How I Manage Stress & Anxiety

As traders and investors, we often face bouts of anxiety and stress. Well, even if youre not actively trading and investing yet, I suppose you still face with anxiety and stress from time to time. I have mine too.

A few of my biggest breakdowns were -

Back in early 2012, when I was still in university, studying abroad in Singapore, I was left alone to manage my finances. My parents cut off my credit card and I needed to search for alternatives to cover my daily expenses. It was also the year I started searching for ways to make an extra income, and the year I came across trading.

Late 2012, early 2013, when I lost all my profits and capital from trading. A painful lesson, and definitely heartache. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, Im back to square one.

Early 2015, when I failed my CAP and received an academic warning from the university. I sacrificed my academics and channelled all my resources to trading and investing since 2013, but the thought of getting dismissed from the university is just embarrassing for me and to be honest, a little scary.

These times were not easy, but looking back, they provided many lessons and these experiences taught me a lot. Without these challenges, I wouldn‘t be who I am today. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.”

I strongly believe that if you dont master your emotions, they will master you.

Managing your stress and anxiety is a key part of becoming a successful trader and investor.

Here are some ways I have utilized to help greatly in managing my stress & anxiety:

#1 - Acknowledge the situation and context

More often than not, what‘s stopping us from getting out of our stress and anxiety state is the reluctance to accept that we’re vulnerable. If we are denying that we need to get out of our current situation, we‘re likely gonna stay in that state, and it’s just gonna keep spiralling down, getting worse to worst.

#2 - List down all the possible solutions and scenarios

Often we procrastinate due to the fear of uncertainty, especially when we are in a stressful and anxious state already. We do not know if the next decision were gonna make is the right one, or is it gonna just make things worse.

One of the ways that I find useful is to list down all the possible solutions or decisions that I can choose, and what are the likely scenarios and outcomes they lead to. Listing all of them down allows me to assess with more clarity compared to having these thoughts all stuck in my head.

#3 - Seek help

Our ego often steps in and we tell ourselves that it‘s a weak sign to reach out for help. Honestly, I am truly grateful that I’ve met many great mentors and friends that helped me a lot throughout my years; and without them, I wouldnt be who I am today.

Dont underestimate a simple help that you can get from your friends, family, or even colleagues. Sometimes, all we need is a simple word of encouragement, a vote of confidence, and who knows, they might even drop some nuggets of wisdom that will inspire you to move forward.

And thats why we focus so much on community building here at eSmart Academy.

We are all humans, and we are creatures with emotions.

Im not perfect, and definitely not gonna be perfect, but mastering our emotions is a muscle that we need to constantly train and develop.

If you want to be a competent and successful trader and investor, mastering your emotions is a must!