When exactly is enough...enough?
Friday night...
Around 22:40 local time as I am writing these lines.
My favorite time of the day...not because of an upcoming weekend where I can relax and have some rest, quite the opposite actually. I work both on Saturdays and Sundays. Always. It's just that I can enjoy some privacy until my gf comes back from the coffee shop...Everyone needs to spend some time with themselves only from time to time,right? Someone plz confirm that because I feel like a weirdo saying that...
Scrolling down my feed...Lots of Steem related articles. My favorite topic to be honest with you all...but you already knew that didn't you?
I didn't feel like posting tonight...just reading here and there seemed to be just fine...until I came across to this post from a random resteem, so I thought that it would be a good idea to share some thoughts of mine on that piece with you all.
I know that some of you might have already read it. Many of you though haven't. So I suggest you should go and read it. I'll wait until you do...
Who am I kidding...you ain't gonna read it, right?
In that case I should let you know that it's probably one of the best articles, at least from where I stand, that I've read on Steem. Not only because it is well written, nor because it is a real life story, but because the very same character...could have been...you...or me..
Long story short, and just because I am sure that you won't be bothered to read it since it is > 2000 words, I'll give you a short briefing on what that post is all about. He's talking about his journey in Steem and in the crypto world n general...his struggles, the effort he used to put into his writings...the way he got noticed...how he managed to build his account and how due to his pride or better yet his vanity, managed to throw away an almost 2 million $$$ chance in order to improve the quality of his life.
And then all those "ifs" and a new struggle...this time for different reasons...
Human beings always want more. More of everything...more attention, more love, more money, more votes, more houses, more clothes...We just don't know when we should stop...- myself included.-
But that glorious bull run that took place back in the end of 2017 and made some people either multimillionaires or in worst case scenario significantly changed their financial status once and for all, (note that I am talking about those that DID sell at the peak) was a double edged knife. Not many people can soothe the euphoria they feel when day after day prices kept going up exponentially...not many can just stop/sell...control their emotions.
And then the downfall...
But you have a deep belief that things will go better tomorrow...or the day after tomorrow...We were used to see "green" everywhere after all, remember?
And look at us now...
Things will definitely go better in the future...it was a massive correction...a bloodbath...a massacre...you name it, but it was necessary in order to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Steem would have been a circus, but thanks to the crypto winter people made radical changes. Both in terms of progress/development of the platform but also in their attitude.
But I can't help but wonder...how much Steem would you be able to sell during the previous bull run, assuming someone is 100% "vested"?
It roughly lasted 4 weeks...
Which reminds me of why we should all have a portion of our stake in liquid form...
Grabbing some profits from time to time isn't bad, is it? I insist that the time for a full powerdown should be significantly reduced...and by significantly I mean like 10 days max.
Don't tell me that you are here only for the cause...LIAR!
But we all have that weird obsession...reaching that...new "status"
Always a new milestone - SP wise - to reach...
Minnows...dolphins...orcas...whales...
Addiction at it's finest. Speaking of addictions...I powered up another 300 Steem a while ago...
When exactly enough is...enough?
It never ends, right?
Food for thought...Got to go...she's back.
Have a great one people! And go read that post...
Cheers!
This is a timely topic these days. I, like Rok made a lot of Steem in the early days of Steemit and I've had an experience somewhat similar to his. The very first thing I did was pay off all my debt, which was pretty substantial due to the 2008 Housing Crisis here in America. One of my early crypto mentors taught me to cost-average, sell little bits all the way up during a bull market and never try to time the market. That advice proved invaluable.
Thankfully I got that far before disaster struck. That disaster was the Bitgrail exchange hack. When the price of Nano (formerly Raiblocks) spiked in late 2017/early 2018 I was selling it on that exchange. I wanted to sell it before the price dropped but they were limiting how much of my Bitcoin I could withdraw in a 24hr period. Long story short, Bitgrail locked the wallets.
Shortly after that the news of the hack hit the news cycle. When the dust settled I lost the equivalent of nearly a million USD. I come from a lower middle class background so this is more money than anyone in my family had ever dreamed of. I should have known better than to keep that much on an exchange but greed got me, Bitgrail was the only exchange that had any real volume for that particular coin and I didn't want to miss out on the tremendous spike in price. Before I knew it Bitgrail was limiting withdrawal amounts and then locked the wallets...I fell for the bait.
