When Doing Nothing Is The Best Fix

There’s a moment we all know very well:

• The shrimp tank looks slightly “off”.

• The portfolio drops a little.

• Life feels messy and uncomfortable.

And the brain whispers: “Do something. Change something. Fix it now.”

Sometimes that’s wise.
But very often – especially with aquariums, money, and even our inner life – doing nothing (for now) is the best fix.

This isn’t laziness. It’s choosing to pause so we don’t make things worse.

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The Urge To Fiddle With Everything

Modern life trains us to react quickly:

• Red numbers in an app? Adjust the settings.

• A bit of algae in the tank? Change the light, scrub everything, add chemicals.

• A few red days in the stock market? Sell, switch strategy, find a “better” product.

The problem:
Most systems we care about – aquariums, investments, habits, relationships – are slow systems. They respond over days, weeks, months. When we poke them every few hours, we only see more noise.

So we end up:

• Over-cleaning tanks and stressing animals.

• Over-trading and paying fees or locking in losses.

• Over-thinking conversations and burning out mentally.

There’s a different option: wait and watch.

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Aquarium Example: The “Ugly Phase” and Overreactions

A planted tank almost always goes through an “ugly phase”:

• Algae appears on glass and leaves.

• Plants melt a bit before regrowing.

• The water looks cloudy after a big change or new substrate.

The natural reaction is to do everything at once:

• Double the water change frequency.

• Change light duration suddenly.

• Swap fertilizers, add more, then less.

• Add algae killers or too many cleaners.

From the tank’s point of view, this is chaos. The animals and plants are trying to adjust to one set of conditions, and we keep shifting the ground under their feet.

Often, what the tank really needs is:

• Time for beneficial bacteria and biofilm to grow.

• Consistency in light, feeding, and water changes.

• Small, single adjustments that we can actually observe.

Doing nothing here means:

• Not chasing every speck of algae with a new product.

• Not changing all the parameters (GH, KH and TDS) in one weekend.

• Letting the tank settle after a change and watching what actually happens.

If your pH keeps bouncing, it helps to focus on keeping your KH steady instead of chasing perfect numbers.

Of course, “do nothing” doesn’t apply to emergencies (gasping fish, ammonia spikes, clear signs of disease). For those, we act quickly.

But for mild algae, slightly cloudy water, or one plant not happy?
It can be kinder to the tank – and to ourselves – to hold steady.

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Money Example: When Not To Touch Your Portfolio

Money triggers the same urge to fiddle.

You open your investment app and see:

• Market down a few percent.

• A fund underperforming this month.

• Social media shouting about a new “better” strategy.

The instinct is to:

• Sell the “loser” and buy the “winner”.

• Pause contributions “until things feel stable again”.

• Switch strategies completely after a bad week or month.

But most long-term investing is based on:

• Time in the market, not perfect timing.

• Simple, boring rules like regular contributions and diversification.

• Accepting that short-term ups and downs are normal, not personal failures.

If you’re still figuring out where investing fits into your money life, a simple map before you pick anything can really help.

Doing nothing with your portfolio can look like:

• Keeping your regular DCA (dollar-cost averaging) schedule even on red days.

• Waiting a few months before judging a new fund or strategy.

• Ignoring daily noise and only reviewing properly once a quarter.

Again, there are times for action:
If you discover a truly unsuitable product, a dangerous level of debt, or a mismatch with your real risk tolerance, then a planned change makes sense.

But for the normal wobbles of the market, the best move is often to touch nothing.

(You can link here to your simple investing / DCA article: [link internally to basic DCA guide].)

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Life Example: Resisting the “Total Reset”

The same pattern appears in our inner life.

We have a stressful week and think:

• “I’ll redesign my entire routine.”

• “I need a brand new system and new apps.”

• “From tomorrow: 5am wake up, strict budget, perfect diet.”

Very often, this big rush of energy comes from discomfort. We want to escape the feeling quickly. But full “resets” are hard to sustain and can leave us feeling worse when we inevitably slip.

It can feel like everyone else is moving faster, but you’re allowed to grow at your own pace.

