Feels Like Crypto Déjà Vu. 5 Personal Crypto Life Lessons So You Don't Miss YOUR Golden Investment Opportunities

Let's start with the obvious and zoom out to see that most coins are 90-98% from all-time highs, including Steem.

Remember seeing Steem whales' wallets and thinking about how they were so lucky to get in early and must be loaded now? Well I do... and it wasn't fun.

So what are the next logical thoughts?

• "Damn, my investment is worth almost nothing!"

• "DISCOUNT, EXCELLENT! Load up carefully just in case there's another boom."

I bet most of you have been around long to know what this feelings like: "I wish I bought even a little at the bottom of that chart when I had the chance."

"Or, even a few small or moderate investments would've turned into a ton if I didn't sit on my hands."

Well, I certainly know those thoughts well, and that's why I'm going to share some of my mistakes over the years that have taught me valuable lessons.

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Back to déjà vu:

Here we are again today, a cryptosphere potentially turning back uphill. In late 2017, it was unthinkable to some that we'd ever see these prices again, let alone have them sitting ripe for the taking for months now. But, they have been chillin' at rock bottom, and prices have slowly starting creeping up a notch. No FOMO. Just reality.

As ATH's are still miles away, it's not too late to get in or back in, although recent price spikes are NOT going to guarantee that they continue upward.

With this in mind, if you had goals to get long-term positions or tack on, now is not a terrible time to do so. If uptrends continue and buzz grows, then the cost of achieving your goals will rise, or you may panic to NOT buy anything, or simply get priced out. Then, you'll be pissed... trust me. Prices haven't moved too much, so there's no need to consider this a FOMO investment. It's just getting skin in the game just in case...

If you take anything away from this, it's that prices are completely unpredictable and it's not worth the stress of trying to guess, predict, project, or time things. Just invest responsibly and let it breathe.

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With this preface, I humbly ask two more reflective sets of questions:

Will YOU be able to live with YOURSELF for potentially snoozing on a fair enough buying opportunity IF prices soar again? That you were SO CLOSE to massive wealth far exceeding the risks/opportunity cost, yet SO FAR? Watching the faithfuls celebrate and blog about it relentlessly IF their vision plays out? (The key word is IF.)

Will you think the writing was all over the wall IF prices go back to all-time highs, correct, and go beyond? Or will you think it was a pipe dream that wasn't worth the gamble and be completely at peace with it?

For me, I sleep easily at night knowing that I'm as invested as I can possibly be, and adding on when I responsibly can. I have no fear of prices going to $0. NONE. The upside is so staggeringly exciting and worth the risk that the risk of the downside is irrelevant. If prices disappear, I'll be able to pat myself on the back for giving it my all, pursuing a dream of financial freedom, and get back to making my own money with my low-cost home business.

FYI - all of my Steem was earned. I just earn here for fun and as a passion. I'm talking about my offline stuff.

If you're still on board here, I wanted to share 5 personal experiences I had that cost me dearly, but also helped shape me to be stronger and wiser. While some may be sick to their stomachs if they let life-changing money escape them time and time again, I'm at peace with them all. It took time, and I'm better prepared now. I simply want to share these so YOU can learn from them in advance. Trust me, they all hurt in their own ways, even if they don't read like it.

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5 Crypto Life Lessons, Let's Begin!

I distinctly remember my former friend hanging up the phone on me when I asked him how to buy Bitcoin many years ago. He was working with BTC then and I thought he'd help walk me through how to buy some. I was wrong, he inexplicably refused, and I decided to forget about it in spite. This was when I had plenty of capital and wanted to plant seeds in about a dozen ALT coins. What a tragic mistake of epic proportions. Life would be so different if he was actually a friend then to help for 5 minutes, or gave me a starting point. Instead, I let that bad experience and frustration deter me from my original intention. Bad Matt, bad.

^-- Crypto Life Lesson #1:

Don't let other people distract you from your vision or decisions. Ignore pumpers and dumpers. Ignore the noise. Do what you feel is right for you and follow through. Overcoming such obstacles will make victory even sweeter.

I clearly remember not knowing how to buy Ripple when it was hovering at HALF a penny, and I had tons of play money to gamble with. All I knew was that my residence blocked me for almost all exchanges (I kept getting rejected from), except one I eventually found that had very limited options. While I'm not a fan of the token now, I had a feeling it was going to skyrocket, and that it did. It soared pretty fucking high and all I could do was watch in dismay.

After flipping Ledger Nanos early on for profit, a Craigslist buyer tipped me off to Bittrex not needing KYC, and I was set from then on. Unfortunately, Ripple had already exploded from its fractional cent price, but I came to peace with it, even if it was to the tune of life changing money.

