Experienced sailors don’t wait for rough seas to think about how they’ll respond. They prepare in calm conditions, knowing storms are inevitable. Investors face the same reality. Market volatility is not a possibility, it’s a certainty, and preparation determines whether you stay the course or abandon ship at the worst moment.

Investors will almost certainly face periods of market stress. Over history, global equities have experienced regular downturns, including sharp falls driven by recessions, financial crises, political uncertainty, and global shocks.

What’s easy to forget in the middle of a downturn is that a bad spell doesn’t necessarily lead to a bad year, or a bad long-term outcome. Even after significant mid-year declines, markets have often recovered to finish the year higher or gone on to deliver strong returns in subsequent years. This reinforces a crucial lesson: reacting emotionally to market falls can be more damaging than the falls themselves.

We can’t control the weather at sea, just as we can’t control market movements. What we can control is how we respond to them. Avoiding panic, sticking to a well-considered plan, and remaining invested through market storms are often the most reliable ways to protect long-term outcomes.