…is to press the button. Period.
Sure, pressing buttons are easy, whether the physical ones on your keyboard, the tactile touchscreen of your smartphone or on the computer monitor assisted through a mouse click, we all had done it before.
However, it is the weight of responsibility or consequence that comes with the pressing of the button that makes this seemingly harmless activity a not-so-simple endeavour. Imagine sending an important email that may make or break one’s career, or on a more serious note, the big red button to launch nuclear weapons (as far as I saw from some entertainment channels on how it works).
Or, more relevantly, your decision to whether to buy or sell a counter for your investment portfolio.
I believe a lot of thoughts, considerations and analyses had been factored in before the buy/sell call was made, but the final act before the actualisation of the transaction would be conviction. Advice, opinions, views and recommendations could come from anywhere and anyone, but conviction should come from the decision maker himself/herself.
Yet, it is this final step of conviction that is filled with doubts, anxieties and worst case, fear. A lot of “what-ifs” happens at this stage, which is akin to a high wall between the penultimate and the last steps of a staircase. Still, a decision must be made, whether one likes it or not, for the individual’s investment journey must go on and the markets wait for no one. Looking back, if a good call is made, well done, but if a bad call is made, learn from it.
Like the journey of life, these ups and downs are lessons for us to be better investors.