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Friends,

Given the option, would you choose to become a vampire?

If you're like us, your immediate answer is: "Of course not!"

But forget the scary movies for a second; let's assume you could become a vampire without causing anyone harm; all of your friends had already become vampires; you'd live forever, become incredibly rich, and get superpowers.

How about now?

The decision would at least require some thought.

Philosopher L.A. Paul puts it succinctly:

Believe it or not, we can substitute "great investor" for "vampire," and the analogy holds -- except in the opposite direction. Whereas becoming a vampire looks more appealing, becoming a great investor looks less appealing.

Consider:

In 2005, a team of researchers ran a 20-round coin-flipping game. Participants started with $20. If they correctly guessed heads/tails, they'd win $2.50. If they were incorrect, they'd lose $1.

One group of participants outperformed the rest: those with brain lesions that inhibited their ability to feel emotions.

Great investors often pride themselves on not being emotional. But if you cut off emotions in one area of your life, you're likely to also cut them off in the other areas.

Imagine feeling no joy, excitement, or contentment for the rest of your life.

One of the study's authors quipped that the greatest investors may be just "functional psychopaths."

Are you still interested in becoming a great investor?

Thankfully, there's a way to become a successful investor without losing your emotions: practice mindfully accepting all of your emotions in real-time.

That means allowing yourself to feel the emotional rush of watching your portfolio rise 50% -- without becoming overconfident in your investing skills.

It also means allowing yourself to feel the gut-wrenching pain of seeing your portfolio being halved -- without wanting to sell everything to stop the pain.

Practicing mindful acceptance isn't easy; it might be one the hardest thing you'll ever do.

But as Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön puts it, it's worth it:

As you might've guessed, Chödrön was talking about life, not investing.

But many of life's most important lessons can also be modified to make you a better investor.

Wishing you investing (and life) success,

- Brian Feroldi, Brian Stoffel, & Brian Withers

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Most people know Morgan Housel because of The Psychology of Money, but he's been producing high-quality content for over a decade. His article "Financial Advice for My New Son" is one of our all-time favorites.

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mattschnuck @mattschnuck Want the technique Tony Robbins uses to design his life? It’s taught by the most expensive executive coaches in the world. Here’s how it works (and how you can use it immediately): 10:55 AM • Oct 19, 2022 283 Retweets 1743 Likes Read 58 replies

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