You have already lost the game

Yesterday, I put a little more fiat into Bitcoin to spread my holding percentages, and hopefully be able to gain from a double run up by converting BTC to alts before they start their run.

Will alts ever run up again?

 

 
I think so, but the next time there is going to be a lot more institutional money in the mix and that means there will be people making decisions that have a fair bit of history of making good decisions - for them. Also, it means that there is experience coming in that remembers getting burned during the dotcom bubble of the late 90s where investments poured into a technological sector in its infancy with very little track record.

Will they make the same mistakes of backing ideas over something a little more solid? Many probably. However the investment firms themselves are likely to play it more conservatively, even though there will be very little that could be traditionally conservative over what is going to happen in the crypto-industry, as every man and his bank looks to cash in on the feeding frenzy it is going to generate.

For me, I am looking for my own unicorn to ride and while I got into this game in a terrible financial position to pay a few bills, I quickly realized there is a great deal more on offer than what I first saw. While so many people are worried about their Steem investments, I am not too concerned, but I admit that if not careful, the emotional triggers are not far away in a long bear and with a great deal of time in to the process.

Don't react so emotionally.

 
While no one likes to face loss, perhaps the worst condition is facing potential loss as while loss can be accepted and the healing begun, the idea of what could be lost keeps growing in the imagination infinitely. With loss being a greater motivator than gain, it is likely this build up of fear of loss that keeps so many people out of the markets, much more conservative than they actually need to be or, second guessing the potential.

But as everyone has heard time and time again, do not invest money that you can't afford to lose, and I add: completely and utterly. For me, what this has meant is that every dollar I have put into my investment profile I have considered it already lost and - no longer mine. Instead what I now own is what I have invested into. This disconnection from the monetary value of my holdings has mostly severed my emotional connection to it as they are not funds considered for use and since I look long, there is no reason for me to worry about the value of my holdings today.

The price only matters when buying or selling.

 
Steem for me is a good example of this as while the price of Steem has fallen, the ability to increase Steem holdings has actually risen as there is less competition on the pool and a fiat purchase buys more than it did before. I call this a game because that is how I see it, no matter the potential for global change at the most important and fundamental levels.

Some people spend their time in front of a screen gaming in unreal worlds, some spend their disposable income on their favourite hobby, a new lens, a comic book, a toy train or hookers and blow - mine goes to Steem, to crypto and into what helps me build my understanding and capabilities.

This is play, interest area, therapy, work and investment rolled into one.

 
This is an important factor for me personally as normally it is very difficult to not only get paid for what one loves to do, but also have that thing build an ownership model for investment and security through a process that makes one better in so many other ways. If what you do here doesn't feel like it makes you better, why are you here?

I think this is a question to be considered because the answer should clearly indicate the motivations behind participation and, if there is not a deeper answer than "money", it is likely going to be a rough ride. Well, at the very least it is going to feel much more like a job and much less like something one would choose to do if given the opportunity not to.

Not everyone understands the attraction that I have to Steem, but it is no different to me not understanding why some people like to collect barbie dolls as adults and spend all their spare time researching, sourcing and caring about all things Barbie. I don't need to understand and while I might think it a waste of time and money, it is their time and money to waste.

However, I do not think any amount of Barbie-based knowledge is going to significantly change the world for the better, while I do think that blockchain, crypto and Steem could just do that. OR at the very least, change the game.

It is a funny thing about the world, as while just about everyone on earth wants change, when there is the potential for it they spend most of the time resisting it in favor of the status quo. The world has been improving in many ways throughout history to this point and nearly all the things that have generated improvement, were shunned and rejected by the masses early on.

Par for the course.

 
It is obvious why of course because change brings in uncertainty and until there is a known, just like the fear of potential loss, that uncertainty can keep growing in the mind infinitely large and the poor current conditions seem okay in comparison to the future horrors the imagination manifests.

There is a reason that most people in this world do not own next to nothing and that is for most people, there is so much value and identification with the material goods held today, that they will not risk them for tomorrow.

One of the reason that the investors of this world do so well is that there is very little competition in the marketplace of investment as 90% of the world are effectively locked out due to inability or unwillingness - but they still take part in the profit building model as consumers who buy into the products and services the investors hold.

The beast isn't the market.

 
The beast is us, our habits, our programming and our fears that hold us back from investing ourselves into the things we care about. You might say that you do not care that much for Steem, yet you do care about what it could potentially offer you - otherwise you wouldn't be here. Even people who don't like to eat well or go to the gym can do so because of the reward from the activity and there are many such people acting on Steem in a similar way. If they could retire having got all they need from it, they would.

Again, this is the employee mentality at work, not the entrepreneur who loves doing what they do, because when one loves what they do - there is no retirement because the reward never ends. People think that an old billionaire keeps working because they are greedy for money and power - yet do not consider that they just love doing what they do. Playing the game is their hobby.

An artist never need retire from their craft.

 
To have craft one has to tame the beast inside enough to be able to unleash it at will. And when it comes to making investments, the greatest is into the understanding and control of self, because from there, all other actions can be directed. When you believe you have already lost everything you have invested, there is nothing left to fear. Rock-bottom is the most empowering place to be as from there;

It is all upside and there is nothing at risk.

 
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]