I joined the class action lawsuit but it's being handled by an Italian court (Bitgrail was an Italian company). They've been dragging the case out for over a year now and keep delaying a decision. I have no faith at this point that we'll receive any kind of a refund.
To be clear...Nano is an amazing coin with a promising future, the Nano dev team isn't at fault. Most people think it was the exchange that conducted the hack (or at least covered it up). If I think about it too long it can take me to a dark place so I just try to keep my mind occupied and focus on new opportunities.
Despite all this I'm still a firm believer in cryptocurrency and I'm very grateful for it. Steemit allowed me to write full time for almost two years but I'll be having to find new revenue streams soon. I just think some very drastic measures need to be made to make exchanges and wallets easier to use and more secure before cryptocurrency will ever reach true mass adoption.
Luckily I sold my Nano holdings on time. I didn't much at all but to get hacked wouldn't be a nice feeling. I had my fair share of scams though. Having many alternative revenue streams is essential to feel financially independent.
I'm glad to hear it! I still hold some Nano. I think it has pretty awesome potential in the next 2-3 years. Yeah, the Bitgrail hack was awful what's been equally as bad is how this case has been handled in the courts. There have been plenty of ICO scams as well. I've gotten nailed by a couple of those too. I think any space where you have the potential of getting rich overnight brings the shady folks out of the woodwork.
I'm working on building 4-5 independent revenue streams and will feel much more comfortable after that. I left a fairly decent corporate job exactly two years ago after a 23 year long career so I became used to the (perceived) stability of a regular paycheck. I don't regret that decision one bit though. The company I worked for just recently bought out or down-sized most of their tenured employees.
Publishing collections of your posts as a Kindle and/or paper book on Amazon through KDP would be an obvious source of additional revenue stream, right? I'm doing this with my Pinky and Spiky comics and Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast.
Yes, for sure, I have two books currently published with Amazon and plan on having a collection of short stories, poetry, and a series of children’s books soon. I’m also planning on producing a subscription meditation course as well. Ideas are flowing. 😊
Generating ideas is the easy part. Getting enough eyeballs to support these ideas is another matter. Wishing you well!
Totally true. I’ve been doing this for almost 25 years and keeping your readers engaged enough to want to purchase your work is very challenging. It takes more effort that producing the material. Thanks!
Oh my Eric...so sorry to hear that...
Tbh I would have jumped off the roof or something similar if I were in your position...I totally feel you because I came from a middle class also. At least you are debt free now(?)
I deeply believe that some projects out there have a bright future, Steem included
Is that because of the low price?
Thanks, @mindtrap, it's been tough at times but as I said I just try to focus on the present and the future. Yes, that fact that I was able to pay off all that debt was a true blessing, I focus on that positive as well.
The low price of Steem is partially why I'll soon have to find new income streams. The other reason is this crushing bear market we've been in for the past year and a half. People just aren't buying books anymore either. Thankfully, I think we're almost to the end of the bear market now but I want to be proactive and bring in as much revenue as I can before the situation becomes dire.
I really wish you all the best my friend.
Oh don't forget that I owe you some beers...
And when things finally get better you also have an open invitation to spend a few days here in Greece. Hate it when I have to repeat myself :P
Thank you very much my friend! I wish you the best as well! I'll definitely remember that invitation and will reach out when we finally make it to your part of the world!
Have read that post already yesterday.
But I think by now (each in his own way) everyone must have had similar experiences like him.
And at the same time, if we all had a crystal ball that could let us look in the future? I mean, see everything: our wealth and riches, BUT also (for example) our health and illnesses? Wouldn't that be very scary?
Don't want to sound like a moral philosopher, but if I had the choice between : know and not know, I'd rather not know the future, to be honest.
I'd rather not know too mate, just trying to find a balance tbh.
Not too greedy but also not fearful...Who knows...the next bull run might be right around the corner, or it all could start in 5 years from now...I hate to say it but I wouldn't like to be in his shoes...
You have received a @buildawhale manual curation vote.
Thank you
I’m constantly talking about this / this is the main reason why people don’t want to put Steem - this is obvious - is it really not clear to the rest / this is a big minus for the economy steem
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