Every choice in the financial market comes with an opportunity cost. When you decide to invest randomly, without a clear strategy, you are passing up the chance to use that same capital in something more planned and potentially profitable. Each time you opt to follow an unknown or untested setup, perhaps suggested by an acquaintance or an unreliable source, you are giving up a more consistent and predictable gain that could be achieved with a proven strategy. This behavior has an opportunity cost that, in the short term, may seem small. It might be a loss of 1% or 2% per year. However, the impact of these “small” mistakes over time is significant. The financial market rewards consistency and patience, and the difference between following a well-thought-out strategy and making impulsive decisions can be colossal. A study from J.P. Morgan showed how these seemingly harmless small choices can greatly harm long-term returns. Over a 20-year period, an average investor who started with $1 million would have only made $172,000 in profit, a result far below what could be achieved with simpler and more disciplined approaches. More efficient strategies could have multiplied that amount, yielding returns of 4.08x, 7.67x, and even 10.8x more than what that average investor achieved. This illustrates the enormous difference that well-structured planning can make over the years. Time, combined with an effective strategy, can turn small gains into extraordinary returns. Therefore, every decision in the market needs to be carefully considered, because the cost of missed opportunities can be greater than one might think.