I was in a meeting with the team yesterday.
I take a glance at my wrist to check the time.
My watch shows 14:37.
Except that it is 16:20.
It has stopped.
For those who are not familiar with automatic watches, let me explain.
Unlike quartz watches that run on batteries, automatics use a mechanical movement.
They wind themselves up thanks to the movements of your wrist.
No battery. No power.
Just the kinetic energy from your daily movements.
It's fascinating from a mechanical point of view.
But it has a downside.
If you don’t wear it for 2-3 days, it stops.
It needs regular movement to function.
But not just any movement.
No need to shake your arm like crazy all day.
The natural gestures of your daily life are more than enough.
Walk. Drive. Type on a keyboard.
These regular micro-movements power the mechanism.
It's exactly the opposite of what most people think.
They believe that an automatic watch requires hyperactivity.
In reality, it rewards quiet consistency.
And yesterday, upon realizing that my watch had stopped, I realized something.
It's a perfect metaphor for my mistake in 2021-2022.
Back then, I thought you had to be constantly active in the markets.
Analyze 50 charts per day.
Open 20 positions per week.
Monitoring prices 24/7.
I confused movement with agitation.
Action and hyperactivity.
Result?
I destroyed a significant part of my capital on unnecessary leverage trades.
Tens of thousands of dollars vaporized in a few minutes.
Because I was moving too much.
Because I thought that more activity = more results.
Exactly like someone shaking their wrist frantically to 'better' wind their watch.
It doesn't work like that.
An automatic watch rewards you for your natural and regular movements.
Not for your panic gesticulations.
Crypto markets are the same.
The best performances rarely come from hyperactivity.
They come from strategic movements, at the right time, with the right amplitude.
Not 50 trades per month.
Rather 3-4 key positions per cycle.
Measured adjustments. Not emotional reactions.
A regular but sober presence. Not an obsessive monitoring.
89% of retail traders lose money.
And the more active they are, the more they lose.
It's no coincidence.
It's mathematical.
Every additional movement adds noise, fees, and risks of error.
Like shaking your automatic watch doesn’t improve its accuracy.
It just degrades the mechanism.
Today, when I look at my wrist and see my watch ticking silently, I remember this lesson.
The right mechanism at the right pace beats frantic agitation every time.
In the markets, as elsewhere.
Quiet consistency outperforms anxious hyperactivity.
Strategic movements crush impulsive reactions.
And sometimes, the best action is to do nothing.
Letting the mechanism do its work.
Without intervening every five minutes.
My watch stopped yesterday because I hadn’t worn it for three days.
Not because I hadn't shaken it enough.
P.S.: There are automatic watch winders for collectors who own multiple watches.
These small boxes replicate the natural movements of the wrist to keep watches running.
But even these devices only make a few rotations per day.
Not hundreds.
Because watch engineers know that excessive movement prematurely wears components.
It's fascinating how the best mechanical systems naturally integrate the notion of balance.
Not too much. Not too little.
Just what it takes, at the right time.
If only I had applied this principle earlier in my investor life.
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