Although you won’t hear it mentioned in the same context as “risk” or “diversify,” good old “patience” is a major factor in investing—one that generally works in your favor.

Take a guy who invested $1,000 in a stock on Monday. It dropped 5 points by Wednesday. He sold it and took a loss on Thursday. On Friday it went up 7 points. Suffice to say, a week isn’t a great deal of time when it comes to investing.

It has been proven repeatedly that just as retail prices go up over time, so does the stock market. Patience is not easily found on Wall Street, but it is a valuable asset if you can find it. Being patient and letting time take its course is part of wise investment planning. Just as retirement funds succeed and grow over time, so will other investments. Playing the market on the short-term basis may work for shrewd investors who follow the details of the market and the financial updates very closely, but for others it’s essentially gambling. World events over the course of a few days can send the market soaring or dropping and your investment along with it.

Time is one of the best allies of most investors. Bond holders, because there is a set maturity date, are more often aware of the idea of a “time frame.” Unless a high-grade bond holder is looking to sell, he or she, because of the nature of a bond, should be comfortable with the element of time. The principal will be returned in time and that is comforting. There is no such comfort (no time table) when you own a stock or stock fund. Therefore, you need to make your own. Shrewd investors who work hard at following the market (stocks or bonds) and have a more calculated idea of when to buy and sell can play the investing game on a short-term basis. It is riskier, and one needs to stay very much on top of the business world to be successful. You need to look ahead at what is forthcoming in an industry, in a company, or in the market as a whole. Chasing after last year’s hot stock or mutual fund generally does not work because the path of investing is to move forward and think ahead.

While looking toward the future, you need to understand that the road to your goal will not always be a smooth trip, just as you’ll hit a bump or two while driving or some turbulence when flying. A company, even a solid, long-standing blue-chip company, will have an occasional quarter where their earnings are off. Perhaps they issued a new product that didn’t take off as they had hoped, such as “The New Coca-Cola.” 15 years ago. Some investors will jump ship; others will note the long history of success of a company and resolve that they will bounce right back with something else. Good investors will also see that many industries will have higher and lower periods. Beyond being patient, it’s often to your advantage to pick up more shares of a solid company that you believe in when the stock price drops.

Tips for maintaining your PATIENCE include:

1. Avoid impulsive reactions. The opposite of being patient is being impulsive. You need to give yourself “stop orders” at times to ride out the volatility associated with most investments. Don’t impulsively bail out. You also should stop yourself from buying impulsively without checking up on the stock first.
2. Stick to your goals. If you have set up goals for yourself, to have X amount of money in X number of years, remind yourself that these goals will not be reachable without patience.
3. Smile at advice. Everyone under the sun will always have a new and better way to spend or invest YOUR money. If you follow everyone’s advice you’ll be moving your money all over the place and never reach your goals. You can add new investments, but be patient with the ones you have (unless you know the company you’re invested in is going out of business). Take advice with a grain of salt, smile, and listen to most well-intentioned friends, neighbors, relatives, and so on. Even the myriad of “experts” out there will have new-and-improved ways for you to invest. There’s nothing wrong with investigating some advice that sounds feasible to your goals and needs, and even making some adjustments as you go along (in fact, managing your asset allocation can be important), but you should maintain and be patient with the core of investments in your portfolio. Don’t be easily swayed.