Identity And Anxiety

Ask The Questions, "Who Am I, and Why?"

Who Am I? Why?

Silence risks ruin

Fear of being out of step fuels losses

Detach from others' madness

Invest in asking

Ahead, because you can change your mind

Free because you know who you are and why

Identity is safe from the clutches of the crowd

Anxiety gone,

No YOLO No FOMO

Who Am I? What Am I About? These are the “big” questions.

So many of our problems in life come from bad answers to these questions. Left unanswered, this hurts us in life and living. It has ruined many where money is involved.

Some lessons come from “The Money Game” (1968), where the author “Adam Smith” tackled "Identity & Anxiety". In the GoGo 1960s markets today’s boomers rocked or got wrecked by the market. The game is ancient - as is FOMO and YOLO.

What feelings dominate in any arena of risk, with lots of players, like the markets? The strongest emotions are greed and fear. In bull markets, you can feel the greed tide rising.

This happens when you see success being shared or flaunted by winners in the game. FOMO has everyone in its clutches.

Your friends have an investment, experience or event that has been unbelievably awesome. An "unwillingness to be out of step", this nagging FOMO, is fuel for danger ahead. Danger is a reversal of fortune. Nothing moves steadily upwards.

Then as it always has, things begin to crack - move in reverse.

Those who gave into their FOMO, early or late, hesitate before powering down, cutting back. Their ego and identity is about the crew they associate with, the things they own.

It's hard to concede to the idea that one could be holding the bag. You're a deer in a steamroller's headlights. You might be frozen but those lights are coming closer. What do you do?

You become strong before the storm even comes. You invest in knowing and building yourself. You are detached from the madness before it's even arrived.

"All those marvelous things, or those terrible things, that you feel ... are unreciprocated.…unreciprocated love can turn into masochism, narcissism, or even worse...losses and hate...."

You are ahead because you can change your mind and yesterday was the past, and you live in the “NOW”.

You're free because you know yourself, your identity is safe from the clutches of the crowd. No FOMO, No YOLO.