Live Group Coaching Session Summaries
Members of the Sound Performance Psychology Online Community (SPPOC) can access comprehensive summaries and audio recordings of our group coaching sessions. These resources can help them to review and enhance their trading psychology skills.
SPPOC provides two 90-minute group coaching sessions weekly, including live and archived mindfulness sessions specifically created for traders. It is a unique Discord community with no shot callers or market predictions, just a small group working together to build a mindset for trading and beyond.
Our archive of live sessions dates back to 1/7/24 when the SPPOC beta testing began.
#063 | The Discipline of Values-Driven Action
Sean dives into the nuanced relationship between discipline and values-driven action in this structured session. Starting with the distinction between “discipline” as self-regulation and “a discipline” as a focused field of study, Sean argues that sustainable discipline arises when one’s actions are deeply connected to personal values. Like any profession, trading demands more than sheer willpower—it requires a purpose to ground the countless decisions and emotions involved.
Sean challenges the traditional view of discipline as toughness, noting that willpower is often overemphasized. Instead, he highlights how awareness of personal values transforms discipline into a meaningful pursuit. “Discipline follows purpose,” Sean reminds the group, underscoring that values—not fleeting emotions—should guide behavior.
#062 | Spaces Session: Overcoming Strategy Hopping in Trading
In this engaging Twitter Spaces session, Sean Sawyer and co-host Cleo explore the pervasive issue of strategy hopping among traders. This behavior—jumping from one trading strategy to another—often stems from psychological motivations like impatience, perfectionism, or fear of failure. Sean emphasizes that the issue is not simply a lack of discipline but a complex interplay of factors such as shame, abandonment issues, and societal pressures.
#061 | Managing Cognitive Dissonance and Ego States in Trading
In this open Q&A, Sean and the SoundPerformance Psychology community discuss managing cognitive dissonance—precisely, the frustration that arises when traders make choices contrary to their plans. Sean frames this issue as a clash between our impulses and conscious intentions, highlighting it as a core area in trading psychology. This session explores the root causes of such internal conflicts, with participants sharing experiences of impulsive trades that defy their strategies.
#060 | Money Relationship: Insights for Your Financial Journey
In this session, Sean Sawyer, dives deep into how personal finance habits, shaped by early life schemas, impact trading psychology. Using familiar concepts, he explores how beliefs about money—often inherited from childhood experiences—can influence everything from financial anxiety to risk-taking behavior in trading. Sean introduces the idea of schemas, which are mental frameworks developed from formative experiences, explaining that ‘if you grew up with scarcity or abundance, your financial behaviors and stress responses around money were likely shaped by that environment.’
#059 | Trading Psychology and Emotional Awareness—Journaling and Confidence
This session explores traders’ struggles with journaling, emotional responses, and confidence-building in trading amidst market highs. Sean discusses how emotions like anger and avoidance can mask underlying psychological patterns, making journaling seem more challenging. He delves into how acknowledging and processing these feelings—especially anger tied to past experiences—can remove hidden mental barriers, enabling more clarity and ease in tracking trades and assessing performance.
#058 | The Power of Stress Pivoting: Harnessing Intentional Avoidance in Trading
Key Points: Sean introduces the concept of “stress pivoting,” or intentional avoidance, as a practical tool for traders to regain focus and reduce emotional fatigue. Community members discuss real-life examples of using stress pivoting to manage trading pressures without overindulging in impulsive avoidance. Delayed gratification and self-awareness are highlighted as essential skills for traders to balance productivity and emotional wellness. Session Summary:In tonight’s structured session,...
#057 | Embracing Trading Setbacks as Steps to Growth
In this engaging session, SPP members and Sean discuss the complexities of trading psychology, honing in on challenges like the impulse to self-sabotage after profitable trades and the struggle to follow back-tested systems. The discussion opens with reflections on a recent guest lecture, leading to profound insights about navigating trading in a way that aligns with each trader’s values and emotional landscape. “When you recognize trading is as much about psychology as technique, you can trade smarter, not just harder,” one participant noted.
#056 | Why Trade Psych Plans Rule
In this session, Sean Sawyer emphasizes the critical role of a structured psychology plan in trading, particularly the value of revisiting foundational practices. He explains that habits are built through repetition and can either support or hinder a trader’s performance. To build sustainable skills, he reminds traders that consistency is not just about completing actions but integrating psychological habits like grounding and emotional regulation into daily trading routines. This simple approach creates a buffer against rash decisions, often sparked by heightened market conditions.
#055 | Scaling Up Trading Without Losing Emotional Balance
This session tackled traders’ familiar struggles when scaling their trades without disrupting the emotional balance. A key participant shared their experience of downsizing to micros to limit risk but felt limited by the reduced upside potential. Sean emphasized the importance of maintaining emotional balance before gradually increasing trade size, underscoring that it’s not just about scaling the number of contracts but doing so in a way that supports long-term success.
#054 | Revisiting Contextual Trading Psychology
In this session, Sean revisits the concept of contextual trading psychology, emphasizing the importance of understanding the various contexts influencing a trader’s decisions. From macro-level factors such as life events to micro details like sleep or hydration, context shapes how we approach the market. Sean introduces the updated “Perspective Sheet” as a tool to assess multiple layers of context — macro (significant life events), meso (daily responsibilities), and micro (personal well-being). He highlights how traders often neglect these contexts, leading to poor decision-making or using trading to avoid uncomfortable feelings.