Meet future you
“The brain patterns that emerge on an MRI when people think about their future selves most resemble the brain patterns that arise when they think about strangers…. This can have major implications for our present actions. If you see future you as a different person, why should you save money, eat healthier or exercise more regularly to benefit that stranger?”
– Hal Hershfield, a behavioral scientist at UCLA, writing in The Wall Street Journal on 6/17/23. He is one of several researchers experimenting with ways to help people better envision their future selves. Read more at bit.ly/4519Oyz.
Living in the tension
“Making peace with uncertainty is unbelievably difficult, yet it’s essential to successful investing. Train yourself to notice when you are faced with uncertainty and it’s causing you discomfort. When you can recognize that uncertainty is causing discomfort and you don’t react to it, you’ll make better decisions and practice better behavior.”
– Money manager John Jennings, author of the recent book, The Uncertainty Solution.
Rules of survival
“Having a framework in place, or a series of rules governing how you will and won’t behave [as an investor] is not foolproof by any means and it could mean vast periods of pain, envy or regret. But it’s better than nothing.”
– Josh Brown, in a 6/17/23 piece on his blog, The Reformed Broker. He said that while there are a handful of famous investors who are able to succeed based on gut-level decisions, most successful investors follow an objective set of guidelines. Read more at bit.ly/44FFtWx.
Process-based investing
“The best investors work hard to not be affected by the short-term price fluctuations, and instead focus on both improving their process and consistently executing it. Over the long-term their performance is a result of the quality of their process and of the consistency with which they execute it.”
– Money manager Gary Mishuris, in a 7/2/23 post on his Behavioral Value Investor blog about what the best investors do that the rest don’t. Read more at bit.ly/46YNUOi.
