Relieve anxiety and fear

In this post, I want to change your perception of fear. What is it exactly? Does fear hold you back? Is it because of fear that you hesitate to open a position, for instance after losing five times in a row? Or, does fear give you energy? And, is it really possible to turn fear into an advantage?

Managing all these extra emotions in your everyday life can be a real challenge. It is often difficult to admit that we are afraid or greedy, so we keep it well hidden because we are ashamed of it. In reality, a trader will become more profitable from the moment he or she starts to manage his or her emotions, whatever they are. Your fears are one of the biggest obstacles to overcome in trading. You must be proud of being able to recognise and overcome them.

Fear and anxiety can affect practically every area of your life: how you feel, how you think, how you behave and how your body reacts. So, let's start by identifying them.

Can you recognise whether you are feeling fear or anxiety? Both of these emotions produce responses similar to certain dangers. But experts believe that there are substantial differences between these two feelings. These differences concern how you react to the various stressors in your surrounding environment.

Without you even noticing, your fear or anxiety can affect the people around you as well. Anxiety is often the answer to an unspecified or unknown threat. For example, you might feel anxiety or stress every time you open a trade, inducing you to feel butterflies in your stomach.

These feelings are caused by anxiety, which could lead to difficulty falling asleep, maniacally controlling positions or continually doubting what you are doing, wondering, for example, if you are using the right strategy.

This anxiety does not derive from a known or specific threat, but rather from potential dangers that could take place that you envision in your mind.

Unpleasant feelings often accompany anxiety. Some of the most common physical symptoms are headaches, pain and muscle tension, sleep disorders, stomach pain and nausea.

If you know you are suffering from anxiety, how can you keep it under control? It is about changing your perspective on the situation because anxiety comes from your mind. In the rest of this chapter, I will teach you some techniques to help you keep your anxiety under control.

Fear is one of the worst threats to success and productivity: fear of getting involved, fear of how others will judge you, fear of losing all your money, fear of making strategic decisions, and fear of the unknown.

But what are the causes? Many will say that it is because we do not want to deal with the consequences of our actions. Choices are Always risky, so we often end up delegating or simply not taking them at all.

Fear is an emotional reaction to a known and defined threat.

Let's look at an example. You bought Apple shares, and on the news, you just heard that iPhone production was interrupted (no panic, it is just an example). That means your Apple shares will lose value, and that scares you. The danger is real, definite and immediate: you know for sure that you will lose money.

Although the focus of the answer is different (real danger vs imaginary), fear and anxiety are interrelated. When fear is triggered, many people experience the physical reactions I described for anxiety.

Fear causes anxiety and anxiety can cause fear. But knowing that there is a distinction between the two feelings can make you understand what is happening, in order to be able to decide how to deal with them.

The key is to identify whether the threat is real or imaginary. Often in trading, the threat is imagined and leads you to make rash decisions. To take control of the situation, you have to change the perspective you approach any given situation with. But how can you do this?

When you are immersed in anxiety and fear, it is impossible to think clearly. The first thing to do is to distance yourself, so that, from a physical point of view, you can calm down. It is undoubtedly easier said than done when you trade, but if you make a quick decision because you cannot think quietly, you may regret it in the long term.

When you feel stress, anxiety or fear is taking over, follow these techniques to alleviate anxiety (I use these myself). These tested techniques will restore your stress to acceptable levels, helping you to gain a clear mind to open your trades.

Let’s now see what the five best techniques to relieve anxiety are.

1. Get some distance and/or try to meditate. It is impossible to think clearly when a person is crushed by anxiety or fear. The first thing to do is to step back and distance yourself. For example, go and get a glass of water (or another beverage). If you want to try alternative methods instead, try meditation. There are great apps for this purpose, such as Headspace, one of the best in the world. If you do a little research, you will find many different devices that can help you meditate; then, all you have to do is find the one that suits you the best. If you are worried about not having enough time, know that between 3 and 10 minutes a day is enough to benefit positively from meditation. You can easily turn it into one of your daily habits.

2. Remember to breathe. If your heart rate gets faster or if your hands or palms are sweating, the best thing you can do is avoid freaking out. Stay where you are and internalise the panic, without distracting yourself. Place the palm of your hand on your stomach and take slow, deep breaths. The goal is to help your mind coexist with the panic, cancelling out your fear of fear itself.

3. Face your fears and consider the worst possible scenario. Avoiding your fears only makes them more terrifying. Whatever your fear, if you face it, it will lose strength. Try to imagine the worst thing that could happen. Ask yourself “what is the worst thing that could happen?” And then, “How would I react if it happened” Try to give yourself an answer.

4. Eliminate unnecessary stress around you. Put something in disarray in its place. Physical order often helps give us a sense of mental order.
5. Talk about them. Share your fears, and deprive them of their strength. For example, being part of a community, a group of traders that, like you, live your same fears, will help you face them.

How can you turn fear into an advantage?

Using the “affirmations” technique, you can overcome your worries and turn your fears into an advantage. The next time you feel nervous, anxious, worried or insecure, I invite you to dig into your emotions and find out what they are based on.

Be honest with yourself and identify what is at the root of your fear. Return to your trading plan and make it even stronger. Then write your negative thoughts, clearly and plainly, and next to them, write some powerful and positive phrases that will help you overturn these thoughts.