Doing nothing (for now) in life might look like:

• Not changing your whole schedule, just going to bed 20 minutes earlier.

• Not rebuilding your entire budget, just tracking expenses quietly for one month.

• Not starting five new habits, just taking a 5-minute walk after dinner.

If you want gentle structure, a simple zero-based budget can give every expense a home without a full reset.

In other words: hold the structure steady, tweak one tiny thing.

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How I Decide: Wait and Watch vs Take Action

“Doing nothing” doesn’t mean ignoring problems.
It means being selective about when to act.

Here’s a simple way to decide.

1. Is this an emergency?

• Aquarium: animals gasping at the surface, clear ammonia or nitrite spike, severe disease signs.

• Money: you cannot pay for essentials, high-interest debt spiralling, fraud or scams.

• Life: you feel unsafe, or your mental health may be at serious risk.

If yes → Take action now. Get help, change something, reach out.

If no → go to the next questions.

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2. Is this a pattern, or just a noisy moment?

Ask:

• “Has this been happening for weeks, or just today?”

• “Is this one bad day, or a steady trend?”

If it’s just a single event:

• One slightly cloudy day in the tank.

• One red week in the market.

• One unproductive or emotional day.

Then it might be better to wait and watch. Note it down, but don’t react yet.

If it’s a repeated pattern:

• Shrimp deaths every few days.

• Overspending every month in the same category.

• Constant exhaustion or irritability.

Then it probably needs some action – but still not a wild overhaul. A small, targeted change is enough to start.

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3. Do I truly understand the cause?

If you’re not sure why something is happening, big actions can be dangerous.

Before changing:

• Tank: test water, observe behaviour, review feeding, light schedule, cleaning routine.

• Money: look at actual numbers, not feelings. What does your inflow/outflow really look like?

• Life: ask what else might be affecting you – sleep, stress, illness, environment.

If the cause is still unclear, doing nothing (beyond monitoring) can be wiser until you have more information.

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A Small Checklist: Before You Change Anything

Here’s a gentle checklist you can use in tanks, money, and life.

You can even print or rewrite it in your planner.

Before I change anything:

1. Is this an emergency?

   • If yes, act.

   • If no, continue.

2. Is this new, or has it been happening for a while?

   • New: write it down, watch for a few days.

   • Ongoing: choose one small area to adjust.

3. Do I know what’s actually happening?

   • Have I tested, checked, or looked at real numbers?

   • Or am I only reacting to a feeling?

4. Can I try a tiny experiment instead of a big change?

   • Tank: adjust light by 1 hour, or feeding slightly, and observe.

   • Money: shift 5–10% of spending, not the whole budget.

   • Life: add one small habit, not a full new routine.

5. When will I review this?

   • Set a simple review time: “I’ll check again in 1 week / 1 month.”

If you can’t answer these questions clearly, doing nothing for a short time – just observing – is often the kindest step.

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The Quiet Power Of Letting Things Settle

In cooking, we let soup simmer and flavours blend.
In aquariums, we let bacteria grow and water stabilise.
In money, we let compounding do its slow, quiet work.

We don’t pull the soup off the stove every 30 seconds to taste and rewrite the recipe. We trust the process.

“Doing nothing” in this sense is an active choice:

• You are watching.

• You are collecting information.

• You are giving systems time to respond to past actions before adding new ones.

And often, after a few days or weeks of this kind of “nothing”, you’ll notice:

• The algae slows down as the tank settles.

• Your investments recover or the pattern becomes clearer.

• Your feelings shift a little simply because you stopped poking the wound.

It’s a reminder that slow progress is still progress, even when it doesn’t look dramatic.

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A Gentle Takeaway

The next time you feel the urge to fix everything:

• Take one slow breath.

• Ask: “Is this truly urgent?”

• If not, give yourself permission to wait and watch.

You can still act later – and your actions will probably be calmer, smaller, and more effective.

If you like, you can pair this with a simple journaling page:

• One line for “What feels uncomfortable today?”

• One line for “What I’ll not change yet.”

• One line for “When I’ll review this.”

Sometimes, the most powerful decision for our tanks, our money, and our mind is very simple:

“For now, I’ll leave it alone.”