Fear is one the primal feelings of man. The way fear acted on you when you were 12 years old and when you are 82 years old will be different of course.

Some jobs / professions obviously have to deal MORE with fear than others. So an army man in combat or in the borders will be more hit by fear than a school teacher teaching in a big school in a city.

Obviously US Navy Seals, Army people, Firemen, Policemen have to be trained to handle fear. Sadly Investors are not taught to deal with this when they invest. Even while investing when you see a 8% fall in the markets in one day, we act in fear.

However how to handle fear:

1. Think of happy things, and your long term goal: Your daughter’s graduation in an Ivy League school wearing a blue shirt and a black Jacket is VERY powerful Goal visualisation. This takes your mind off the market – and you now think of using volatility  to your advantage and not hit the redeem button.

2. Continually visualize the positive outcomes – read the example in the link at the end of the story. Amazing article, I can assure you.

3. A deliberate attempt to train your body and mind in handling fear is useful. Imagine you are riding a bicycle and you think you are losing balance. We instinctively hold the cycle TIGHTER. Actually leaving the cycle and jumping off is a smarter thing to do. After all you cannot be hurt falling from 4 feet!! but we end up holding the cycle and falling and dragging. The unnecessary falling (you could have jumped), dragging, etc hurt us more than anything else.

4. Relaxing and Meditation helps us reduce the arousal and keeps us cool. So control your blood pressure – this helps improve the reaction time.

Best read the note: http://qz.com/450517/us-navy-seals-conquer-fear-using-four-simple-steps/