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I Don't Know THAT Much About the Markets. I Just Keep Investing.

Why consistency beats intelligence, confidence, timing and almost everything else

By Destiny S. HarrisPublished 23 days ago 5 min read
I Don't Know THAT Much About the Markets. I Just Keep Investing.
Photo by Collab Media on Unsplash

I'm not a market expert.

I don't read charts.

I don't follow earnings calls.

I don't track macroeconomic narratives.

I don't try to predict recessions, rate cuts, elections, or black swan events.

I just invest.

And I keep investing.

If you do this, this alone will put you ahead of most people.

Most people think investing success comes from knowing more - more data, more indicators, more opinions, more certainty. They believe there's some hidden level of understanding you have to unlock before you're "qualified" to participate.

Well folks….this belief will keep you f*cking poor.

Because while they're waiting to feel smart enough, safe enough, or confident enough, time keeps passing. And time is the only non-renewable asset in investing.

The Biggest Lie In Investing: "I Need To Understand More First"

People delay investing because they think ignorance is dangerous.

What they don't realize is that inaction is far more dangerous than imperfect action.

They tell themselves:

"I'll start once I understand the market." "I'll wait until things calm down." "I'll invest after the next drop." "I need to research more."

Years pass.

They never start.

Or worse - they start, stop, restart, stop again, and never build momentum.

The market does NOT reward intelligence the way academics do. There's no gold star or A+ grade given for knowing terminology.

No prize for reading more books than everyone else.

No trophy for being right once.

The market rewards duration.

I'm Not Confident. I'm Committed.

Confidence is emotional.

Commitment is structural.

Confidence disappears the moment things feel uncertain. And investing is uncertainty by design.

If you rely on confidence, you'll only invest when the market is up, optimism is high, and everyone feels safe. That's usually when future returns are lowest.

Commitment doesn't care how you feel.

Commitment says:

This is what I do

This is a non-negotiable.

This continues whether I'm excited or bored.

This continues whether the market is green or red.

I don't invest because I feel good about it. I invest because it's part of my system.

Most People Don't Lose Money. They Lose Nerve.

The average person doesn't fail at investing they chose the wrong asset. They fail because they panic when the market drops, stop contributing when headlines turn negative, sell when volatility spikes, overreact to short-term noise, and abandon the plan the moment it becomes uncomfortable.

They treat investing like a mood-dependent activity.

But investing isn't about being right. It's about staying in the game long enough for math to work.

The compounding everyone talks about doesn't happen if you keep interrupting it.

Investing Is Mostly Nervous System Management

People think investing is about finance.

It's not.

It's about psychology.

Can you keep investing when your portfolio is down 20%?

Can you keep investing when everyone around you is scared?

Can you keep investing when the news is screaming catastrophe?

Can you keep investing when your brain is begging you to pause "just for now"?

This is a skill and demonstrative of emotional regulation. It requires zero intelligence, insight, and prediction. The ability to sit in uncertainty without sabotaging yourself.

I Don't Time the Market Because I Don't Believe I'm the Anomaly

Market timing assumes:

- You'll know when to get out

- You'll know when to get back in

- You'll actually do both correctly

Most people fail at one, if not all three.

I don't pretend I'm smarter than the market. I don't pretend I have special insight. I don't pretend I'll execute perfectly under pressure.

So I remove the decision-making entirely.

Automation beats ego every single time.

Simple Systems Beat Sophisticated Strategies

My approach is boring on purpose.

Boring works.

The more exciting investing becomes, the more dangerous it usually is.

Not to say that investing is not exciting because it is something special to watch your balance compound and grow over the years, but emotional ups and downs is not the right type of exciting.

The system is simple:

Choose broad, diversified investments or specific investments you know a lot about

Automate contributions (make your investing fail-safe)

Keep buying regardless of market conditions

Don't touch it

Repeat for decades (or years if you're a short-term investor)

That's it.

No drama. No genius. No constant opinions.

Just repetition.

Most people reject this because it doesn't feel like they're "doing something." But doing less is often the highest-skill move.

Overthinking Is A Form of Self-Sabotage

People confuse activity with progress.

They think more research equals better outcomes (often it can, but it's not always required. They think more adjustments equals smarter investing (not touching your investments is often a better strategy). They think more decisions equals more control (it's usually the opposite).

In reality, most decisions in investing reduce returns alone.

Every time you react emotionally, you inject noise into a system that works best when left alone.

The biggest threat to your portfolio isn't the market.

It's you.

Stay In. Don't Pull Out. My Friend Lost Big Time.

A friend of mine came into a lucrative investment opportunity. Once he experienced downturns, he pulled out. I asked him why. He said everything was dropping and he wants to decrease the losses. Meanwhile my portfolio was also dropping about 30% and I did nothing. Then I saw it rise 30% again a few months later. It's a bummer he pulled out. He lost out on some big wins.

The Market Rewards Brilliance Not Endurance

History isn't kind to brilliant people who can't sit still.

It's very kind to average people who invest consistently, avoid catastrophic mistakes, don't quit, don't panic, don't chase, don't abandon the plan.

You don't need to be exceptional. You need to be durable.

The Hardest Part Isn't Investing. It's Staying Invested.

Everyone loves the IDEA of investing. Very few appreciate and love the reality.

It's slow

It's boring

It's uneven

It tests patience

It punishes impatience

It offers no immediate validation

There will be long stretches of time where nothing exciting happens (literally 90% of my investment journey). And this is why and when most people quit the investment game.

The irony is that most boring periods often precede the biggest compounding phases.

I Don't Chase Certainty. I Build Habits.

Certainty is a trap.

The market will never give you permission to feel safe.

So instead of chasing certainty, I built habits.

Habits don't require belief. Habits don't require confidence. Habits don't require perfect understanding. They just require repetition. And repetition compounds.

You Don't Need To Know Much. You Need to Not Stop.

This is what people hate hearing.

They want a trick, a secret, a shortcut, a hack.

Well….there isn't one folks.

The edge is staying on the field, in the game while everyone else is getting emotional. Don't request timeouts. Don't request to be benched. Don't request to take a rest. Stay in the f*cking game. And if you do, your net worth will explode at some point.

If you can do this, you don't need to know much at all.

You just need time.

If you keep starting, stopping, or overthinking instead of executing, let's fix this asap.

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This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any significant financial decisions.

economyinvestingpersonal financestocksadvice

About the Creator

Destiny S. Harris

Writing since 11. Investing and Lifting since 14.

destinyh.com

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