funny, that's exactly one of the main things the bear market tought me... pacience ... although I previously knew it, I've never had to exercise it so rigidly...
one other thing is to take your emotions out the equation... this is mostly not easy... but it is necessary to succed... the feeling, or belief on a project can doom you as much as greed can...
a friend of mine told me: bear markets are for builders.... this is meant mostly for people that are working on projects, but I think it is more universal than that... it is ideal time to build portfolio, increase your stregnths, etc...