Beyond the Business Mindset — How to Truly Invest

Many newcomers to investing often fall into a misconception: equating investing with business warfare. This mindset leads them to frequent trading and high stress, causing them to miss the true essence of investing. Those who truly understand investing know that, while both involve money, their core principles are completely different.

The Ideal State of Investing: Idle People, Busy Money

Reliable investing follows a simple yet profound principle—“People rest, money works.” This means you don’t need to constantly monitor market fluctuations or get anxious over every price change. Good investing involves buying quality assets that can continuously generate value and then letting them appreciate on their own.

Once you acquire good assets, the most peaceful state is to be confident in them. You don’t need to make frequent adjustments or study the market every day. This calm and composed attitude is precisely a sign of successful investing. If your investments make you restless day and night, as if you’re commanding a major business battle, you might be heading in the wrong direction.

Differentiating Investing from Business Warfare: Two Completely Different Mindsets

Poor investing feels entirely different. It makes you feel like you’re engaged in a business war, constantly affected by market trends, making decisions repeatedly, and exercising so-called “business insight” and “big-picture thinking.” This high-frequency, high-stimulation experience seems to be a grand endeavor, but in reality, it traps you in an investment pitfall.

The difference is: good investing allows you to rest; poor investing traps you in endless business-like competition. True wealth growth occurs when you don’t over-intervene. Investments that require you to stay in a “battle mode” are often inefficient or even lead to losses.

Wisdom of the Masters: Why Good Investments Seem “Boring”

The consensus among top global investors confirms this. Howard Marks, founder of Oaktree Capital, once pointed out that long-term successful investments often appear ordinary at first—possibly shrouded in negative news, with prices in a slump. Conversely, investments that seem dazzling initially tend to perform poorly over the long run.

Financial master George Soros was even more candid: “If investing is fun and exciting for you, you’re probably not making money. Because good investments are inherently calm and steady.” This reveals the truth—the best investments are precisely the most “boring.”

Boredom is not a flaw but a feature. It indicates you’ve found quality assets and can confidently let time and compound interest work for you. In contrast, those investments full of excitement that demand your full attention are more like business battles than genuine wealth accumulation. For novice investors, recognizing this difference is the first step toward proper investing.