How do you benchmark yourself as an investor, and when does it actually mean something?

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to properly measure whether I’m any good at this, beyond just looking at my portfolio balance going up or down.

For context, over the last 5 years I’ve averaged 31.5% per year, holding around 20 stocks at any given time, split across two countries. I usually only have one “Magnificent 7” name at most, the rest is mostly mid- and small-caps. My average holding period is about 8 months, but I do adjust position sizes for risk management and take the occasional swing trade when it makes sense. My lowest low was -30% during 6 months. My framework is a mix of macro themes, cultural trends, and retail sentiment.

Now, obviously those returns sound good on paper. But I also know survivorship bias, bull-market tailwinds, luck, volatility exposure, and concentrated bets can distort the picture.

So I’m curious how you all think about benchmarking yourselves:

- Do you compare everything to the S&P 500 or another major index? (I tend to compare myself vs Nasdaq US)

- If you invest internationally, do you use blended benchmarks?

- Do you adjust for risk, volatility, drawdowns, or turnover?

- Is there a point where comparing to broad indices stops making sense if your style is very different?

- And what time horizon is actually meaningful; 3 years? 5? 10?

Basically: how do you know if you genuinely have skill, or if you’re just surfing a wave?

I’d be really interested to hear how others approach this, especially those who don’t just buy index funds but also aren’t full-time traders.