The Case for Calm: Being Still in a Turning World
By Dr. Daniel Crosby, Chief Behavioral Officer, Orion
Rudyard Kipling’s If— offers a blueprint for calm and character in the face of chaos. In the poem, a father impartslesson: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs… yours is the Earth and everything that’swork was partly inspired by the real-life trial of Leander Starr Jameson, a man who led a doomed raid in South Ahumiliation with stoic grace. Kipling saw in Jameson a rare quiet dignity—the ability to remain composed amid tudidn’t let chaos wreck his character, a hallmark of maturity.[1] It turns out the same can be said for investing.
Markets, like life, are prone to unpredictable swings. A dramatic headline stirs panic, markets wobble, and animagreed to fear. Yet research suggests that the most successful investors aren’t those who react the fastest to the nwho take the time to process their emotions, think critically, and act with discipline tend to fare best.
According to a study from The Emotion of Money by Robert C. Quinn, individuals with high emotional intelligenceperceiving and managing their emotions, consistently earned higher returns than their peers. By keeping their imthoughtfully constructed portfolios and resisted the urge to over-trade. This emotional clarity led to financial gainsvolatility. Conversely, the study’s participants scoring low on EI were triggered by raw perceptions of risk, which r
The research is interesting and encouraging in that most people can increase their capacity to manage their feelisn’t about suppressing innate inclinations but channeling them. Viewed through that lens, we can craft a playboowhen market volatility rises. Kipling’s “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors jnumbness; it’s a challenge to rise above the fray. So, how do we, as investors, embody this calm? Here are practurning world:
- Review Your Plan with Your Advisor
Remind yourself why you decided on a strategy. In calmer times, you constructed a plan rooted in long-term goaheadlines or what the financial media heeded. I promise there was a reason; a quick refresher can re-anchor youwill feel like a lifeline when the storm hits.
2. Sleep On It
Institute a pause before making big decisions. Research from The Journal of Economic Psychology shows that timpulsivity and increase long-term alignment.[3] In this case, a parent or trusted friend’s advice to sleep on it is cindecision—it is discipline.
3. Anchor to Non-Financial Metrics
Choose a calming, stabilizing behavior to command your attention—steps walked, hours slept, time spent with lomarkets devolve into a frenzy, these controllable habits keep your focus on what you can control. It’s a subtle rewregulation and calm.
4. Turn Off Real-Time Alerts
And for goodness’ sake, disable those push notifications that bombard you with the latest financial saga. Newsfemoney—expose you to all that’s uncontrollable, which breeds anxiety, not stillness. Media outlets thrive on urgenserve to spike your cortisol levels and shrink your perspective, often at the expense of sound long-term judgment
The Bottom Line
Kipling’s poem finishes with a promise: hold steady, and the world is yours. With investing, the aim isn’t so muchmarket madness but just keeping your peace of mind. The emotionally intelligent behavioral investor controls themacroeconomic chaos. They know that “this too shall pass,” and all those headlines will soon be forgotten. By rebefore deciding, focusing on all that’s not financial, and tuning out the clamor, you can bask in the bastion of stilln
[1] Jenson, J., (2016, May 21). If— by Rudyard Kipling. Poem Analysis. Retrieved from https://poemanalysis.com
[2] Quinn, R.C. (2018). The Emotion of Money: The Posited Relationship of Emotional Intelligence to Long-Term
[3] Crosby, D. (2018). The Behavioral Investor. Harriman House.
Orion Behavioral Finance (“Orion BeFi”) is the branding name of various tools and services related to behavioralAdvisor Solutions, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Orion BeFi tools are crafted to help investors and their financial advispsychology research into their investment decisions. Orion BeFi tools and services do not provide investment ad
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Melton & Company
President and Founder
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