Any “strange” action with money is data. It is a signal about how the brain currently sees the world, risk, and itself within that environment.

Don’t try to “fix yourself” through character. Adjust your decision environment as if you were working with data, not with “goodness” or “badness.”

1. What exactly counts as “irrational”

By “irrationality” people usually mean actions that go against a plan, basic logic, or one’s own stated goals: impulsive purchases, overtrading, ignoring risk, or delaying decisions.

If you look at this as a character failure, the most you get is shame and self-sabotage. But if you look at it as data, you gain the chance to see the pattern and change the decision environment.

2. Why this is data, not a “bad person”

Every action is the result of a combination of emotions, heuristics (fast rules), and context. The brain needs to simplify the world and make it predictable, so it:

  • uses labels and shortcuts (first impression effect, stereotypes);
  • looks for confirmation of old beliefs (confirmation bias);
  • avoids information that “breaks” its picture of the world.

When you buy an asset “because everyone is buying” or ignore losses, it does not speak to your “stupidity.” It shows which model of the world and safety is currently dominant.

3. How to turn an action into a dataset

Here is a practical framework for analyzing a single situation:

  1. Fact. What exactly did you do with money? A specific action, with no interpretation.
  2. State. What emotions and bodily sensations were present before, during, and after the action?
  3. Thought. What phrase in your head justified the decision (“I’ll catch up later,” “everyone does it”)?
  4. Context. What were the conditions — time, environment, fatigue level, informational noise?
  5. Payoff. What did this action actually give you: reduced tension, a sense of control, excitement?

One such analysis changes little. But 10–20 analyses already give you a map of recurring patterns — and that is exactly what financial psychology and behavioral analytics work with.

4. How to change the pattern instead of “breaking yourself”

The focus is not on willpower (I don’t believe in it), but on changing the decision system:

  • move critical money decisions out of emotional states (time delay, a “stop button”);
  • define limits in advance: amounts, frequency of trades/purchases, triggers for stopping;
  • structure information: know clearly what you need and what definitely does not fit you;
  • return regularly to your “action journal” as a dataset, not as a list of guilt points.

This is how you move from chaotic reactions to systematic work with your own biases — without self-punishment, but with numbers, patterns, and decisions.