Sunday 4 October 2015

Staying Calm

Going through rushes of different emotions can really mess up our decisions. I think this applies to all aspects of life, letting our emotions influence our emotions is really something that we shouldn't do or we make end up making long-term decisions based on short-term interests

(Image source: pixabay.com)

In the market, feelings of greed and anxiety can override our original plans, causing us to sell when prices are at rock bottom and buy when prices are going through the roof. In human relations, being angry with someone and making our decisions based on that can lead to broken relationships.

I think that before making decisions we should have a lapse between the time that we come up with our decision and when we actually implement it. This can be a day, maybe a week, but it shouldn't be so short like a few hours, as we would not have time to calm down and rationalize the issue first. After some time, we may have calmed down and be able to rethink the issue.

"You can always tell someone to go to hell tomorrow." - Warren Buffett (from a friend)

I came across the quote the other day. While Warren Buffett is a legendary investor, I think that this advice stands just as well in the realm of human relations. We should keep in mind that we can implement our decisions at any time we want, so why choose the next second. 


Giving ourselves time to think over the issue and rationalize it logically can go a long way in improving the quality of our decisions.

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3 comments :

  1. I reckon that the central element of good decision-making is a person’s ability to manage delay.

    Life might be a race against time, but it is enriched when we rise above our instincts and stop the clock to process and understand what we are doing and why.

    The essence of intelligence to me is in knowing when to think and act quickly, and knowing when to think and act slowly.

    And I read recently that our perception of time depends on where you live. If you live in a city with a population of over one million, a pause will seem twice as long as it does to someone who lives on a farm or in a small town. (Stefan Klein – The Secret Pulse of Time)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Tacomob,

      Maybe it's our stressed out lives that lead us to have a very different perception of time while living in the city. Taking time to stop and smell the roses may help ground ourselves so we are more patient and be able to take longer delays to deliberate our actions

      Delete
  2. Stay calm and collect dividends.
    Stay the course.

    ReplyDelete