I competed in the 1998 U.S. Nationals in Ice Dancing. To prepare, my ice dancing partner, now my wife, and I practiced hours a day. Each day was a tightly regimented schedule of training, on and off the ice. Even when we weren’t officially practicing, we were preparing ourselves in other ways throughout the day – planning our meals, getting in some extra crunches when you’d wake up, or an extra stretch before bed. It took an incredible amount of focus to keep your eye on the longer term goals we were aiming to achieve.
Investing requires a similar focus and mental toughness as we navigate our way through the ups and downs of the market. Though I’m not a psychologist, I do spend a fair amount of time counseling clients to take a step back and not let emotions dictate their decision making and instead to maintain a focus on their long-term goals. These are lessons I learned all those years ago on the ice that I still use today to help me and my clients keep perspective.