Invest in What You Use

I sold a stock today that I couldn't explain to my father. He'd never heard of the company. Neither had most of my friends. The only people who seemed excited about it were strangers on Reddit.

That should have been the first sign.

I've lost money before on investments like this. Companies I found through forums, through hype, through the feeling that I was getting in early on something big. The pitch always sounds good. Revolutionary technology, massive market, first-mover advantage. The language of people who want you to believe.

The problem is simple: I had no way to evaluate any of it. I couldn't tell if the technology worked. I couldn't tell if the team could execute. I couldn't tell if the market was real or imagined. I was betting on a story, not on something I understood.

Compare that to the products I actually use.

I pick up a Nintendo controller and I know within seconds whether the experience is good. I open my laptop and I can feel whether the software is better than last year. I use certain tools every single day for my work, and I know exactly what they're worth to me. Not because someone on a forum told me. Because I've felt it.

That's a different kind of knowledge. Not financial analysis, not charts, not price targets. Just: I use this thing, it's excellent, and I'd be surprised if the world disagreed.

I'm not saying this is the right way to invest. I'm not saying hype stocks can't make money. Some people made fortunes on things I walked away from. Good for them.

But I've learned what I'm comfortable with, and what keeps me up at night. Stocks I found through Reddit and can't explain to anyone in my life keep me up at night. Products I use and believe in don't.

That's not a strategy. It's just knowing yourself.

The stock I sold today might double next year. I genuinely don't know. But I do know that when I closed the trading app for the last time, I felt lighter. Not because I made the right financial decision. Maybe I didn't.

Because I stopped pretending I understood something I didn't.