How many times have you fell victim to other people’s stock advice? “This stock is guaranteed to go up!” Usually, the advice or “stock tip” comes from a friend or associate. It may even come from your own investment advisor.

Our emotions get us thinking. You don’t want to lose out on the potential gains. Irrationally, without blinking an eye, you invest. Most of the time the end result is much worse than you expected. Surprisingly, you continue to repeat this same mistake over and over again.

What is wrong with our thinking? The answer, for most of us, is that our emotions take control of our decisions. They are so powerful that we often ignore our rational, logical thoughts. The opportunity for a quick dollar or hope to “get rich quick” heightens our emotional thinking. You must realize that it is not the rational side of our brain that is tripping us up, but the emotional side!

We tend to ignore many sound investment plans due to emotions. You can, however, quiet that emotional side that forces you to ignore your well thought out investment strategy if you work at it. You can learn to stick to your investment plan through both good and bad times.

Some investors, however, cannot shake the investing demons that compel them into making the same mistakes over and over. It is the casual trader that has the most trouble overcoming emotions in investing. They often lack the experience that allows them to treat investing like a business, and not like a game of poker.

The main emotion driving many investors is the fear of losing money. Making a quick buck is the next one. Don’t forget about the king of all emotions, greed. These emotions cloud your judgment and don’t allow you to clearly see how a particular decision affects your portfolio. When this type of thinking is in play, disaster can strike rather quickly.

When investing, I had a difficult time getting my emotions under control. I was finally able to control my emotions and let my logical side control my investment decisions. To help me do this, I developed an investment system that I use over and over with consistent success. I have certain parameters that I follow to guide me towards the right kinds of investments. This system is black and white, very logical. Now I remain focused and stick to my strategy even when that emotional beast tries to rear its head.

Don’t feel ashamed when you make poor investment decisions over and over. There is good news, you can change things starting now! I have had tremendous success investing in the stock market since I made that change. I also managed to do this when the stock market was in a sharp decline! Please believe me, all you need is a solid investment strategy and the will to keep your emotions in check to be a successful investor. Take the advise of someone that did that very thing!