Think fast, but invest ethically, calmly, and purposefully.
September 23, 2025
By Javier García
Social media, mobile devices, and digital platforms have transformed the way we think and act. Everything seems to be dominated by speed, multitasking, and immediacy, and people are making decisions faster and faster, guided by constant impulses and stimuli.
Neuroscience has shown that the brain’s dopaminergic system is activated by every pleasurable stimulus, reinforcing the search for immediate gratification. This overstimulation reduces our ability to concentrate, weakens our self-control, and encourages impulsive decisions, so that instead of reflecting, we react, and instead of planning, we improvise. All of this is exacerbated by a culture of image and appearance, which feeds on social media and digital platforms and seems to have no limits. What we really are is no longer as important as what we appear to be.
Financial markets and investors are not only aware of this reality, but also reflect it faithfully. Various studies on investor psychology show that investors tend to make decisions guided by emotions such as fear or euphoria, so our minds, already accustomed to improvising and reacting impulsively, seem trained to generate speculative bubbles and abrupt movements in asset prices.
Social media has also begun to significantly influence investment decisions. Constant exposure to ostentatious lifestyles and the pressure to be part of them can lead to impulsive financial decisions in the pursuit of quick and high returns, especially among younger investors. Influencers, financial startups, certain issuers of volatile products such as CFDs or crypto assets, etc. are no strangers to this and encourage rapid investment or speculation strategies, often without solid foundations, which contributes to market volatility and instability.
In contrast to this culture of appearance and immediacy, sustainable and impact investments require in-depth analysis, long-term vision, and ethical commitment. Sustainable investment invites us to reflect, to consider the impact of our decisions, and to build a more balanced future. It is not about giving up profitability, but rather seeking it in a more conscious, thoughtful, and planned way.
Now, just when a large part of the financial industry seems to be renouncing sustainable investment, which until very recently it championed—surely more out of interest than conviction—in a turbulent and volatile world where anything goes and we are pushed to act quickly, investing slowly and purposefully can become an act of resistance.
It seems undeniable that if the world, the macroeconomic situation, industries, etc. are changing so rapidly, human beings have no choice but to try to adapt to it. It also seems clear that, whether we like it or not and whether we resist it or not, our brains are becoming accustomed to seeking immediate rewards and reacting with less reflection, often making hasty decisions.
Under these conditions, thinking quickly in order to adapt to changes and make decisions with agility seems inevitable and even necessary, but this dynamism should not be confused with impulsive or hasty decision-making. In this sense, sustainable or impact investing forces us to make better analyzed, more thoughtful, and conscious decisions, helping us to reconnect with reflection, regain control, and commit to a more responsible and sustainable economic model in the long term.
Without a doubt, these times lead us to think and adapt quickly to a tremendously changing environment, but investing ethically, calmly, and purposefully, away from fads and aligned with our values, seems to be more necessary and make more sense than ever.