F.E.A.R.
Use your fear to your advantage
BY definition from Wikipedia, fear is an emotion induced by a perceived threat, which causes entities to quickly pull far away from it and usually hide. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. In short, fear is the ability to recognize danger leading to an urge to confront it or flee from it
People have different kinds of fear. Examples are fear of darkness, noise, heights, pain, etc. The worst kind of fear is the fear of the unknown. People always tend to worry over things that have not yet happened to the point that they seem to be paralyzed and will do nothing as if in shock. Fear can then be defined as Fake Expectation Appearing Real.
One area where people usually have fear is the fear of investing. Almost all of the time when I talk to people about investing, I always get similar responses. They always say they are afraid to invest because they might lose their hard-earned money. They prefer to keep their money in the bank where it is much safer. They are not aware that the same fear they possessed will just cause them to realize more losses.
A good antidote to fear is education, the right education. Without it, a person does not have the tool to make the right decision. It can equip an individual to investigate and evaluate his current situation and where he wants to be in the future. It will expose him to the different approaches and instruments in solving his problem. If a person is literate, he will never need to be afraid. Instead of saying investing is risky, he will ask “How can I reach my goal?” Actually, it is more expensive to be uneducated than to pay and be informed. Educated people can spot opportunities and make a sound decision based on logic and not on emotion.
In our current education system, students are taught the skills that are needed to become good employees. They are also taught to study well to minimize failures. This, is in fact, a way to teach students to be afraid of failure. It must be noted that failures are just steppingstones to success. During a seminar I attended, I learned from the speaker that there was once a survey on what happened to a certain batch of graduates. I was surprised to hear that class A students (even belonging to the honor group) lagged behind the class B students in the real world.
Apparently, class A seems to fear failure as compared to the other. I had seen successful people who were class B students in my high-school years as compared to the cream section, where some are still employees who make their employers richer.
What the current educational system lacks today is the inclusion of financial education in the current curriculum. There is truth to what Robert Kiyosaki said: “Investing is like driving a car. If you have no driver’s education or driving experience, driving a car is very, very risky. Get educated.”
With proper education and experience, one is certain to conquer his fear and test the waters. For if one does not make calculated risk and act on the information, how can he know the result?
Instead of letting fear get in the way, let your fear be your strength. Use your fear to your advantage. In that way you conquer your fear. If you fear investment, use your fear of loss as a motivation to learn how to win and minimize losses. The definition of fear will then become Face Everything And Rise.
Let me end this article by quoting the Bible on a right kind of fear: Proverbs 1:7:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
****
Edmund Lao is a Registered Financial Planner of RFP Philippines. A sales engineer by profession, he is an advocate of financial planning.
Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/business/banking-finance/23342-f-e-a-r
Comments
3,854 total views, 1 views today
Social