Smart people will always sell when the market rises, and then buy when the market declines, so I very much agree with OP's point of view, 2018 is definitely not a year to make money, but maybe it is a year suitable for investment, if 2019 Years of the market have a turn, then we will get a good return.
You do not necessarily need to become smart but at least you need to recognize the issues that come with investing, some people think that just because they invested in this market they deserve to get profits, but your timing is really important in this market and if you get your timing wrong you can lose all your money in a matter of months but if your timing is right you could become rich.