Where is your investing going wrong? David and Tim will tell you.

Sitting still while everyone else makes money is one of the hardest things in investing. Buying for the wrong reasons stings a lot more. You've built that in on purpose.

Giving yourself time is good. The question is when the reading becomes action. When a whole theme moves together, a few weeks can be the whole move.

That's patience. Sometimes patience pays. Other times hype is driving the train and it leaves the station without you. Spotting the difference in real time, with a system, is the key.

Nearly everyone has felt that pull. Look at the reason for the buy, though. Fear of missing out or a repeatable process? A small starter still has to get through the same process as a big one.

Hot theme? Run it through your process before you read another post.

Example chosen with hindsight to show a habit. Not a recommendation on this stock. £10,000 notional in USD shares, FX ignored. No costs or tax.

Spot on. Not buying when you're sure takes nerve. Knowing the trigger in advance means you don't have to rely on nerve alone.

So you've decided before the day, while you're calm. Honestly, getting in is mostly that. The rest is patience and pressing the button when the process lines up.

Finished research feels like a green light. What it really tells you is whether the company's worth owning. When the money goes in is a separate decision. The market doesn't care what you think it's worth.

Very human. A falling price can mean cheap, or it can mean something's changed and cheap will keep getting cheaper. A feeling can't tell those two apart.

I know what I need to see before I buy. When it shows up, I act. Until then, I wait.

Lovely. Your rule decides when the cash goes in. Most people let the news decide for them. Lemmings tend to lose.

Sensible in the right contexts. No single day can hurt you much. What it won't tell you is whether the money should be going in at all, or going in faster.

It feels safe. The catch is that 'settled' never announces itself. By the time things feel calm enough, the chance has often been and gone. So you wait for the next fall and the cycle repeats.

The most reasonable-sounding way to stay stuck. The picture never clears 'enough'. There's always one more data point. The stock market isn't the economy and the two often go separate ways for months.

Cash waiting on a feeling isn't a plan. My process tells me what would make it go in, so I'm ready when things turn.

Example chosen with hindsight to show a habit. UK inflation (CPI) from October 2021 to August 2026. No interest, costs or tax. Not a view on how much cash anyone should hold.

That's proper risk management. Size comes from what you'd lose if you're wrong, so your favourite can't run the show. Most people never get as far as that second part.

That's ahead of most. Think about the times you don't stick to it, though. A rule of thumb bends. That flexibility often has a cost. Solid rules don't bend.

A fair way to stop one name running the show. But a calm company and a wild one get the same money. Fine if you do it on purpose, not so fine by accident.

Conviction's doing the sizing. Trouble is, how sure you feel and how much you could make or lose aren't connected. The market doesn't care about our conviction. Everyone's a genius in a bull market (including us).

How much I put in is set by what I'm prepared to lose on this one idea. How sure I feel doesn't come into it.

Example chosen with hindsight to show a habit. Not a recommendation on either stock. £10,000 notional in USD shares, FX ignored. No costs or tax.

Good on you. Too small is exactly when a rule earns its keep. You noticed the feeling and stuck with the maths anyway. Excellent.

Sticking to your usual amount on a high is real discipline. Make sure you know when you'd add, too. Adds should come from a decision made in advance, never a good feeling later.

Sounds like simple maths. Often it's the last win talking. If your portfolio's grown, size up in proportion to that growth. Going further because it feels like house money is the win doing the sizing.

Every investor has felt that one. Straight after a win, confidence is artificially high. That's the most dangerous moment to believe your idea is rare.

My favourite gets no special treatment. A win doesn't change the rule.

Leaving it at that is the hard part for most people. A look that ends in nothing isn't wasted. It means the system's working, so enjoy it.

Healthy enough. The looking still follows the market's mood, though. When things get loud you'll probably look a lot more. Keep it consistent. Build the habit.

We hear this one on calls all the time and it feels responsible. Trouble is, every look gives the market a chance to tempt you into an impulsive decision. One red day doesn't mean the trend's over.

Boredom is one of the most expensive feelings in investing. It makes doing something, anything, feel like progress. Looking that often lets your impulses make the calls. Systemising fixes this.

I look on a schedule and only act when my system tells me to.

Example chosen with hindsight to show a habit. Not a recommendation on this stock. £10,000 notional in USD shares, FX ignored. No costs or tax.

That's the hard one done right. Being willing to take the loss takes real discipline. The process makes the call, whatever the headlines say.

Good question to ask yourself. 10% down in a bad week, your brain will find you a reason to get out, even when the drop is just a pullback in a longer trend. Your process should already have the answer.

Most drops are noise. The hard part is spotting the one that isn't. Sitting tight on every drop treats the ones that matter the same as the ones that don't. A recipe for round-tripping all your gains.

Cheaper feels like a second go at it, I get that. The only question is whether the reason you bought is still in play. If belief makes the call, the market will always be 'wrong'. That's what a system's for.

A lower price can feel scary. If the reason I bought hasn't changed, it's nothing to be scared of.

Example chosen with hindsight to show a habit. Not a recommendation on this stock. £10,000 notional in USD shares, FX ignored. No costs or tax.

Trimming something that kept climbing hurts. You'd do it again, too. That's a rule that's been tested. The real art is a process for adding back in.

So a winner can't turn all the way round on you. That's more than most people have. The risk is getting shaken out partway through a trend, so the process has to balance both.

A common middle path and a fair one. The question is what gets the rest out. Without a process, a large part of the position is still running on gut feel.

Not wanting to sell too early is about the most natural feeling there is. But a good company and a good share price can part ways for a long time. The gain often goes with them.

Once a winner peaks, the peak becomes your anchor. Decide your exit before it does.

Example chosen with hindsight to show a habit. Not a recommendation on this stock. £10,000 notional in USD shares, FX ignored. No costs or tax.

Selling on a rule when you really didn't want to is the whole test. Most rules have never been through it. Yours has.

We don't believe price targets are much use, but risk management 100% is. What matters is whether the rule holds when the stock does something you didn't expect.

A clear price is a start. Prices in heads tend to move, though, usually in whichever direction lets you keep holding and hoping. Hope is not a strategy.

Honest answer. In practice, hardly anyone knows it when they see it. Stories change slowly and the price usually moves first. Narratives follow price.

I know what would get me out before any money goes in.

Ruthless, in the best way. What you paid is irrelevant. The market is king. You judge it on the reason you bought.

You're not married to it, which is good. Define what working means, so the move comes from a rule rather than a mood. And don't chase what's already run.

So the old one goes because a shiny new one turned up. Nothing to do with the old one, really. Excitement's choosing what comes in and what goes out, instead of a repeatable system.

Probably the most common habit we see. The market has no idea what you paid, nor does it care. Meanwhile, the money waiting for that number isn't doing anything else. Opportunity cost is real.

A place in my portfolio is a privilege. A holding keeps it while the reason I bought still stands, whatever I paid.