Whenever the Pittsburgh Steelers went though a difficult period, former head coach Chuck Noll's response was always the same: "We are going back to the basics."

That meant blocking, tackling and the playbook staples. Mr. Noll's four Super Bowl rings attest to the wisdom of his strategy.

In this time of stock market volatility, investors would be wise to heed his sage advice.

Football clichés are interesting. But exactly how does an investor get back to the basics?

First and most importantly, consider asset allocation -- how much you have invested in stocks vs. bonds. Remember that the smartest and largest institutional portfolios consistently invest about two-thirds in stocks and one-third in bonds. Keep this in mind, along with your time horizons and risk tolerance.

Having the discipline to stick with your decisions will have a larger impact on your investing success than anything else.

Don't chase performance; buying investments after they've had a portion of their run -- or selling too early or too late -- leads to disastrous results. Financial TV programs may offer a lot of information, but remember that their goal is to entertain you, not educate you. Warren Buffett doesn't watch TV looking for the hot tip of the day and neither should you.

If you are invested properly, you should be comfortable looking at your brokerage account statement only once a year.

Second is proper diversification among all desirable areas of the market.

Over time, the stock market has outperformed CDs and bonds by a 2-to-1 margin, so a lifetime exposure to equities is a must. But which asset classes?

Keep a long-term modest tilt toward value and small-cap stocks. In terms of your portfolio, invest about two-thirds in U.S. equities, with the remainder in international stocks. Don't forget about real estate and commodities.

Outside of equities, make sure to invest in investment-grade bonds, avoiding the lower grade offerings. Place your bonds on a five-year "ladder," which smooths out interest rate fluctuations.

After you diversify your portfolio, the last major decision is whether to invest actively or to use index funds.

Strongly consider the latter to the highest extent possible in your portfolio.

By investing actively, even if you generally show restraint, you're going to be trying to time the market to some extent. There's no way anyone (even professionals) can do it consistently for any length of time. And if professionals can't do it, there's no way the average investor, who might read a couple of magazines and watch CNBC, is going to do it.

Although it's nice to brag to a neighbor about how you made a killing on a particular stock, it's important to note that you're playing with your financial future.

Investing is not a game, nor a source of entertainment. Aesop had it right: Slow but steady wins the race.

Indexing involves investing in mutual funds where the goal is to approximate the performance of a certain financial index -- such as the S&P 500; there are dozens of indexes available from a number of mutual fund companies including low-cost provider Vanguard.

By its very nature, indexing offers portfolio diversity, a degree of safety and removes emotion from investing.

Removing emotion from the investment process is a necessity for success, and if an investor can't overcome this hurdle, he or she needs to seek the advice of a seasoned professional.

Investor emotions run the highest regarding their aversion to losses, and it's the associated knee-jerk decision to sell that, more than anything, creates the largest reason for poor performance.

Be confident and relax with a prudent, successful time-tested strategy for success and leave the games for someone else. You'll be happier -- and wealthier -- in the long run.