The bets you take out of boredom
Most damage to a portfolio does not come from the carefully chosen positions; it comes from the extra ones taken out of restlessness, boredom or fear of missing out. There is a big match on, everyone is in, and sitting out feels like wasting an opportunity. So you bet without a real edge — and over time, those marginal, unnecessary positions quietly drain the profits your good ones earned.
FOMO inverts the question
A disciplined investor asks "does this position have value?" FOMO replaces that with "can I bear to miss this?" The two questions lead to completely different behaviour. The first lets you skip a hundred mediocre opportunities to wait for a good one; the second drags you into every loud event regardless of whether the price is in your favour. The cost is invisible per bet and enormous in aggregate.
Reframe the missed opportunity
It helps to remember that opportunities are not scarce. There will be another match, another market, another edge tomorrow and the day after. Treating each event as a once-in-a-lifetime chance is exactly the illusion that fuels FOMO. When you internalise that the supply of future opportunities is effectively endless, the pressure to act on this one quietly disappears.
Make skipping the default
Flip your baseline: assume you are not taking a position unless it clearly clears your value and sizing rules. Let the burden of proof sit on the bet, not on your decision to pass. The investors who compound steadily are rarely the ones in every market — they are the ones comfortable doing nothing, often, while they wait for the spots where they actually have an edge.