Fear as an asset:
Fear exists within us for a reason. Fear alerts us to possible life-threatening situations, like hearing a strange noise late at night or while walking alone in an unsafe neighbourhood. Fear could very well save your life because it makes you alert and makes you more cautious. Fear can also motivate us to take one extra look at the numbers on that rental property or to listen or read more reports about the industry in which we just bought stocks. As such, a touch of fear can help us avoid costly mistakes. A certain amount of fear can serve us well.
Fear as a liability:
Fear can also have a destructive side. It can stop your dreams, opportunities, personal growth, passion, and your ability to live your life to its absolute fullest. The harmful face of fear is when it paralyzes us. When we’re immobilized into doing nothing. When we say “no” to the opportunity too quickly, without a lot of thinking. Fear makes it far too easy to fix your eyes on all of the reasons why the investment is a bad, risky and unwise venture to undertake. Fear can also turn into an excuse that prevents you from doing something unknown or outside your comfort zone. When the fear of making mistakes, of losing money, of embarrassment or of personal disappointment wins, you lose.
Conclusion:
Fear can be the greatest asset we have. Every time fear comes up and we realize it is not life-threatening, we have an opportunity to grow and to expand ourselves. When you come through the other side, it’s incredibly exhilarating! You are not the same person you were before the process. Instead of dreading fear, look it straight in the eye and know you’ve just uncovered your next level of growth!
Overcome Your Fear
When it comes to investing, we often step into an unexperienced territory or the unknown. We are doing something, we’ve never done before. We have no experience and we don’t have all the answers. So no wonder the fear sets in.
One of the easiest ways to reduce fear is through education and experience. The more we learn and know about a certain investment, the more confident we will become in your decision taking. The more investments we own, the more self-assured and knowledgeable we will become. Therefore, fear will play a smaller role with every investment. Investing is truly a process that you have to take one step at a time. Like so many other successful investors, it is OK to fail. But it’s never OK to let your fear prevent you from achieving your financial dreams.
Sven Franssen