The ultimate secret of investing (奧義)...
is the freedom to say, “I don’t have to.”
But almost nobody can live by it.
That’s why it’s the ultimate secret.
Think about it for ten seconds and you’ll realize: you really don’t have to.
An investor who is genuinely fine with doing nothing is far less likely to lose big. The number of times you even expose yourself to the negative side of the distribution drops dramatically.
Most losses come from the compulsion to act; greed then compounds the damage.
"Then when do I make money? How?" you might retort.
Right.
That question is exactly why you keep losing.
If that question comes first, you still haven’t understood why “I don’t have to” is the ultimate secret.
The ultimate secret of investing isn’t the ability to make better choices.
It’s the freedom not to have to choose at all.
Even when you act only when you believe you must, the market can still take from you. Have you considered that?
We were born into a world without markets.
We only came to know them later.
And “I don’t have to” may be the closest we can ever get to that world again.
Remember?
The market is just like Hotel Amaranth: You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
Amaranth is the flower that never fades.
Once you draw near, its scent never quite leaves you.
So if you can’t truly leave, build a room of your own inside the hotel.
Your own world.
A world where, no matter what happens outside, you never have to step out.
Feels cramped?
Then make the room bigger.
Eventually, the amaranth begins to recede and your room begins to grow.
Keep expanding it, and one day your room may swallow Hotel Amaranth whole.
Yes.
That’s the ultimate secret.