The Market will buy me a <blank>

The Market will buy me a Rifle.

I've read in a couple of books that when you go into the market with a specific goal to purchase something, you lose.
I wanted this really nice rifle I had been eyeballing for years and I said, I've been trading pretty good this next one is going to buy me a rifle. Ouch. I would have been better off just pulling the money out of the account and buying it.

Anyone else experience the same sort of thing and want to share? Win or lose, I'm curious if this old tale holds true.

I would never want to speak for him, but an old member here by the name of Fijitrader (who now resides over in the J16 pf) had different advice. He said he used to have a slide show of some sort going with pictures of the tropical scenery in Fiji, as wanting to live there were his goals. As he traded, that exposure to imagery of what his goals were motivated him to keep his mind focused on his desires. He now lives in Fiji.

Just some thoughts...

Yes. Yes. Setting long term goals and using visualization is definitely a method that I believe works, but I'm talking about something a little different.