That’s my prescription for whatever ails you…the markets, a speeding ticket, a less-than-great mood…you name it.
I’m delighted to have spent some quality time with Andy Andrews on Saturday at the Mark Victor Hansen MEGA Speaking event in Los Angeles.
We shared lunch together and talked of “noticing” even the little things, and the importance of having fun, something we both do a lot of.
My personal favorite is to remind myself that over a billion Chinese don’t even know I’m having a challenge right now. That helps to reframe my personal “issues” and put them in perspective in a hurry.
So with the stock markets and real estate valuations sliding I remember the giddiness of the 33.36% returns of US Stocks in 1997, followed by 28.58% in 1998 and 21.04% in 1999 as well as the 26.37% return of Real Estate investments in 2000, followed by 13.93% in 2001, 3.82% in 2002, 37.13% in 2003, 31.58% in 2004, 12.16% in 2005 and finally 35.06% in 2006. You don’t see those numbers being touted these days do you? Yet we all experienced and benefited by them, didn’t we?
It’s only natural that these high flying returns would cycle downward and trough for a few months and years. We women personally understand cycles and accept them, so it’s not a big psychological leap to recognize the markets’ cycles. We may not LIKE the downward cycles, yet it’s pointless to fight them.
It’s a great use of our energy however to strategize how we will enjoy these times. Months ago, I ordered the greatest Carol Burnett skits DVDs for my parents for Christmas, and I must admit I broke into them and watched 3 of them already. I’ll rationalize to them as they open an already-opened- package, that I leveraged my investment, cause they are HILARIOUS!
You see, we can compound our laughter too. Next time you are laughing so hard, just gently touch the knuckle on your pinky finger to “anchor” in that great feeling. Then, you can fire off that anchor later by gently touching that same spot, when you need to go back and experience and feel that great feeling. It’s there, we just have to remember to access it.
Same with our common sense about investing. It’s there, we just have to remember to access it. Stay tuned for some basics about investing in future posts. First rule: if you don’t understand it, don’t buy it, especially is someone is earning a commission for selling it to you.
We Can Do It Women!™
