Emotions & Finance

Losses are a natural consequence of playing any game with a difficulty level appropriate to us. The key to long-term success is distinguishing between temporary losses and permanently destructive losses. When we hold on through the former and cut the latter, we win in the long-term.

"Keeping options open" is often times a disguise for avoidance and fear of commitment. If we never commit, we lose the chance to gain the compounding returns from choosing a course of action and sticking with it.

Success in markets (or in life) requires the willingness to accept the pain of loss, as well as the ability to endure pain over a long period of time. Ultimately, those who win in markets and in life are those who can sit with pain the longest.

Society tells us to generate confidence and self-worth internally, and to not rely on external validation. But external validation is like a price signal from the market--we may have an asset which is very valuable, but we have no idea of its worth without information from an external source.

We can feel frustrated when we "do everything right" but don't get the result we want. This post unpacks the assumptions underneath "doing" "everything" "right."

In finance, "good" things like assets, returns, and money come part and parcel with "bad" things like liabilities, risk, and time investment. We can guide our personal growth by looking for the "bad," knowing the "good" will come automatically.

Diversification is a core risk management technique in the world of finance. We can adapt this principle to mitigate risk in our personal lives as well, in the areas of career, relationships and even personal self-worth.

Human beings misprice risk by conflating "fear" with "danger." We can earn massive risk-adjusted returns in our personal lives by taking on risk that others are too scared to take.

In finance, we can't get big returns without taking big risk. The same holds true in our personal lives. If we want outsized returns in life, we have to take risks--embrace fears--that others are not willing to take.

This is Part 3 of my nine-part series connecting financial frameworks with personal growth. 1.      Finance as a Framework 2.      Assets = Liabilities + Equity: What You Own Comes with Strings Attached 3.      Assets = Liabilities + Equity 2: What You Have vs. What You Can Use 4.      Time Value of Money 1: The