^-- Crypto Life Lesson #2:

If you see a golden opportunity, don't accept defeat if you're initially unable to reach it. Persevere. Innovate. Don't quit. Find the solution or pay the price in opportunity cost.

I hate remembering how it took me almost 2 months to figure out how to get access to an exchange that I was able to buy crypto with USD on. Thankfully, I enjoy remembering that I still got in at great time on ETH (double what I could've paid if I was more aggressive on solving the exchange riddle for my residence), and a pretty good time for BTC.

Overall, I got too cute trying to get the optimal price and it cost me, even with ETH. I distinctly remember being one click away from my first BTC buy order in the three digits, and talking myself out of it to "wait for $25 less" since a lot of chart analysts were convinced it was going to drop more. I was completely new and can only laugh at myself now for how stupid that was. I still got in good, but not nearly as good as I could've. While I've held my core BTC for a long time, I've tacked on here and there at prices that are far more than my initial opportunity, which I can still see in my mind's eye when I close my eyes. Damn it. If I'd just hit the "buy" button, I'd have quite a story to tell.

^-- Crypto Life Lesson #3:

Don't wait for the perfect price or listen to chart analysts. If you're ready to buy, get in the game. Ladder in if you must, but don't snooze because you're waiting for a slight discount or are letting others influence your decisions. This still seems fairly rampant today as more "influencers" have sprouted to bless us with their educated guesses for views.

I started off as a holder, but when significant green turned to significant red, I made a big mistake to violate my long-term goal of holding until the end of the year no matter what. I made ONE massive trading error on an infamous ETH crash day that haunted me for a good year. I was so frazzled from the violent price swings during a crash after nonstop green, and also let my ex-girlfriend's criticism of my dismay get to me. Bad combo. I lost focus and tried to experiment in the dumbest of ways. I sold everything I had during a violent red day to try to get more on the dip. I had my buy order set to WIN, and then panicked when getting to fancy with the decimal places. The price bounced back up faster than I thought was possible, and that warm nervous feeling of "boy did I royally fuck up" took over. Then came my first panic re-buy for an instant huge loss, then another panic sell, then another panic buy. Defeated, I put the shovel down and never did that again.

In a matter of ONE hour, I'd managed to lose about 30% of my ETH when my GOAL was to hold it until the end of the year. In fact, I'm still not even fully back to my original holding, but I'm very close. It took a while... years to get back to the same ballpark. I won't stop until I do, although it'll cost me a lot more than it should have. BUT, I learned a very expensive lesson and have NEVER messed up like that again, when stakes could've been higher.

^-- Crypto Life Lesson #4:

Stick to your long-term investment goal and keep your crypto offline so you can't make emotional mistakes. If you want to trade, stick to a moderate percentage of your holdings. Sounds easy. Trying to have that clarity when your account is free-falling loads of money makes that rationale almost impossible to adhere to.

I've held almost all my crypto for years. I've been through the ups and downs holding strong -- mainly because of the trading disaster above. I hindsight, I should've taken 10-20% profits as that'd have been a big deal, to recover my initial outlay, have cash, and also rebuy during the corrections at an extreme discount. Heck, 10% profit could've doubled my positions towards the bottom. It's a powerful move to take some money out, which takes vision, discipline, and patience. It's worth it though. Riding free crypto is a pretty amazing feeling as well. No risk, all reward. No guilt. I really didn't take advantage of these golden opportunities much, and while I'm still in great shape, I could've been in phenomenal shape.

^-- Crypto Life Lesson #5:

Take profits. Make a plan ahead of time and stick to it. Seriously. Don't let a holding mindset blind you from the reality that it's a really good idea to take profits along the way. It doesn't feel good to know that one sell order could've changed a lot during the ensuing correction, or at least given you some pride that you didn't waste the chance.

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General Lesson:

If you're a crypto believer and aren't happy with your holdings, work hard to get some cash to add to your positions while tokens are still 50-98% from their all-time highs. Even a few hundred bucks in the right place can be a huge game changer for you. IF it work out, you'll feel like a genius. IF not, you'll live knowing that you tried.

Don't quit. Reach a little bit to sell stuff, work more hours, reallocate your budget, etc.. Don't borrow or use credit. Use your liquid capital responsibly. It's completely up to you, but if you know in your heart that crypto will be a successful part of the future economy and moon again, will you be able to live with the regret that you sat on your hands, for potentially a second time?

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These are simply my words and experience for inspiration and entertainment, not qualified financial advice. You make your own decisions!

@steemmatt