“Money is governed today by the same laws which controlled it when prosperous men thronged the streets of Babylon, six thousand years ago”-The Richest Man in Babylon
Hi, dear hivers! Today, I would love to talk about a key factor that deeply influences our financial decisions and impacts our financial lives. I intend to break this write-up into a series. And I’ll be taking them bit by bit as I keep building on my lines of thought.
“But why emotion?... When it comes to money, why talk about emotion?”, you might be wondering.
Well, the truth is you can’t fully talk about financial management without including emotional mastery. Many things go into makeup financial management such as psychological make-up, intellectual principles…and emotional mastery is a big part of the picture too.
Trust me, your emotions and your money are linked together just like your mobile phone and your bank account.😊
Have you ever paused to ponder about the various feelings that set in whenever you received a huge sum of money you weren’t expecting which you never worked for but was just gifted to you? Or when you lost a huge sum of money? Or the various thoughts that begin to play in your mind when you receive that huge paycheck? Or the feelings that follow when you spend your hard-earned money or resources in a manner you never wanted?
Well, tell you what, the force called emotion had been in play all the while. This thing called “emotion” has been the strong force controlling men when it comes to the subject of finance.
When it comes to money and emotion, four agents power these emotions. -fear, thrill, greed, and damp.
These forces are primarily responsible for all the financial decisions men and women have made in their lives. I’ve looked around, read the financial history of some people, and found out that these four agents play some roles in the lives of people too, I’m left out. These are strong agents that can either make or mar the financial lives of people.
Fear
This is a feeling of insecurity. This is what makes many people find themselves doing what they are doing today when it comes to the subject of money. I love the feeling of fear but only when it is curtailed. From my personal experience from time to time, I’ve realized that through fear, I have avoided so many financial dangers, especially when it came to the subject of investment, and still through fear, I have lost so many opportunities that I’m not sure will come my way again.
I think it’s not bad to feel fear. That’s normal for everyone. But when it begins to blur our vision or impair our sense of judgment, then I think it’s now a threat.
Greed
Every individual has a weak and needy part of him that can be bought over. And also, every individual has a part of him that can always be resolute. It’s only a question of which part is stronger.
I see greed as “strong cravings”. And like fear, it has a positive and negative side-Greed has made men refuse to gain satisfaction with the status quo of their financial lives and has made them striven for the better, yet it is still greed that has made men made a shipwreck of their financial lives-they strived for more even when it wasn’t necessary.
Let me say it this way "greed is greed", and will always be present in us. Don’t try to fight it! Rather than react, think! Strive to ensure your greed is greed purified…or better put “a greed refined”.
Thrill
This is another strong agent that controls our financial thinking. Have you ever struck a major deal you’ve been so much anticipating? bought a new car or dress or something you’ve been dreaming of? Received a huge paycheck or monetary gifts? What did you observe? I can help answer that, or at least try to-First, at that moment, you traveled into a euphoric realm of intense ecstasy😀. And to some degree, your mind becomes beclouded, and your sense of reasoning is affected. At such a point, you could hug and even gift anyone standing nearby, even the person who had just offended you, because at this point nothing else matters. Funny right? Well, that’s a thrill for you.
At this point, I feel one should be very careful not to make crucial financial decisions. I would have loved to delve into how to gain mastery of this particular agent but permit me to reserve that for the latter. I’m trying to keep things systematic here.
But again, what did you notice as soon as you got a call or some form of thought flashed through your mind reminding you of other things calling for your attention, that would not allow you to enjoy the goodies, at least to the fullest? How did you feel? Well, this leads us to the last agent…
Damp
This is an emotional cast down. It’s a partial or minute form of depression and can numb the mind or weaken the brain’s thinking power.
Many tend to make critical financial decisions while under the influence of damp, which is very risky.
But I’ve found out that dampness doesn’t have a devastating effect on a person as the other agents as it usually comes in a mild form. But all the same, it can make or mar one’s financial life depending on how it is handled.
Guys, I hope I’ve successfully laid down the foundation for our next discussion where I’ll be talking about how you and I can seize these agents and use them to our advantage.
Thanks for reading thus far. If you love this post, please do well to follow me on Hive guys as I'll be dropping the final part of this write-up very soon.