There is a virus that has lasted far longer than Covid and in many ways, it is far more damaging. AI says a virus is a non-living infectious agent that can bring a human being to their knees, causing them a sense of paralysis. This virus I speak of is a parasite that takes over the entire body to include the brain. What is this virus? I am talking about fear. It either conquers you or you conquer it. Let's explore.
It's true that fear can help us survive as it did during the caveman days. Today? It causes more harm than good. Fear can cause people to make very bad decisions when it comes to their money. It becomes a virus that spreads throughout the body, causing us to make emotional decisions with our money instead of rational decisions based on the facts at hand. Allowing fear to win can equal very bad results.
Fear hurts us when it comes to our day to day finances. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a fear that rules many people. Many people buy things they do not need, and may not even want, just to avoid missing out on something others have acquired. This kind of fear causes the average human being to spend most, all, or more than all of their money on crap that ends up worthless in a short period of time.
Fear can devastate us when it comes to our investments. There are a long list of people who have freaked out and sold when markets were tumbling. Fear causes them to think worse case scenario (the market is going to totally collapse). Buying high and selling low will make you a terrible investor with low returns on your investments. If fear is not managed effectively, investing success is virtually impossible.
Fear can stop us from putting our money at risk in stock markets all over the world. Here is the truth. If you take no risk, you will get little to no return. Fear has to be managed to help us not only invest in those risky stocks, but to keep doing it through the most difficult times of our lives. We must step into our fears, not pull back and try to hide from them. The first option builds confidence. The latter feeds the fear.
Fear is directly connected to scarcity. The brain says there are limited resources, which causes us to hoard whatever we have and fight tooth and nail to avoid running out of resources to include money. The virus spreads into our everyday life, hurting us with every decision we make. Fear causes a great deal of worrying that ultimately hurts the person doing the worrying. It can be chaos.
AI tells me fear weakens the immune system, causing cardiovascular disease as it increases the aging process. This means we are more apt to get sick and incur pain throughout our body. It can isolate us leading to less freedom, while leading to more impulsive decisions that make no sense in the rational world, but plenty of sense to the person consumed by fear. It can lead to panic.
Welcome to my world! When I work with people to improve their financial situation, I size up their fear index. 1: they have no fear. 10: they are literally paralyzed, unable to take action. Ideally, we want to be closer to 1, rather than 10. We want to keep that number under 5. We identify the risks and then set out to mitigate them as best we can. Easy for some. Hard for others. My job as a financial therapist is never dull.
Here is the truth. Personal finance to include investing is rather simple. You find a way to make decent money. Spend far less than what you take home. Take that extra money and save it into low fee stock index funds in and outside of retirement accounts and then you keep doing it for months, years and decades. Financial Freedom follows. Notice, I did not say it was easy. Fear can make it hard.
Where are you on that fear scale? Why do some people handle fear quite well and others are paralyzed by it? There is no simple answer, but here are a few thoughts. A good financial education from the right people can help. If the person is open to learning, they study the facts as they look at the history of markets, how marketing campaigns work, and cues that can help a person push fear aside when it shows up.
AI tells me to face fear gradually, take some deep breaths and challenge my thinking. I suppose that is pretty good advice, but I think there is more. I think you want to turn fear on its proverbial head. Stop seeing a life of scarcity and start seeing a life of abundance. You train yourself day by day. Instead of seeing a lack of resources. You see plenty for everyone and you become grateful for what you already have.
You stop and look fear in the face and tell yourself, it is a paper tiger. It will not control you. You will manage it. With every experience, you become stronger. Fear goes from being a shark, to hamster. It is an ongoing process, fear is always lurking. You start to see the value of helping others, knowing that we are all in this together. That changes the way you see life. Beautiful things come from it.
Let's wrap this up. You cannot get rid of fear, but you can manage it. You can make it a small part of your life, rather than a big part. Get some help if needed. Write down your thoughts if that helps. Hang out with people who are good at managing their fear is a must. Finally, let it go. Just let go of those fears and little by little they will lose their control over you. A better, more peaceful life follows.
Conquering Your Fears Helps YOU Conquer Your Life!
