Everything in the world has a price tag. Discussing whether something is good or bad without a price attached isn't investing — it's consuming.
Holding a position for a year doesn’t mean you make no decisions—it means you repeat the same decision 365 times throughout that year. Every single day, you decide whether to keep holding or close the position. Only by choosing to hold for all 365 consecutive days does it appear as though you did nothing at all.
You have to spend the moment you wake up. Without a car, you can't go anywhere; without a home, you don't even qualify for a job. You face mandatory expenses from the moment your eyes open. If you can't keep up, you'll end up homeless, and every temptation around you will rapidly drain your finances, extracting the last drop of spending potential from you.
The first rule of trading is to bet on high-probability outcomes. If you want to consistently beat the casino over the long haul, your strategy must have an edge—meaning your winning probability must exceed 50% over time.
Traders who achieve consistent profits are almost universally free of emotional or financial baggage.