Intention Versus Expectation

Wow. This conversation with Trading Psychologist Andrew Menaker covered so much meaningful ground — if you’re a trader who’s serious about leveling up, emotionally and mentally, this one is a must-listen.

Here are just a few of the highlights we explored:

🔹 Intention vs. Expectations – We talked about the subtle but critical difference between trading with intention versus trading with expectation. Intention keeps you grounded in process and presence, while expectations often drag you into attachment, disappointment, and emotional volatility. They may look similar, but they feel very different — and the difference matters.

🔹 Intuition as a Signal – One of the most powerful themes was learning to identify and trust your own intuition. Not as a mystical force, but as a reflection of your accumulated pattern recognition and experience. When captured and understood, intuition can act as a mirror — revealing who you are and how you best operate in the markets.

🔹 The Power of Self-Awareness – Trading is the ultimate self-revealing pursuit. Knowing who you are — your strengths, tendencies, blind spots — can be a competitive edge. We discussed how deepening self-awareness, through honest reflection and tools like journaling, thinking/feeling logs, or altered states can directly improve your edge.

🔹 Thinking/Feeling Logs – Andrew shared how he uses simple logs to track thoughts and emotions before, during, and after trades. This isn’t fluffy stuff — it’s actionable intel. By logging what you thought and what you felt (and how strongly), you can uncover patterns in your mindset that may be helping or hurting your performance.

… and so much more.

I’m incredibly grateful to have access to the brilliant Mr. Menaker and for his willingness to share his insight and process with all of us. If you care about trading psychology, mindset, or just being better at handling risk in any area of life — do yourself a favor and give this a listen.