Signal vs. Noise: How to Invest in the Age of Information Overload?

Steve Jobs didn’t run surveys asking what people wanted. He just showed them. Elon Musk doesn't tolerate boredom—he literally walks away mid-conversation if you waste his time. There's a reason these people win big: they ruthlessly cut through the noise.

Today, we're swimming in information overload—social media, daily news, TV pundits, market gurus, crypto influencers, and even "expert" economists. Most of this is pure distraction. Noise, noise, and more noise.

The reality is that...

Even Nobel Prize-winning economists and respected Wall Street analysts can be spectacularly wrong.

Remember when Paul Krugman said Bitcoin was useless and predicted the internet wouldn't amount to much? Or when top analysts confidently picked stocks that ended up underperforming the market? If you'd just flipped a coin instead of following their advice, you'd have made more money!

Why does this happen? Because most experts have no skin in the game. If they're wrong, you pay—not them. That's noise.

?? So what's the fix?

1. Extend your time frame—Stop obsessing over daily price fluctuations or news drama. Zoom out, think months, years, decades. Long-term thinking filters noise.
2. Ignore daily market chatter—Forget short-term trading and price-checking. Invest in quality assets, hold long-term. Your future self will thank you.
3. Read more books—Books distill wisdom, filtering out short-term noise. One good book can replace hundreds of hours of social media scrolling. Last year alone, I read 37 books.
4. Be skeptical of “experts”—Economists and analysts are frequently wrong. Don’t blindly follow them; think critically.
5. Diversify your investments—When you're diversified, daily volatility becomes background noise, not panic-inducing chaos.
6. Stay disciplined, patient, and calm—Markets reward patience. Casinos win because they think long-term. Be the casino, not the gambler.

In short: Life is full of noise. Winners ruthlessly tune it out to focus on what matters—signal.

Investing, life decisions, personal growth—it's all about sorting the signal from the noise. If you want clarity, happiness, and real wealth, master this skill.

?? Remember:

• Winners ignore noise; losers get distracted.
• Winners focus on the signal; losers chase headlines.

Want to win? Focus relentlessly on signal over noise. Period.

This article is an excerpt from my article on Medium Signal vs. Noise: How to Invest in the Age of Information Overload?