How ordinary people can establish their own investment system

In this era of information overload and increasing market volatility, if you still expect to rely on "hearing news" and "following trends" for investment, it will not only be very difficult to make money, but you are also more likely to become a target for others to harvest.

An ordinary person who wants to survive in the capital market and earn stable compound interest actually has no shortcuts. The truly long-term effective way is to establish a set of investment systems that belong to themselves, not just a luck operation of getting the direction right once or twice, but a sustainable capability framework.

The setup of this system is not complicated; it ultimately boils down to three steps:

Expand asset awareness → Find your matching position → Deepen the research on what you invest in.

Step 1: Open the boundaries of asset cognition

When many people talk about investment, they usually think of buying property, trading stocks, or saving in bank wealth management. But have you ever considered that this is just a small corner of the entire asset world?

The real investment market is much richer than you might imagine. In addition to the most common real estate and stocks, you can actually choose from:

Interest rate assets: government bonds, urban investment bonds, money market funds.

Equity assets: stocks, REITs, primary market funds.

Commodity assets: gold, crude oil, bulk commodities.

Cryptocurrency assets: BTC, ETH, stablecoins, on-chain staking certificates, etc.

Derivatives Market: Options, Futures, Structured Products, etc.

Behind every asset lies a systemic variable: economic cycles, interest rate environments, inflation expectations, credit conditions... The broader your understanding of assets, the more dimensional your perspective on the market becomes.

Therefore, the first step in establishing an investment system is not to immediately buy something, but to broaden your horizons and try to complete this "asset map" as much as possible.

Reading books, reviewing reports, chatting with experienced individuals, and even trying small practices yourself are all great ways to quickly enhance your asset awareness. Don't rush to take action; first clarify "what can be bought," and you will be way ahead of most people.

Step 2: Choose the assets that truly suit you.

After knowing what options are available in the market, the next step is not to "choose the most profitable one," but to "choose the one that suits you best."

Many people tend to overlook this aspect, resulting in purchasing high-risk assets while being unable to bear the volatility; or holding low-yield assets while complaining about the returns being too low. The assets suitable for you depend not only on the current macro environment but also on who you are.

Are you a recent university graduate or a middle-aged person with family responsibilities? Is your income stable? Do you have any debts? How much loss can you bear? Do you have any major expenses in the next three years?

For example, more than a decade ago, real estate was suitable for most ordinary people; during the years of the pandemic, bonds had a high cost-performance ratio; now in the high interest rate phase, short-term U.S. Treasury bonds or money market funds can also be considered a way to "win by lying down." But this is not about copying answers; it's about learning to think: where are you positioned, at what stage, and what variables are you facing?

Your cash flow, risk tolerance, and lifestyle determine how you should allocate your assets. Only by getting this step right can you avoid losing sleep over market fluctuations.

Step three: Research thoroughly what you want to invest in.

If the first two steps can prevent you from losing money, then the third step is the key to truly widening the gap in your profits.

Many people buy stocks or cryptocurrencies based on the level of "this is a popular industry" or "many people recommend it." But those who can truly earn excess returns do far more than just this.

They will ask:
Who is the real leader in this industry? Who is the pseudo-leader riding the wave? Can the company's business model work? Is there positive cash flow?

Is the technological content really a threshold, or is it just storytelling? Is the current valuation reasonable, or has it overdrawn expectations for the next 10 years?

In other words, you should research the investment target as you would when buying a house.

It's not about saying "houses in Shenzhen are good," but rather asking: which district, what price range, school district or commercial area, are there any major plans, and what is the supply-demand structure like?

Applying this research habit to any industry, whether it's renewable energy, AI, pharmaceuticals, or consumer goods, Web3, you will find that the information you see is completely different from that of the average person.

This step is the beginning of you truly building a "long-term cognitive advantage." It is also the key leap from "not losing" to "earning steadily."

Investment is not about winning with foresight, especially not through short-term "flashes of inspiration".

What truly creates a gap between people is whether they have their own system:
Do you have a method to transform the complexity of the world into a language that you can understand and operate?

Have you taken the time to understand the underlying logic of different assets? Can you accurately assess where you actually stand? Have you really put in the effort to research what you have invested in?

These three steps seem easy, but very few people actually do them solidly.

You may not be able to predict the future, but as long as you have a repeatable and evolvable system, that is your underlying ability to resist risks and seize opportunities.

When you establish this system, you are no longer a follower of the market, but begin to become an actor with opinions and a framework.