How to deal with bad news

There’s a lot of bad news out there…rapidly rising interest rates, fewer loan proceeds for reverse mortgage borrowers, surging inflation, and an uncertain housing market. take your pick.

The bad news isn’t going away. So how do we deal with bad news in a healthy way? How do we respond and move forward?

1. Check any extreme emotions. As Napoleon said, “The first qualification of a general is a cool head”.

2. Contextualize the situation. For example, “when home values go up this rapidly, there’s always a chance of a reset or crash”. Or, “interest rates have been so low for so long it’s not surprising to see rates go back up”.

3. What can you do about it? Remember the locus of control? It’s identifying those things that we control and those we don’t. Don’t make things harder than they are by agonizing over things over which you have no control.

4. Find the silver lining. Nearly every negative circumstance carries a hidden benefit. Most of the time it’s an opportunity for us to develop our character and practice self-control further.

5. Visualize what bad news may bring and leave it. The great philosophers called this premeditatio melorum or the visualization of a potential worse-case scenario. This helps you be less shocked and immobilized by a negative circumstance. 

No one likes bad news but blaming others or letting ourselves become overwhelmed never helps. Instead, try these 5 ways of responding to bad news. The news may not change but we can.