“It’s not profit till you sell” Is commonly understood- the byproduct of this is also that “it’s not a loss until you sell” In other words if you accept the first premise - volatility is not risk in itself Volatility is only risk if you need to sell Risk is permanent loss of capital Hence in your main portfolio own a few assets that have in your mind permanence and hold them through time Buying bottoms and selling tops one asset after another rotating is not a viable long term strategy - it only takes 1 or 2 mistakes to wipe a decade of effort There will always be by sheer numbers someone who strings together some wins but likelihood over time falls to 0 Ray Dalio and many other high profile people who had the Midas touch had to go through a rough loss to finally realise this point and so we are all vulnerable People who constantly talk about how they bought bottom and sold tops are either TA day traders or yet to be humbled Buffet uses language like buy low sell high to help people understand but he did not mean to literally buy in and out timing each turn. Buffet has gone through numerous -50% downside volatility in his life Investing is an immensely calm and peaceful way to live even through volatility. If you feel like you have to grind and it’s mentally taxing you are not investing - you are gambling/trading and have a glorified job with long hours