Re-balancing prevents you from getting it backwards i.e., holding a risky portfolio after years of good markets, or vise versa, a low risk portfolio after markets have been poor. Find excitement in another part of your life. Try to avoid overconfidence. One of my colleagues, John Norman, has spent a lot of time studying the behavioural side of investing. He tells me that one of the most common mistakes investors make is becoming too confident about their abilities.
Selective memory is part of human nature.
We take credit for the good decisions and remember them. The bad ones are often explained away and quickly forgotten. Try keeping track of your predictions and decisions over an extended period of time. It will help you get in touch with reality. If you understand how difficult it is to time the market, for instance, you ll be more inclined to pick an alternative strategy that has a better chance of succeeding.