Winning the Inner Game of Investing with Psychologist Denise Shull

Elite investors achieve superior performance by prioritizing emotional awareness and resolving deep-seated psychological roadblocks. Denise Shull, CEO of The Rethink Group, explains that traders often project their self-image onto the market, treating it as a "transfer object" that triggers unconscious reactions. To gain a competitive edge, investors must differentiate between intuition—calm, pattern-based knowledge—and impulse, which stems from irrelevant emotional needs like the desire for validation or perfection. Developing interoception—the ability to recognize physical signals of emotion—allows individuals to neutralize these impulses and act on objective data. By externalizing feelings through journaling or coaching, investors can separate their personal identity from market outcomes, effectively transforming the constant assault on the ego into a disciplined, long-term process of navigating uncertainty.