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Friends,

Last week, I (Stoffel, here) hit the burnout stage. This happens to me every few years. It isn't pleasant. My thoughts become largely negative. The joy falls out of life's best stuff. Work becomes near impossible.

I'm still progressing through it.

But there's a silver lining. When this happened in my mid-20s (teaching at a high-needs school can do that), I thought it might be the end of the world. Today, I know a healthy response brings benefits.

Addicted to checking your portfolio?

Scientists have proven the quickest way to get someone addicted to something: introduce an intermittent variable reward loop.

Intermittent: Happens irregularly. You check when you get the urge, not on a schedule.
Variable: The brain doesn't know the magnitude of the reward/punishment. Your portfolio could be flat, or up/down 5%.
Reward: You'll likely get a hit of dopamine (portfolio up!) or a doubly strong dose of cortisol (portfolio down!).

This is exactly how slot machines become such money-makers in casinos. But the net effect on an individual investor is a chronic emotional deficit.

That's part of what I've experienced over the past eight months. Because the service that I run shows people what I own, I've become myopically focused on it, even though members are clear that the educational content of the service is what matters most to them.

This past week, I introduced blocks on my computer that will make chronic checking of my portfolio much harder. Let's break down why.

The name of our company is literally "Long-Term Mindset". You'd hope it would be obvious that equanimity and healthy, balanced thinking are preferable to hypervigilance, stress, and fragmented thinking. But investing can be a tricky game, even for someone who has been doing this for nearly 20 years.

You don't have to mimic what I'm doing. But I encourage you to perform your own audit. How often do you check your own portfolio? How does that affect your thinking? Do you need to make any changes?

These are simple questions. And it's ok if you've strayed from where you want to be. But if you need to make adjustments, make them now. Your long-term self will thank you profusely for doing so.

Wishing you investing success,

Brian Feroldi, Brian Stoffel, & Brian Withers

Long-Term Mindset

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