Allison, thanks for the discussion. Interistingly enough I've gone the other way. I've only done index fund investing until last year. Index funds are great, and if you are disciplined, you will be essentially guaranteed to do well.

In case you are interested, I wrote an article about index investing and how to avoid some of the pitfalls: https://themakingofamillionaire.com/the-secret-to-building-wealth-with-index-funds-1d1399a0839c

Good luck!