The Hamster Wheel of More
Watching the Gamestonk escapades made me need to write out my thoughts on the insanity.
Deep down (“down in your plums”…Eastbound & Down for those fellow degenerates) I think there is a little Wolf of Wall Street in everyone. This little monkey in your head saying more:
It’s playing out in financial markets every day. And it’s on full display right now; GameStop. It’s pure speculation, gambling, or Jordan Belfort reincarnated. I have no idea if this is good, bad, or ugly; and frankly I don’t care. But stepping back from the situation I see the behavioral ticks all coming out in one event. The populist movement: “The elite hedge funds can’t tell this subreddit what to do”, “I’m risking it all on this one trade”, “Oh my gawd, everyone is getting rich, but me”, and so it goes ad nauseum.
Part of my journey in life is figuring out that there is a little monkey of dopamine in my head, taking a breath, and not letting it control my actions. Acknowledge the monkey. Because if you don’t pay attention to it you’re going to get some poop thrown at your head.
We all are emotionally on this hamster wheel of more. First step is realizing we are on this self imposed wheel. The next step is deciding if you want to stay on the wheel or not.
Most of money is psychology before it’s finance. This was laid out well by Morgan Housel in The Psychology of Money. Recommend picking that up if you want to know more by a better writer.
Cheers,
Sam
