The emails I receive normally come through in torrents and a state of panic. Proclamations range from the more normal “I’ve only started to invest money, and I’m all at sea. Can you help me?” to the plain silly “I previously read that X is the best investment practice, but now I read that Y is the best way to be doing things. What do you suggest?” This state of confusion is entirely normal and very widespread but there is precious little we can do about it.
Here’s the deal. Ours is a world constantly in flux and that is in a fiscal sense or otherwise. Human beings, however, are not comfortable with change. Not in the slightest. This is why I constantly advise anyone who does ask me what to do to stay calm and think rationally. We take several decisions in the heat of the moment, only to regret it much later on when we look back in retrospect. Don’t let your investment decisions be one of those. Patience really is a virtue at the worst of times. Mind you, I’m not advocating sage like penance and powers of patience; just a fortnight. Nothing more, nothing less is what you need to 
navigate.
Look back at some of the decisions you regret most. If you had stalled making a decision at that point in time and simmered down and walked back to it 2 weeks later, would you still make the same decision? You probably wouldn’t, and that’s the point. Time heals all wounds and drills sense into the dumbest amongst us. Similarly, every time you feel you’re going to make a knee-jerk adjustment to your portfolio (sometimes you’ll know you’re doing so, sometimes you won’t. That’s the way it is), don’t do it. Procrastination is actually advisable in this case. So you have that energy within you to do something and you don’t know what to do. Well then, put it to use and make a note of what you’re doing and more importantly why you’re doing it.
Once a fortnight has passed, revisit the decision and see if your reasoning still seems as rock solid as it was back then and if you still feel that it is so, then by all means you should feel that doing so makes perfect sense. Even then, it might not be the perfect decision, but at least you have the benefit of hindsight and mulling over the decision on your side. Making panic decisions is never a good idea and you should always put these off as best as you can. Consider any conflicting advice you might have got in the interim keeping in mind that both sides of the argument have some merit. There is always something that is best for someone, and you need to figure out what is best for you.
