Force for thought — 06.09.24
To Have and To Hold
How do you hold onto a good thing and not let it go before it has time to work its magic? By mobilising a method that works. No one is insulated from the challenges of sticking with something promising — not a diet, nor an exercise regimen, or even a first date — the moment it becomes uncomfortable and hard. Why should investing be any different?
We’ve collected more than four million data points that demonstrate how a particular methodological communication enables investors to hold on for the ride. The proof stretches beyond investing: our ability to hold on when we least want to — in order to withstand things that can cause our undoing — has application everywhere. Each week, we’ll show how and why a mechanism for holding on, in investing and in life, is so powerful.
Zooming in
Have you heard of Little Albert? He was the baby boy at the center of an infamous psychology experiment that took place at Johns Hopkins University under the watch of Watson and Rayner in 1920. Following in the footsteps of Ivan Pavlov, the father of classical conditioning, the objective of the experiment was to determine whether emotional responses could be effectively conditioned in humans. In essence, Watson and Rayner paired neutral stimuli (a white rat) with loud noises (which typically evoke a fear reaction) in order to elicit a new, conditioned response in Little Albert. Even though Little Albert was previously unbothered by the rat, the associative relationship between the rat and loud noises, manufactured by Watson and Rayner, generated a frightened response in Little Albert, who began to connect the sight of the rat with frightening sounds, even if they never materialised.
What does this tell us? It highlights that most of our behaviour is learned — which means it can be unlearned. It also tells us that there is a fundamental misalignment between our behaviours — how we respond — and our realities. For example: we know that money flows into markets when prices soar and optimism is high, and flows out when prices sink and sentiment is low, even though that’s when opportunity presents itself. Like Little Albert, many investors have been conditioned to associate neutral stimuli (an opportunity) with fear, resulting in ill-timed exits and regrettable returns. However, how we respond to fluctuations in market price or sentiment is up to us. If we can relearn our responses — via Force500’s feedback system, which hinges investors to their investor pathway with routine, positive and uplifting news — we can condition ourselves to optimise our outcomes, such that we never mistake an opportunity for a threat.
To Have on Hand
In this Founders episode, which highlights the career of beauty empress Estee Lauder, there is an unmissable through-line: Estee’s inability to give up. In other words, her profound holdability. Be it her first boss, who she detested; the countless nos she encountered when wooing the buyers at Harrods to launch her products internationally; or the naysayers she came across, Lauder had the conviction in herself — and her products — to succeed, paving her own multibillion-dollar path.