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By Eric Ellis | November 9, 2021 | The Farmer
A farmer, his son, and a horse live on a farm.
One day, the barn door is left open and the horse runs away. Hearing of the news the farmer’s neighbor tells him how sorry he feels for him. “Who is to say what is good or bad?”, the farmer replies. A few days later, the farmer’s horse returns with two more horses. His neighbor is so excited for the farmer’s luck, he ran to tell him so. The farmer shrugs and says, “Who is to say what is good or bad?”
The new horses were not tamed, so the farmer’s son works hard to train them so they could be used on the farm. While doing so, one of the horses throws him off and breaks the son’s leg. His neighbor again runs to the farm to express his deep sadness about the son’s broken leg. The farmer nonchalantly says,
“Who is to say what is good or bad?”
As the son was healing, a war broke out in the countryside. All the young men were sent to fight. Many were seriously injured or worse. However, with a broken leg, the son was unable to go. The neighbor again came to the farm to say how lucky the farmer was.
The farmer sheiks “OMG! Like, seriously bro!” Gotcha! Of course, he didn’t say that. With his standard measured tone, the farmer spoke “Who is to say what is good or bad?”
There are countless things that can hit like a tidal wave of emotions. News, politics, life… In the moment, it can be easy to react. Is it the right thing to do? I find that many times it causes me a lot of grief and headache without offering any support to the issue that caused me to worry in the first place. So, what can be done?
Pause
Simply taking a moment to take a break can go a long way. This can give our body a much-needed reset. Our brain is hard wired to force our body to react when it thinks you are at risk. Financial losses are processed in the same areas of the brain that respond to mortal danger¹. The challenge is your brain cannot tell the difference between the possibility of losing resources or a giant hungry grizzly bear chasing you. To your brain they are the same. Interestingly enough, you can use this to your benefit.
Breathe
You can use your breathing as an emotional judo to tame your racing thoughts. Your brain can jolt your body into fight or flight, you can also use your body to tame your brain when it too excited. Adrenaline works in a flash. Breathing works too, however it takes some time. Next time you hear some absurd news that sets you off, first hit pause, then follow these steps. First exhale as much as you can. Next, take a slow, measured, deep breathe in through your nose. Then hold it for four seconds. Finally, exhale slowly. Hold it for 4 seconds. The begin again. Repeat this 5 times. You may be surprised how quickly your mood can change.
Refocus
What is the real reason for your financial planning? What is your purpose? Making money is not a financial goal, its the natural assumed outcome of investing. What would having more money do for you? For most people it is comfortably living life on their terms. Everyone is unique. Maybe it is having more time to enjoy time with your family. It could be the ability to decide for yourself what you are doing today. What about starting that hobby you’ve always wanted to do? Only you can define it.
Bring your purpose back to its rightful place.
If one thing is for certain it is that life will throw us curve balls. If we could redirect our energy at times to focus on the right things, I think we could save ourselves a lot of unnecessary stress. When we take a step back, we can see the bigger picture. Often the things that once knocked the breath out of us, come and go with ease.
Eric Ellis
Financial Advisor