worried, I get the feeling there's a great white shark in my underbelly. The feeling is like a warning light on a car that lets me know I've got carried away in my thinking. What feeling tells you you're paying attention to the wrong kind of thoughts? #ACagedMind

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

I can see fear in my head, and simultaneously, the calm, clear, present me. It makes challenging situations easier to bear. Read one such story in my book A Caged Mind.
#spiritualjourney #learning #spiritualunderstanding #threeprinciples #coachingpresence
https://t.co/EMnzDbV3G7

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

Happy New Year. I hope this is a year where you have lots to celebrate. I hope you have peace, grace and ease in your life, and possibly a new book written or published.

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

Use the power of Thought to create your kind of Christmas.
Have a pressure free festive period.
(Poem adapted from A Caged Mind)
#HappyChristmas #powerofThought #peace #joy #freedom #ACagedMind #pressure #pressurefree

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

We are now closed for the Holiday Break. I wish you a contented and peaceful Holiday season. I hope Santa brings you some lovely gifts not too dissimilar to the ones in this image. 😁
#HappyChristmas #HappyHolidays #Christmasgiftidea

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

"I hold onto the bars, unaware, there is no cage."
There's no bars or cage, only the limitations we self impose. Many were created in childhood through the energetic power that is Thought.
#ACagedMind #spiritualunderstanding #spiritualjourney #feelbetter #lifewithoutfear

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

The perfect gift for any writer in your life. A Different Story and Stories from the Muses offer exercises and inspiration to help anyone become a better writer. Available from Amazon.
#happyholidays #happychristmas #christmasgiftideas #giftforwriters #writersgift

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

Part II: I Turned Around starts with this verse. These are stories where one new thought changed me forever, no effort involved. Insight has that effect. Sometimes we don't know what the insight is, but the change takes place regardless. We find ourselves different. #cagedmind

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends across the pond. I am thankful for each and every one of you. Have a wonderful day.
#thanksgiving #gratitude #thankful #blessings #love #appreciation

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

Who's been a busy bee today? Here's the latest page on my website for the Write Community. Do let me know what you think of it. :) https://t.co/690f9p5Z4P
#busybee #newwebpage #writers #authors #publishing #writecommunity #writerslife

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

@PKellenbarger18 Thank you so much Pilar. I'm so pleased you like it. :)

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

This poem heads up Part 1 - A Caged Life. The stories show how our life is diminished within a cage of our own thinking. I saw its effects in all parts of my life. Outside of the cage are dreams that, from inside the cage are not even imaginable. #cagedmind #spiritualjourney

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

This is the first haiku-inspired verse in my book. Publishing 5 books and starting a publishing company was not in my plan. When I followed the nudges, life surprised me. Have you felt those life nudges? Where have they taken you? #cagedmind #surprise #spiritualjourney #book

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

LAST CHANCE! Your opportunity to win a fabulous limited edition print runs out at midnight. If you don't enter today, then that's it! Finito! You will have lost your chance. Tag me and #cagedmindcomp22, with an image of the book and the cover.

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

THREE DAYS! You have to be in it to win it!! Last three days to enter. Post an image of the book, with a comment, tag me and use the #cagedmindcomp22. Time runs out on Monday 31st Oct.

[Maria Iliffe-Wood @iliffewood]

@AnnaCaig Have a wonderful birthday Anna. You're just a spring chicken yet! Have an amazing writing retreat. :)