Panicking About Cyprus? Here’s What To Do First…

If you were panicky last night or this morning because of Cyprus, take some minutes today to write yourself a letter describing in detail your experience.

Then save it and take a look at it tomorrow or in a week or whenever you have calmed yourself down a bit.

How were you feeling precisely and in detail?

What thoughts were running through your mind?

What market behaviors did you take and why?

Did you have a risk management plan already expressed before the weekend? Did you stick to it?

What were the information triggers which may have increased your arousal? Do they matter to your plan?

I was not at all surprised by how quickly panic readings went from 0 to 60 on this Cyprus and have recently posted about the high emotional reactivity epidemic among investors here and here.

Many are waiting anxiously for the next shoe to drop. We have been conditioned by market behavior and macro events over 14 years of bubbles, crashes, wars and political incompetence.

Reading this post will not help you recondition but writing about your experiences in excruciating detail and then reviewing your writing later for processing might.