The Truth About Holding

The most common mistake investors make is not holding long enough.

Most investors don’t fail because they buy the wrong companies.
They fail because they cannot stay with the right ones long enough.

I made this mistake repeatedly last year.

I am writing this post to reflect on my errors and, more importantly, to reinforce my identity as a true value investor.

My Mistakes

Last year, I made several decisions that clearly violated long-term thinking.

Google (Alphabet)

I sold all my shares in June.
There was no fundamental reason—the stock hadn’t moved for a year, and I simply lost patience.
I didn’t think deeply. I just pressed the sell button.

This decision cost me over $10,000.

TSMC

I sold one-third of my position at 225.
When it rose to 300, I sold another third.
It is now trading around 350.

I had built a 42% position during the sell-off, but once the stock recovered, I became eager to sell.

This mistake cost me another $20,000.

AMD

I sold one-third of my position because I lacked conviction.
It was a stock recommended by my husband, not one I had fully understood myself.

This decision cost me about $10,000.

Looking back, none of these sells were driven by a broken business thesis.
They were driven entirely by mindset.

Why I Made These Mistakes

The uncomfortable truth is simple:

I was acting like a speculator, not a true value investor.

Seeking Certainty

Selling gave me a false sense of control.

Loss Aversion

I was afraid of “giving back” gains—a classic psychological trap.

The Speculation Trap

As Li Lu has said, 95% of retail investors are speculators.
Speculation is a zero-sum game, and the more often you trade, the more chances you give yourself to be wrong.

I know myself well enough to admit this:

  • I am not especially fast
  • I do not have sharp short-term instincts
  • I cannot win consistently in a speculation game

Why Value Investing Is the Only Path for Me

True value investing is a positive-sum game.
It is the most proven way to compound wealth over the long term.

We all know the phrase:

“Buying stocks is buying a piece of a company.”

Easy to say.
Extremely hard to live by.

So far, I have only truly achieved this with Apple and TSMC, which I have held for eight years.

This post is my commitment to returning to that core mindset.

My Rules Going Forward (Framework)

1. Redefine “Long Term”

If I cannot commit to holding a company for 10 years, I must at least commit to:

  • 3 years first
  • then 5 years

I learned this from studying Li Lu’s portfolio.
Based on his 13F filings, his average holding period is roughly 3–5 years.

Patience is not about forever.
It is about giving a business enough time to prove itself.

2. Sell Less, Think More

If I feel an emotional urge to sell:

  • sell 1/10, not 1/3

This limits the damage from overreaction and forces deeper thinking.

3. Business Over Price and Earnings

One major reason I sold was that I anchored my decisions to price movement, not business quality, model, and culture.

Going forward:

  • I will create videos explaining why I own a company
  • I will document my thinking to expose blind spots
  • I will ignore short-term earnings noise

My focus must stay on business understanding, not price action.

4. Regulate My Nervous System

Good investing requires emotional regulation.

My real edge is not information.
It is a regulated nervous system.

  • daily reflection
  • daily walking
  • strength training
  • writing
  • video creation

These are not hobbies.
They are tools that allow me to interfere less—and make fewer mistakes.

By doing less, I may actually achieve more.

5. Stop the Illusion of Re-entry

Never assume I can “buy it back later.”

When I sold TSMC, I believed I could repurchase it at a lower price.
I never did.

Selling is easy.
Re-entering with conviction at a higher price is extremely hard.

Closing Thought

After eight years, I am still making mistakes.
Charlie Munger made mistakes even in his 90s.

Mistakes are unavoidable.
What matters is learning from them.

Compounding rewards patience, not activity.

My goal is simple:
to keep improving my mindset—
from a speculator seeking certainty
to a true long-term owner who can endure time.

This is hard to practice in real life.
I will keep reflecting and improving along the way.