Winston Churchill said, “I never worry about action, but only about inaction”. In almost every endeavor, I would agree.
But in investing patience and discipline pays off and lack of patience leads to disaster.
It is because of this fundamental difference between most endeavors and investing, that causes a large majority of people to fail in investing. They treat it like other endeavors and fail. They are not patient and take action far too often.
A classic proof of this problem is demonstrated by the Dalbar report published every year. The 2014 version says that in equity funds over the last 30 years, the average investor earned 3.69% per year while the S&P 500 earned 11.11%. If an investor would have bought an S&P500 index fund in 1984 - and HELD ONTO IT (DOING NOTHING) through thick and thin -- they could have enjoyed 11.11% annualized return but it requires loads of discipline.
Doing nothing requires hard work - yes - you read correctly. At least in investing, resisting the temptation to act when you hear about an investment at the water cooler at work, on the internet - or the market has a big scary drop - it's very tempting to take action. So stay strong America - resist the temptation!
Assuming a long term investment, and that you are diversified broadly and deeply - then doing nothing counts! By demonstrating your discipline, you will earn the market return which is better than the vast majority of investors - including the "sophisticated" investors.