Force for thought — 08.11.24

To Have and To Hold

How do you hold onto a good thing and not let it go before it has time to work its magic? By mobilising a method that works. No one is insulated from the challenges of sticking with something promising — not a diet, nor an exercise regimen, or even a first date — the moment it becomes uncomfortable and hard. Why should investing be any different?

We’ve collected more than four million data points that demonstrate how a particular methodological communication enables investors to hold on for the ride. The proof stretches beyond investing: our ability to hold on when we least want to — in order to withstand things that can cause our undoing — has application everywhere. Each week, we’ll show how and why a mechanism for holding on, in investing and in life, is so powerful.

Zooming in

It is the 10th of August 1628 in Stockholm Harbour. The Vasa, a one-of-one warship commissioned by the king, has embarked on its maiden voyage in front of bustling crowds. It is the Goliath of warships: 69 metres long; more than 50 metres tall from the keel to the top of the main mast; equipped with 10 sails; armed with 64 cannons; 120 tonnes of ballast and weighing more than 1200 tonnes. It sails no more than 1300 metres before a light breeze unceremoniously sinks the ship to the bottom of the ocean, curtains closing on its legacy just as it begins.

So, what can be learned from the Vasa’s tragic and short-lived journey? At the time of the ship’s commission, the king had grandiose ambitions for the size and armament of the Vasa — but no consideration for the external conditions that could undermine and ultimately obliterate its design. The consequence? The Vasa took years to build and minutes to collapse under pressure. So it goes in investing. Investors may have capital to deploy; luck to exploit; intelligence to flaunt and time onside, but they cannot foresee how and to what degree market events may rupture their emotional fortitude. To protect against epic and potentially irrevocable blows, investors need to engage in positive, recurrent and habitual psychological ballasting. That is the purpose of the Force500 feedback system — to keep investors on track. Without it, capital, luck, intelligence or timing remain at the whims of our emotions, but these can be powerfully reeled in to realise maximum payoffs.

To Have on Hand

This visual encapsulates the vital importance of holding on — in investing and in life. In it, there are two squares. On the left, the illustrator zooms in on a dashed line sloping downwards. On the right, the illustrator zooms out, revealing a much longer solid line climbing in an upwards direction towards the smaller line sloping downwards, which pales in size and is circled to represent today. Below the squares, a caption reads: Don’t let a bad day distract you from all the progress you’ve made. If, as an investor, you capitulate on a bad day, the good days don’t count; you have to hold on for the magic to accrue.