Starting fresh this year? Here's the hard truth: if you can't explain *why* you're holding something, you're not investing—you're just gambling with hope. Real investment means understanding the asset, grasping the fundamentals, knowing the risks. Blind spot-buying because FOMO kicked in or some influencer hyped it? That's not strategy, that's wishful thinking. The difference between winners and losers often comes down to this single distinction: clarity versus desperation. Before you YOLO into the next moonshot, ask yourself—could you defend this purchase to someone skeptical? If the answer is no, maybe pause and do the homework first.