Too often I see important financial decisions taken out of fear:
đWe invest cause we are afraid of inflation or having insufficient income when we retire;
đWe avoid higher risk (higher return) investments cause we fear they might not work;
đAs managers we make big investments cause we fear competition will catch up with us;
These might all be good reasons.
They might be sound decisions.
The shortcoming is that they are terrible motivators. Nothing grows out of fear. Maybe it blooms...and the decision pays off short term but it will lack the đ„ to keep it going.
Here is why:
âȘOnce we have a decent return to alleviate our fears we will settle down. The risk is not just underachieving; when we let our guard low we "somehow" found ourselves faced with same challenges.
âȘWe don't feel good about these decisions. (Much like being forced to do something)
âȘWhen referring to company decisions we fail to engage and motivate teams to support the decision and hence run execution risks.
Easiest solution: make the decision about what you want to achieve and resolve your negative emotions as needed.
âExtra gain: when we focus on what we want the direction becomes clearer. When we run away from something we don't have a direction really...we just go where we can to escape the undesired outcome.