There is this brilliant quote from Charlie Munger that says, “The big money is not in the buying and the selling, but in the waiting.”
He said it about investing. I refer to it often in my work life.
In business, the temptation is always to chase immediate results. A new product launch, a new market entry, a new initiative. You go in with the best-laid plans, and then reality happens. Things don’t move as fast as you expected. Questions get asked. Patience runs thin.
This is where we can get it wrong.
When I find myself in that spot, I use a simple heuristic. I think of it like a stock. The price hasn’t moved the way I expected. Do I sell or do I hold?
If I still believe the upside is there and time is the only variable, I hold. I stay in the grind and let it play out.
But if I genuinely believe there is a better opportunity elsewhere, one with stronger fundamentals and better odds, I move.
Persistence is a virtue. But only when you’re holding the right stock.