Stress for Success, Stories, & the Water Cleanse

Decision Balance Newsletter | 09.25.2025

Key Insight

Stress is beneficial — but only if you reframe your mindset about it. In a study by Harvard and Yale professors, “stressed-out” workers changed their relationship with stress after being trained on its three primary benefits: (1) increased brain processing speed, (2) improved memory, and (3) sharper attention. Learn more at Stanford’s Mind & Body Lab.

AI Action:
“I’m preparing for a stressful [meeting/presentation/trade]. Create a 3-line affirmation that reframes stress as increasing my speed, memory, and focus — written in a way I can read to myself just before starting.” 

A question to ask yourself

The next time you have negative internal self talk can you refocus externally on a task cue, a counterparty / colleague relationship, or market dynamics?

Reading, podcast thoughts

Iga Świątek on outcome detachment — She found that focusing on winning made her lose; focusing on process brought her the 2025 Wimbledon title.
→ Actionable Insight: Before a high-stakes trade, IC meeting, or product launch, write one process cue you control and one outcome you don’t. Act only on the former. → AI Action: “I’m about to green-light [decision]. Create a 60-second pre-decision script using process cues and one ‘drop the outcome’ reminder.” Read the full profile in The Athletic

ABC Model (Ellis): A → B → C — It’s not the triggering event(A) that determines your reaction, but the belief (B) you attach to it, which drives the consequence (C). For example: A = market volatility spikes, B = “I’m headed for a large drawdown,” C = panic selling. Shift the belief to B′ = “short-term volatility is part of my edge,” and the (C)onsequence becomes assessing new opportunities or holding conviction.

→ Actionable Insight: Label today’s A, B, and C before you act. Try a flexible B′ to see how your behavior changes.
→ AI Action: “Run an ABC analysis on this scenario: A=[event]. List likely B-beliefs, resulting C-reactions, and generate two reframes (B′) that produce better outcomes.” Overview of the ABC model on Healthline

Yuval Noah Harari, Nexus — Our brains store stories far better than lists. That’s why you remember the plot of a novel years later but forget a 10-point checklist by tomorrow. An IC memo or start up pitch deck written as a story (“This company is the hero, the catalysts / milestones are the test, the competitor is the villain…”) will stick in memory and spread across your team. The second half of this book also explains the opportunities and risk of AI in a very unique lens - historical.

→ AI Action: “Transform these bullets into a narrative with Set-up, Edge, Catalyst, Kill-switch — and output it as a one-slide story for my IC deck.”

“The best use of imagination is creativity. The worst use of imagination is anxiety.” — Deepak Chopra
→ Actionable Insight: Worry is imagination working against you. For example, replaying “what if rates spike?” in your head without action is wasted energy. Reframe that loop into creative hypotheses: “What if rate volatility causes a bubble in private credit — what trades will work? What small fund will be forced sellers? Can I reach out to them now?”
→ AI Action: “I’m spiraling about [risk]. Convert these worries into 3 creative hypotheses I can test this week, with one quick validation step for each.” Quote reference on Goodreads

Health

In this episode, Dr. Alan Goldhamer discusses how water-only fasting may reset the gut microbiome, trigger autophagy, clear brain fog, burn visceral fat, and help reverse chronic illness like cancer and cardiovascular disease. He emphasizes the importance of medical supervision, easing in/out safely, and balancing risk vs. reward.

“We live in a world that is designed to make us fat, miserable, and sick,” he argues, pointing to pervasive processed foods, constant stimuli, and metabolic mismatch.

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Welcome to the DecisionBalance newsletter where I share insights, questions, and reading recommendations.  I coach asset managers, artists, and start-up founder/CEOs to set goals, improve performance, and find deeper meaning in their work.