A couple of weeks ago, the WSJ ran an article on FEAR. Basically the article said that articulating your fears is a better way to handle them than what we typically try to do - overcome them. Earlier this week an article came out in Science magazine (thanks Peter for sending!) that said writing down worries before a test improves the test performance. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? ... What happened to "Positive thinking"?

Well… anyone who has read my newsletter for any length of time already knows that the whole positive thinking movement is (way) over-rated. So called negative emotions don’t feel good but that is because your brain wants your attention. It has a message for you. The trick is to decipher the message to find its real meaning.

So start with just recognizing the message –
Anticipate that you are going to feel afraid of losing money, being wrong and missing out. Then analyze where that fear is coming from. This means introspection, tolerating the feeling and examining it and its source. Taking the time to do so can also keep you in or out of a trade… i.e. write down the fears and you won’t be pushing the buttons. It is a way to divert anxiety while you understand its source and message.

Once you have an understanding of the source of your anxiety and the message that your brain is trying to convey, you will have an easier time deciding how to handle your trade. The anticipation and analysis that you will conduct within yourself will ultimately force you to handle your fear(s) in a much more productive way.

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