"A Secret Hidden in an Investment Diary" Co-authored/featured in TOYOKEIZAI ONLINE column

Good morning, this is Matsushita.

In yesterday's article,

I wrote that by keeping an investment diary,

investors who are losing money begin to change.

Every year around this time,

I always share the topic of the investment diary

in the newsletter.

Because from January onward, investors tend to resolve

to start keeping an investment diary,

renewing their mindset.

Last year, to convey even more clearly the importance of the investment diary,

we released a free course from Makoto Investment School

“The Recommendation of an Investment Diary.”

Makoto Investment School Online

Free Introduction to Investing Course

“The Recommendation of an Investment Diary”

This free online school offers

a total of four videos, over 40 minutes

explaining what kind of power you gain from an investment diary,

how to write and what to write about,

the key points and cautions to note in the process.

While creating these videos,

I realized a certain secret hidden in the investment diary.

Because of this secret,

the investment diary leads to future profits.

That secret is

“the habit of winning investing becomes ingrained.”

Winning investing, in fact, is a habit.

Speaking of habits,

we wake up and go to bed at the same time every day,

brush our teeth, bathe,

and perform other tasks in a consistent rhythm every day.

To win in investing,

these tasks must become a habit.

A habit is performing a set task at a fixed time

without it feeling burdensome,

and it should feel effortless.

If you wake up and go to bed at wildly inconsistent times

and brush or bathe at irregular times,

there's no one who would find that burdensome.

If this is irregular and burdensome for you,

your life is out of balance.

Investing is the same.

Each day, at a fixed time, you must perform a defined, consistent task,

and it must not be burdensome.

However, most individual investors

engage in unrelated tasks at random times each day,

with no connection to investing.

When the market moves poorly and you enter times of losses or drawdowns,

your motivation declines,

and you may stop observing the market.

That cannot be called a habit.

So after a year,

there is nothing left behind.

Commonly known as “three-day-fliers.”

Many people aim to increase financial assets and live without future anxiety.

That goal lies ten, twenty, or thirty years ahead.

To keep earning profits for decades,

investing must become as habitual as brushing teeth.

If brushing teeth feels burdensome,

there is no one who would skip it or avoid it.

If you neglect it, you will suffer consequences.

Investing is the same; making investing a habit and rooting it in yourself

the first and best step is keeping an investment diary.

After more than 15 years of investing and 12 years of teaching investing,

I first realized this last year.

An investment diary is a tool that, by making investing a habit,

develops the capacity to sustain it.

That is why many people who have earned substantial profits have

recommended keeping an investment diary.

If you want to continue earning profits for ten, twenty, or thirty years,

start keeping an investment diary.

This is the Investment Diary written and supervised by Makoto Matsushita.