18 Innings, 1 Lesson

If you’re a Jays or Dodgers fan, you’re still recovering from that game. The one that went 18 innings. Lasted nearly 7 hours. Ended at 3:12 a.m. And felt like the emotional equivalent of being hit by a fastball to the gut.

It was just one game… but it didn’t feel like it.

That’s recency bias for you. Our brains naturally overweight what just happened, whether it's a crushing loss in extra innings or a sudden market dip in your portfolio. The emotion of the moment screams, “This is everything!”—even when it’s just one data point in a much bigger season (or financial plan).

Funny thing though: the very next night, the same team pulled off a gritty win. Just like that, the sky didn’t fall.

Fans Have Short Memories. That’s a Good Thing.

Baseball players are taught to have short memories. Strike out? Move on. Blow a save? Get ready for the next outing. The greats stay grounded, knowing one moment doesn’t define the whole season.

Investors? We’re not always so composed.

We chase hot stocks because they did well last month. We panic sell after a bad headline. We assume a single loss means the whole plan is broken. That’s recency bias running the show.

But here’s the truth: losses are part of the game. The key is sticking with your strategy, not rewriting the playbook after every setback.

Root for Your Team. Stick with Your Plan.

If you can stay up ‘til 3 a.m. on a work night, eat concession-stand nachos as a food group, and still believe next year is the year—then you have the emotional stamina to invest for the long term.

The real victory is not reacting to every inning like it's the World Series. Build a plan. Stick with it. Adjust when needed—but never make changes based on a single bad bounce.

Because in both baseball and investing, the season is long… and the smart players keep swinging.

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
— Winston Churchill