Tough Minded (How Taking on Life's Challenges Can Make You a Better Investor)

Turn personal adversity into a sharper, more resilient investment mindset 

Tough Minded: How Taking on Life's Challenges Can Make You a Better Investor presents a distinctive approach to investment thinking from Shana Orczyk Sissel, a CAIA charter holder with over two decades of experience at firms including Fidelity Investments and Ariel Investments. Sissel draws on her own extraordinary life experiences to show how resilience under pressure translates directly into stronger investment decision-making. 

Each chapter pairs a personal story of adversity with the specific investing principle it reinforced. Readers will discover how blue-collar roots and a scarcity mindset sharpen risk management, how surviving traumatic events reveals the connection between community disruption and financial markets, and how being underestimated cultivates the contrarian thinking that drives long-term investment success. 

Readers will also find: 

• Practical insights on managing emotional decision-making during periods of market volatility and personal crisis 

• Strategies for developing a contrarian mindset built from real-world experience rather than abstract theory alone 

• Frameworks connecting personal resilience to disciplined risk management across traditional and alternative investment portfolios 

• An exploration of how traumatic events ripple through communities, economies, and financial markets in measurable ways 

• Guidance on channeling a scarcity mindset into focused, opportunity-driven approaches to portfolio construction and wealth building 

Ideal for financial advisors, wealth managers, investment professionals, women in finance, and alternative investments enthusiasts, Tough Minded offers a singular perspective on how life's hardest lessons forge the mental toughness and emotional discipline that separate reactive investors from strategic ones.