Beginning Stock Investors: Understand This Paradox and You'll "Win" No Matter What
In the fall of 1992, you might think champion diver Mark Lenzi was on top of the world. He returned from the Barcelona Summer Olympics with a gold medal in diving -- his singular life goal. But that wasn't the case. He plunged into a deep depression, quit diving, and was left wondering why his insides felt so terrible after accomplishing his ultimate goal.
Do a little digging and you'll see this is quite common. Something similar happened to Michael Phelps after the 2012 Olympics. But you don't need to be an Olympic athlete to fall victim. In essence, whenever we cede our intrinsic motivations to extrinsic factors, we open ourselves up to such swings -- and especially to burnout.
There's an important lesson in here for beginning stock investors: Keep your intrinsic "why" at the forefront. It's a simple lesson that can be very hard to practice in today's digital world. But the results are paradoxical -- the less you obsess about your nest egg balance, the likelier you are to see it grow.
Source Fool.com