[Red Envelope] Focusing only on money makes it easy to give up halfway on the investment journey.

We used to say that when doing things, one should not only focus on money; if you only focus on money, you often won’t make any. This is the same with investing.

Some people may think that investing is certainly for making money; why else would you do it?

That’s right, investing is of course for making money, and profit is the only standard for evaluating an investment. However, those who focus solely on money generally do not make money. Those who only focus on beautiful women and drool everywhere also do not marry beautiful women.

A gentleman loves wealth but seeks it through the right means. A gentleman may desire profit, but if profit is his only focus, it is harmful. Just like a company, if it spends all day in meetings discussing how to make money instead of thinking about how to improve its products and services, it will definitely not make money. When the products are well-made and the services are excellent, money will naturally come, and investing is the same.

For those of us who enter the market, except for a few who crave overnight wealth, our initial intentions are mostly the same; we hope to achieve reasonable returns through investing. However, many people lose their way along the journey and even give up halfway.

If a person does not have a genuine passion for stock trading itself, it is easy to lack sufficient patience and focus only on short-term fluctuations and profits and losses, making it difficult to persist on this path in the long run.

They either chase uptrends and sell on downtrends, trading based on news, or they focus solely on various get-rich-quick strategies without the patience and ability to track trends. However, trend investing is a model suitable for most retail investors; it may seem slow but is actually fast. To do well in trend investing requires not only an understanding of market rules but also tests the investor’s personal character, as it is a long-term endeavor that requires continuous commitment.

Those who can consistently profit in the stock market are not necessarily exceptionally talented; they may not have been able to achieve consistent profits from the start and have often taken various wrong turns. But these investors are definitely those who can calm down to study market rules, abide by regulations, and wait for the power of the cycle to manifest. They treat investing as a serious matter, with respect and humility.

Many investors have not lacked the right direction or good opportunities; they were simply intimidated by difficulties while climbing the mountain, losing confidence and giving up before achieving consistent profits.

They either doubt their investment logic at the first sign of short-term setbacks, or they deny their abilities when facing adjustments, or they are tempted by the market, like a kitten going to see what the fishing is about, casually switching routes. They seem busy but are actually just spinning in place, switching to a new spot before they’ve even drawn water from the well, ultimately exhausting their patience and giving up halfway.

In doing anything, one must not be impatient for quick success; even when on the right path, one must learn to persist. One must ensure a basic respect for the logic of success, maintain fundamental patience, not be swayed by various short-term temptations and human emotions, not give up easily, not fear a long journey, and not rush for immediate results, to ultimately stand at the mountain’s peak.

The rewards of investing often belong to those who can keep their composure and complete the journey. Don’t leave the market before it rebounds, don’t give up before establishing a system, and certainly don’t choose to quit when you are close to the right path.

Investing is a practice; it is a long march for an individual.

Last night, I saw a second-grade child writing; the handwriting looked like it was printed, so impressive, simply a genius. The only regret during my school years was not mastering good handwriting, so I naturally have a good impression of those who write well.