Investing is an emotional game, but we can end up making terrible mistakes if we play it using just our emotions. Almost all investors have made emotional decisions during times of stress or anxiety that they have come to regret later. Then although markets can be volatile, it is extremely important that you learn how to control your behaviour impulses when it comes to making decisions about your investments. While it is impossible to completely remove your emotions from any decisions we take, there are steps you can take as an investor to curtail them, and try to remain objective in the choices you make. Here’s how:  

1. Learning to let go:
   A lot of times investors don’t want to accept their failures and hold on to investments that continue to perform poorly. If you identify this pattern in some of your holdings don’t be afraid of letting go; this may actually do you a lot more good. Apart from allowing you the freedom to make new choices, learning to let go can also help you deal with your losses more efficiently.

2. Be aware of the risks while investing:
   Risk and return are two extremely important aspects of investing that you should understand thoroughly. All investments come with risks and nothing assures absolute returns. Some investments may be low risk while others can be relatively high, but nothing is guaranteed in the world of finance. Always be aware of the risk associated with your investments and your particular risk profile before making a decision. Furthermore, when you invest in something that involves a higher risk but could reward you well, don’t be scared of losing.

3. Focus on the long term:
   Making decisions by the minute can be extremely stressful and cause you to make mistakes that can be costly. This is because the market can be relatively volatile in the short run but is much more stable over longer periods. So think about why you’re investing and chart out your investment horizon. By choosing to focus on investing for the long term, you can stop making decisions in the moment and deal with your finances in a calmer fashion.

4. Take advantage of diversification:
   While new and inexperienced investors may be overconfident and invest a majority of their funds in one or two major stocks, a seasoned investor always works with a diversified portfolio. This can help you ensure that you mitigate risks and prevent you from making rash decisions when you incur losses. Developing a well balanced portfolio with a mix of different asset classes, including debt and gold in addition to equity investments, can help you remain grounded as an investor.

5. Don’t make decisions on hunches:
   Trusting your intuition can be good at times but it is never a good idea to make all decisions based on hunches. So before you decide on how to invest your money, always remember to do the research. This can be a tedious process but it will help you be more confident of the choices you make and keep you from making costly mistakes. Here, it will be useful to formulate and follow a coherent methodology to maintain an objective perspective while making decisions about how to invest your money.

6. Work with a professional:
   Getting an outside perspective is always a good way to critique the basis of your decisions; and professional advice is as objective as it can get! In today’s world consulting a financial advisor has become very affordable, and even more widely accessible. So make sure you work with a financial advisor while developing your financial plan and get their opinion before making big decisions about how you invest your money. This can be even more crucial during uncertain times, when the stress of everything around you can cause you to make an emotional decision you may regret later.

Use these points to continuously mediate your emotions while investing. Removing emotions from investing is not a change that takes place overnight. It is something that you consciously improve day by day.