HODL works when you apply the different strategies of doing so. Nothing comes with ease but there has to be some movement done so that you can actually earn something from it. Over the time there comes lot of ups and down movement and you must take the opportunity to buy at right time and sell at right time and then keep hodling those coins. You are doing the right thing of holding if you do it this way. Remember when some one says the hodling then dont just HODL, better work for it, try to grow the coins value by compounding etc.