This is a YouTube video titled "035 – Interview w Richard Friesen of MindMusclesforTraders.com" containing an English podcast episode recorded in October 2023. The episode features Brian McAboy hosting an interview with Richard Friesen, discussing trading psychology, neuroscience-based trading methods, and Friesen's extensive experience in trading and psychology. The conversation focuses on improving consistent profits through mindset and behavioral changes in trading.
Hello and welcome to the Consistent Profits podcast brought to you by Inside out trading and Brian McAvoy, where the focus is on consistency because when you have the consistent part down, profits become easy. Hello everybody. This is Brian McAvoy with a new episode of the Consistent Profits podcast. I'm excited today to be interviewing Richard Friesen, creator of the Mind Muscles Mob. Thanks. Thanks so much for being on the podcast today.
Well, this is my pleasure. I've listened to some previous podcasts and I really like the way you draw out the best in your guests and the skill you have. So I'm excited to be here and let's find out and let's discover what issues we can really help your listeners with.
Yeah, sounds good. Now for those of you not already familiar with Richard, he works with independent and professional traders who want to increase their consistent profits. His neuroscience based Mind Muscles model gives us clients the opportunity to reach their goals with online training, simulations, interactive exercises, group support, and real time decision processes. Richard has been a futures broker for Merrill lynch, floor trader on the cme, CBOT and the options floor of the Pacific Exchange, where he built and sold a successful options trading firm. He also founded and built a financial software company and is the inventor of 10 significant trading interface patents, which I thought was very cool. This combined with his master's degree in clinical psychology, NLP master's certification and neuroscience focus, allows him to bring a unique framework to trading success. Again, Richard, thanks for being here today, man.
Well, I really looking forward to drilling down on some issues that can make a difference, reframe some problems and create an invitation to new behaviors that actually serve your listeners better.
Yeah, indeed. Indeed. Now, I gotta ask, you've been in the trading world for like 40 years now.
What are you calling me old?
I mean, we're not that far apart in age, but yeah. What is it about trading that's kept your interest for all these years though?
Well, it's was. I started out as an accident. One of my college buddies, Joe Richie, who founded an option trading firm, Chicago Research and Trading, and you know, so he said, hey, there's a lot to do here. So I thought, well, rather than stepping into that, I'll. I'll get my feet wet first at Merrill Lynch. So for me it was a total accident and I didn't belong on the floor and I can go through that. All my own psychological processes were wrong. So there was a big mountain for Rich Friesen to climb for just in. In an arena that wasn't his natural hab. But what did work was my background in philosophy and psychology. And self awareness allowed me to climb that mountain and eventually get to the top.
Well, yeah, I noticed that, you know, in looking over your, your history and everything, most of your occupations have been in, you know, the financial and business worlds. And I thought that was an interesting combination considering that your degree, I mean, your undergrad degree was philosophy, if I remember correctly. And then you also got a master's in clinical psychology. So you know how those two kind of blended together.
Well, that's. Yeah, that, you know, when I was doing my own work, learning to trade, looking at my own belief systems, my identity as being a wealthy person, my behaviors. So a lot of the psychology turned into a process of self awareness and in improving my own processes. And then when I started a trading firm and, and I had a trading methodology and I had my own firm stepping away from my previous employer, is that what I noticed is about a third of the traders, they would look at the methodology, look at our systems, risk reduction and all that, and they would just take off and make money. About a third of them would do okay, not bad, but just kind of average. But a third of them just couldn't do it. Same training, same markets, everything was there. So what was the difference between here and here mindset? That was the only thing. So as I started working with my traders, I discovered.
