When I first started investing, I was overwhelmed. There were so many terms, charts, ratios, and opinions flying around that I didn’t know where to begin. Everyone seemed to have a system, a “proven” method, or a hot stock tip. After burning some cash on emotional trades and blindly following Reddit threads, I realized something crucial: I needed a stock strategy I could stick with—something practical, repeatable, and most importantly, tailored to me.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how I built a personal stock strategy from scratch, how it’s helped me navigate the chaos of the market, and how you can create one that suits your own goals. This isn’t about beating the market with some secret formula. It’s about creating a system you trust—one that keeps you grounded when the market isn’t.

What Is a Stock Strategy, Really?

Before I dive into how I created mine, it’s worth clarifying what a stock strategy actually is. In simple terms, a stock strategy is a set of rules or guidelines that help you decide:

1. What to invest in

2. When to buy

3. When to sell

4. How much to invest

It sounds basic, but most people skip this part entirely. They invest reactively—buying based on hype, selling out of fear, and hoping for the best. That’s not investing; that’s gambling. A good stock strategy takes emotion out of the equation. It acts like a compass when markets are turbulent.

Step 1: Define Your Goals (And Be Honest)

The first thing I did was ask myself: Why am I investing in the first place?

1. Am I trying to build long-term wealth?

2. Save for a house?

3. Retire early?

4. Beat inflation?

My answer was simple: I wanted to build long-term wealth while keeping things low stress. I wasn’t trying to day trade or double my money in six months. That helped shape everything that followed.

Your goals define your risk tolerance, time horizon, and how active you need to be with your investments. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but without knowing your destination, it’s hard to build a map.

Step 2: Pick a Strategy Type That Fits Your Style

There are a lot of different approaches to investing. I spent a few weeks exploring the most common ones:

1. Value investing: Buying undervalued stocks based on fundamentals

2. Growth investing: Focusing on companies with high revenue/earnings growth

3. Dividend investing: Targeting stocks that pay regular dividends

4. Index investing: Passive investing through ETFs or mutual funds

5. Momentum trading: Buying stocks trending upward

After some reflection, I realized I preferred a combination of value and dividend investing, with some exposure to index funds for diversification. I wanted to hold solid companies with good fundamentals—businesses that pay me to hold them and have a margin of safety built in.

This became the backbone of my stock strategy.

Step 3: Create a Watchlist and Set Criteria

Once I had a direction, I needed rules to screen stocks. Here's what I came up with for my watchlist:

For Individual Stocks:

1. Market cap over $10B (more stable companies)

2. P/E ratio under 20 (but not too low—context matters)

3. Dividend yield over 2.5% (sustainable, not sky-high)

4. Consistent earnings growth (5+ years)

5. Low debt-to-equity ratio

For Index ETFs:

1. Low expense ratio (under 0.10%)

2. Broad market exposure (like S&P 500 or Total Market)

3. Strong long-term performance

I used tools like Finviz, Seeking Alpha, and Morningstar to research and build my list. This gave me a pool of stocks I could consistently monitor without chasing every new headline.

Step 4: Build a Buying and Selling Framework

One of the biggest game-changers in my strategy was building a system to decide when to buy and sell.

When I Buy:

1. A stock on my watchlist dips 10–15% for non-fundamental reasons (market panic, earnings miss, etc.)

2. Strong fundamentals remain intact

3. I have cash allocated and it fits my portfolio balance

When I Sell:

1. Company fundamentals deteriorate significantly (e.g., debt spikes, dividend cut, management shakeup)

2. Stock becomes significantly overvalued (e.g., P/E doubles in short time)

3. I need to rebalance due to overexposure in a sector

This framework keeps me from panic-selling or FOMO-buying. It’s not perfect, but it gives me structure.

Step 5: Stay Consistent and Review Quarterly

The hardest part? Sticking with it.

Markets go through cycles. There were times I doubted everything—like during 2022 when tech stocks tanked, and it felt like nothing was safe. But having a strategy helped me stay the course. I knew my investments had a purpose. I wasn’t just reacting to every news alert.

I review my portfolio quarterly and ask:

1. Are my holdings still aligned with my goals?

2. Has anything fundamentally changed?

3. Do I need to rebalance?

This ongoing check-in keeps my strategy relevant and tuned to reality.

Mistakes I Made (So You Don’t Have To)

I didn’t get it right on the first try. Here are a few early mistakes I made:

1. Over-diversifying: At one point, I held 30+ individual stocks. I couldn’t track them all, and my portfolio was a mess. Now I focus on fewer, higher-quality holdings.

2. Ignoring fees: Some funds I bought had hidden expense ratios or transaction fees that ate into returns. Always check the fine print.

3. Chasing hype: I once bought a trendy EV stock after it doubled, thinking I was missing out. It crashed. Lesson learned: Stick to your strategy.

Why a Stock Strategy Matters More Than You Think

There’s a certain peace of mind that comes from having a clear plan. When you build a stock strategy that aligns with your personality, risk tolerance, and goals, you stop treating investing like a roulette table.

You become more intentional. More disciplined. And over time, those qualities compound—just like your returns.

Final Thoughts

I’m not a financial advisor, and I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But I can tell you this: the moment I stopped chasing the market and started building my own stock strategy, everything changed.

You don’t need to be a Wall Street pro to succeed. You just need a game plan, the patience to follow it, and the discipline to adjust it as life changes.