Fear: Whether Zip Lining or Investing,
It Drains Us Of Strength, Clouds Our Judgement
by: Brendan Magee
Fear is defined as a distressing emotion aroused by a real or imagined threat. Fear disrupts our lives, drains us of our spiritual strength, and clouds our judgement. At least that is what the pamphlet that I read just before embarking on a zip line adventure.
To be truthful, as my guide, Emily, was helping me into my harness, I was thinking of some of the threats to my well being that comes when you are going to be anywhere between 25 to 65 feet in the air hanging by a wire. Forget about the fact that I was safely going to be hooked up to safety lines and the likelihood of falling was minimal. I was quite distressed.
With a little time to ponder before hitting the zip line course, I thought about the role fear plays in the lives of investors. There is plenty to be fearful of. What if the stock market crashes? What if my financial adviser turns out to be a crook and I lose all my money? What if I lose my job? What if I get sick? What if I don't save enough? How will I survive?
Is there an investment decision we make that isn't some where rooted in fear?
We might not see it this way, but fear steals from us. It destroys our hope in the future and it robs us of the joy of living.
If we walk around with a fear of the stock market crashing, by all costs we want to avoid that. We don't put a penny of our money in stocks. We play it safe and only go with guaranteed investments. Sure the three or four percent return won't keep pace with inflation and most likely I will out live my savings in retirement, but I don't have to live with the never ending fear of when will the stock market crash. Meantime, I have missed out on the annualized 11% the S&P 500 has done over the past thirty years as well as any chance of living a secure and comfortable retirement.
If we walk around fearing being taken by a self serving financial adviser, there's no way in hell I am going to risk having my money stolen. I will just invest my money on my own. Who cares if I don't know how the stock market works or where returns really come from. If the market goes down, I will just get out until the market goes back up then I will reinvest in the market. I know I can't buy high/ sell low and be successful, but I just can't stand the thought of falling victim to an unscrupulous investment adviser.
Might not seem as if any of these scenarios could befall you. They are too simplistic, but every day, more people then you can shake a stick at are making decisions with their money which are totally based on fear. As we said earlier, fear clouds our judgement. We can't possibly know where the runway is if it is clouded over with fog.
The only way for investors to begin to overcome their fears is by, first, admitting they have them. Until our fears are acknowledged poor decisions and behaviors will continue. Next, we have to admit that we can not overcome our fears on our own. We need a coach. Not only did I need my coach's knowledge in safely getting around the zip line course, I needed her encouragement and a gentle push every now and again.
I don't think it is any different for investors. When we acknowledge our fears and surrender to the fact that we cannot control them on our own, we get back the strength, joy, passion, money, security and freedom that our fears stole from us.
Brendan Magee is the founder and president of Inevitable Wealth Coaching. With questions or comments e-mail brendan@coachgee.com or call 610-446-4322.
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