About this Blog
Welcome to The Wall Street Psychologist, a blog that is more than a collection of best practices. This site is a 360-degree approach for improving psychological and physical wellness for financial professionals (FPs). It is the essential e-Manual and online tactical toolkit for any financial professional (FP) who wants to succeed monetarily and emotionally in a world riddled with money madness. Wall street psychology poses unique challenges to FPs.
This blog is not just about financial prosperity. It is about psychological survival. On Wall Street, so many states of being are interwoven; some beyond imagination. The pressure and intensity of the markets “wire” FPs. Only when you are centered emotionally and intellectually can you master your universe and truly excel. And really make money!
“KNOW THYSELF:” MASTERING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MIND AND MONEY!
It is not enough to just manage your book, your clients’ portfolios, your assets, your employees, your industry, your empire. You must manage yourself—all aspects of yourself: psychologically, physically, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. “Know Thyself.” This Greek aphorism was inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.
To do this, you must first and always master the relationship between your mind and money. You need to understand what money means to you, how you feel about money, what kind of role money played in your upbringing and development, how money “operated” in your family of origin and culture, what you like about money as well as what your money issues are, and how money contributes to your sense of well being as well as how it limits it. The greater the depth of your understanding and awareness of the relationship between your mind and money, the greater the probability of your financial success. Money is serious life business, and should be considered as such up front and close. Self-contentment and inner peace are other “kettles of fish” that this blog addresses.
Money has been described as the back story of history as well as the driver of civilization. Money created democracy and ended the Cold War. We outspent the Russians. Green Power won the Cold War. Money is important no matter how you slice or count it!
For most financial services professionals, self-esteem, self-worth (not just net-worth), and the constant anxiety of your state of being are all pegged to market movement and portfolio performance. This is the industry’s real occupational hazard. It is this inherent co-dependency problem financial pros struggle with daily: your value as a person can become almost entirely dependent on your production. This emotional trap has severe consequences.
As a psychologist, I have been treating financial professionals for more than 25 years. As a group, they are bright, precocious, worldly, adventurous, interesting, entertaining, exciting, ambitious, lively, and very interested in accumulating significant wealth. They like making money, they like advising people, and they take pride in growing their clients’ portfolios and filling their firm’s coffers. They are called upon to be heroic. However, much of their work comes with significant emotional and psychological turmoil and cost.
Based on my years of experience, I felt compelled to write this blog, to share the methodology I created specifically geared toward enhancing the financial professional’s life. Financial professionals are not like regular people. They are on the front line of world events and economies every day. Their inner life warrants special attention for many reasons. After all, they are entrusted with one of their clients’ most trusted possessions: their money!
Aside from Gyroscope Methodology, I have also created a section called G Times which applies my philosophy and clinical observations to current events. Other posts focus on virtue, honor, dignity, moral courage, emotional balance, core constructs about people, the history of money and the markets, modern economic theory, and poignant anecdotes which highlight and underscore what FPs experience in their daily work life functioning in a highly competitive, highly stressful, thrilling field.
Going forward, the following topic areas will be explored in detail: the history of our relationship with money (with ‘pit-stops’ at Machiavelli and Sun Tzu), the human evolution of economic theory, the modern financial services professional, the psychology of the deal, financial psychopathy, neuroeconomics, effects on the mind, and effects on the body. A detailed description of The Wall Street Psychologist’s Gyroscope then documents 30 treatment and business development techniques and strategies: from risk management to meditation to expectation strategies to stress modulation and self hypnosis techniques to progressive muscle relaxation training to signalling theory and other best practices.
I welcome your comments. Please post (or email any questions, observations and insights you have regarding this blog’s content or functionality, in addition to any recommendations for improvements.
Thank You
Christopher Bayer, Ph.D.