I recently heard a researcher and authority on stocks make a fascinating observation.

He said, “I think a growing number of investors, if you take a little bit time to educate yourself on your competition, as well as just how markets work, they will probably be in the camp that it’s really hard to own individual stocks, but they might still do it because it’s fun, becomes part of their identity.”

Read this part again, “It becomes part of their identity.”

That is exactly what happens to many investors.

They don’t just buy stocks.

They become “stock pickers.”

They enjoy discussing companies at dinner parties.

They track prices quite often.

They celebrate when one of “their” stocks goes up.

They defend it when it goes down.

Slowly, investing stops being a means to an end.

It becomes entertainment or worse, it becomes an identity.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying the markets; I enjoy them too.

The problem begins when the excitement of investing starts replacing the purpose of investing.

Remember why you started.

Did you start investing to impress your friends or to win arguments on social media or to prove you are smarter than professional investors who spend their entire lives researching businesses?

You started because you wanted to educate your children…Retire comfortably…Travel the world…Take care of your parents…Support causes you believe in…Sleep peacefully at night.

Money has a purpose.

Stocks are merely one possible tool to achieve that purpose.

The moment the tool becomes the destination, something changes.

Your decisions become emotional.

Your ego gets involved and investing quietly turns into a game.

Perhaps that is why so many of the world’s greatest investors have always emphasized humility.

Because the market doesn’t care about our identity…It doesn’t reward us for being clever.

It rewards us for being disciplined.

The goal was never to become a great stock picker; The goal was always to build a great life.

It would pay handsomely to never confuse the two.