Don't Be a Fearmonger

If you look around you will notice that nearly everyone around you is scared. They are not sure what will happen with the economy and more importantly their jobs. Will they ever be able to recover from the 45% haircut the stock market drop has given them?

A very insightful article came out in the New York Times on Sunday titled In Hard Times, Fear Can Impair Decision Making. It is written by Gregory Berns, a neuroeconomist and directs the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University. In the article he makes the following observations:

“And while fear is a deep-seated and adaptive evolutionary drive for self-preservation, it makes it impossible to concentrate on anything but saving our skin by getting out of the box intact.”

“Ultimately, no good can come from this type of decision making. Fear prompts retreat. It is the antipode to progress. Just when we need new ideas most, everyone is seized up in fear, trying to prevent losing what we have.”

Take some time to observe your own behavior and test what he is saying. It is certainly true with me. Now is the time to go against the grain and create opportunities for ourselves. You may be thinking, easier said than done. You may be surprised.

“The most concrete thing that neuroscience tells us is that when the fear system of the brain is active, exploratory activity and risk-taking are turned off. The first order of business, then, is to neutralize the system.”

“This means not being a fearmonger. It means avoiding people who are overly pessimistic about the economy. It means tuning out media that fan emotional flames. Unless you are a day-trader, it means closing the Web page with the market ticker. It does mean being prepared, but not being a hypervigilant, everyone-in-the-bunker type.”

I would suggest a couple of more things that you can do to “neutralize the (fear) system”:

1. Spend 10-15 minutes each morning visualizing your ideal life
2. Spend 20-30 minutes reading something uplifting (personal growth book, poetry, human victory story)
3. Workout for at least 30 minutes per day
4. Start a gratitude journal, taking careful inventory of all that you are blessed with
5. Set goals and clear daily and weekly objectives so you have a clear path of the life you are designing. This will take you out of the helpless victim role that often accompanies fear.