5 Tips For Women To Survive And Thrive During Financial Turmoil
Published in Business Fit Magazine.
Coronavirus has altered the very fabric of everyday life in only a few months. Terror has swallowed everything, and the global economy is already lurching from the aftershocks.
Attempts to control the virus have led to thousands of business closures as 6.65 million Americans file for unemployment benefits.
The mental health fallout has been just as damaging, and with epidemiologists still hunting for that one crystal ball that will help them predict the future of the virus, uncertainty prevails.
This is the great catastrophe of our time, but it doesn’t have to be the catastrophe of yours.
The human heart is built to adjust to even the darkest of days. The virus cannot take away your power to make rational financial decisions, even if you don’t have a map into your future.
-1) Time to Pause
Terror and rationality don’t go together very well. They aren’t meant to.
The fight or flight response has evolved to force our bodies to run, and not to think. We’re all experiencing some cognitive haze and fear right now.
It’s easy to bury your caution beneath your terror and leap into bad financial decisions, but first, pause.
Create some space between your choices and your impulses so that your rational mind can gain a foothold.
Experts advise us not to make important decisions during a crisis, but sometimes, those decisions are unavoidable.
Focus on being calm and being present. Release the fear and step into a place of believing that things are going to work out for you.
Faith will move you forward, fear will keep you stuck.
-2) Avoid Apocalyptic Thinking
Catastrophic thinking has become its own pandemic, with fears and anxieties dialed up to the max.
If you find yourself asking a lot of “what if” questions, you might have noticed your answers are rarely made of sunshine and rainbows.
You ask, “What if my investments crash, I lose my job, and the bank repossesses my house?” and not, “What if I manage to find a better job and the market picks up so well that I get to buy a bigger house?”
Don’t let yourself get stuck in cycles of rumination. Draw yourself back into the present and try a few mindfulness exercises to keep yourself in the now.
-3) Keep Your Emotions in Check
Stock market sentiment has been grim, and tales of stock dumping haven’t made it any better
Yes, the alarm is real ladies, but it is not your signal to run.
You need to realize that volatility in the stock market is a natural part of the market process and, that it’s normal to see some pullback a few times per year that has nothing to do with the fundamentals (details) of the individual stocks
Studies have shown that when people get out of the market whether it's the stock market or the bond market they fall below the major indices. That’s not what you should do.
-4) Stick With The Plan
You should be sticking with your plan and following the investment strategies that you have set up. Take this time to review and assess your financial plan with your financial advisor, that’s if you have a plan.
And also make sure that it meets your goals and your risk tolerance.
Another way to avoid panic trading is to broaden your perspective. Rather than focusing on short-term fluctuations, adopt a long-term perspective if retirement is say 10 years or more.
You may have time on your side. Investment is a long game. If you treat it as a short-term gamble, you will lose.
-5) Play The Movie Through
Panic thrives on the unknown but balks at certainty. When you find yourself ruminating about how your finances might fall into disarray in the next few months, don’t stop there.
The body experiences these fears as life-threatening events. Playing the horror movie in your head through to the end will help you to experience those fears more proportionately.
As a result of a financial crisis more frugal habits are formed. That’s why it’s super important especially for women to have a financial plan to weather the storms.
Look for the silver lining in the worst-case scenario, such as an attitude of gratitude, deepening connections, and being closer to family.
The Brighter Side
The one thing that I do know is that there are two things that we can control and they are our thoughts and our actions.
We have lurched into scary times and uncertainty that has required many lifestyle adjustments and with that, I believe there is an upside for all of us.
Along with every crisis, a multitude of opportunities abound. Opportunities to grow spiritually, become more resilient emotionally and mentally, and help others who are in need.
I look forward to seeing humanity coming out on the other side of this more kind more loving, and more compassionate.
Sending you calming and positive energy.
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