Strange title Steven... What does the 'little sparrow' have to do with Bitcoin, Hive or anything else for that matter?
Well yes, I guess you're right Dear Reader, but you know me by now, surely. I never like to be too obvious and a little randomness is good for the soul or so they say, by 'they say' obviously I mean me as I am pretty damn certain no one has ever made such a bizarre claim.
OK OK I admit it, I'm just being a little me weird again but don't let that put you off as reading this post may resonate and result in exponential magnificence for your financial destiny.
Big claim! Well of course it is, I have no time for small claims.
As is so often the case, I am going to tell you something you already know today BUT maybe you know it but don't practise or embrace it. Hey it could happen right?
Mostly though, my words here may give you the permission to over-ride the fearful part of your mind or at the very least give you permission to do what you know you should.
The subject I am gonna touch on, will by no means be a 'deep dive', but is an important conversation for us to have although in terms of a conversation, that claim is pretty shoddy because I will be talking and you will be listening reading but to be fair most of my real life conversations turn out to be pretty one-sided too.
Yeah I know that is not a great thing to admit and I'm not proud of it BUT in my defence, I have told you before that I like to spot the areas of life that people most want to attack and grow in so I am quite often trying to give as much value as I possibly can in a short space of time.
I'm gonna take the weird choice now to actually quote something I said above, just in case you missed the main part of it.
Mostly though my words here may give you the permission to over-ride the fearful part of your mind or at the very least give you permission to do what you know you should.
This post is intended as a financial prescription for your financial health, or should that be Wealth but only with one tiny regard to how you view risk versus opportunity.
This is the part where many people feel the need to add a disclaimer proclaiming themselves NOT to be giving financial advice... No way!
We exist here in a decentralized community, freely discussing ideas, many of these ideas have polar-opposite viewpoints, but that's good right? That is what much of society is woefully lacking right now, people fearfully holding back from speaking freely without the need to coddle those they are speaking to.
When did people stop thinking critically, laterally and making balanced and measured decisions based on a range of sources that are consumed, considered, and either discarded or adopted partially or in whole?
So, no, I won't be proclaiming that I am not offering financial advice nor will I be telling you my ideas are for entertainment purposes only. I won't talk to you like your 5 and unable to take on the nuances of a topic and make an informed decision.
I won't ever mention an investment and then panic because you may starve to death or have your roof possessed because you spent your food budget, rent and kids college fund on it. I think people are much., much smarter than we are led to believe.
So what about that crazy title Steven? Where does, La Môme Piaf (The Little Sparrow), Grand lady of the Parisienne music halls Ms Edith Piaf come in to it.
Well I suspect you may have already guessed the tenuous link.
She had a tough life but had no time for regrets.
She was known for one emotionally charged song more than any other. A song that carried a tremendous message for anyone who wants to live a life of consequence. 95% of you will know the song instantly, of the other 5% I guarantee that 99% of you will know it if you hear it. I listened to it in preparation for writing this post. I suggest you give it a listen if you haven't heard it in a while, if only to remind yourself how one tells a story through pure emotion.
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal
Tout ça m'est bien égal
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
C'est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé
The song I am of course referring to is commonly known as 'No Regrets', however the literal translation from French to English is more akin to:
"No, I do not regret anything"
Hopefully when the time comes for us to 'check out' of this life, these words come at the last.
The little sparrow had a horrendous life in many, many ways. She was allegedly born on the pavement although details on Edith's life are sketchy and many gaps exist, abandoned at birth by her Mother, who was better suited at running a brothel than raising a Daughter. She suffered the loss of a child, lost the man she declared the 'love of her life' in a plane crash. She (perhaps unsurprisingly) struggled with drug and alcohol addiction after several car crashes. She was at one time believed to be a Nazi collaborator as she sang in the clubs of Paris under occupation but it is thought she helped prisoners escape the POW camps when she performed there. Finally she died at age 47 from liver failure but it's thought she may have had liver cancer.
Throughout all of these tragedies she kept on going and eventually became France's most beloved performer, it is said that her funeral attracted 100,000 fans and brought the traffic to a complete stop.
I think this slight woman, under 5 feet tall, sickly, blind from illness between age 3 to 7 was an inspiration and added a little about her to this post about 'No Regrets' firstly as I find her story hugely interesting and thought you may too secondly, because I enjoyed sharing a little about this amazing woman.
SO - NO REGRETS. What did I want to share, what's this apparent warning about your financial destiny.
Recently I cannot spend 5 minutes on the blockchain, Twitter, Discord without hearing the same conversations repeated and repeated. They stem from the immensely long crypto-winter and recent stirrings of the bull preparing to run, run, RUN!
Bitcoin and crypto conversations are everywhere. Elon's investment made people sit up and take notice from the crypto-world but also from the non-crypto world too. The mainstream media is bombarding the general public with a barrage of positive -negative - positive - negative news, spreading misinformation propaganda and good old fashioned FUD.
We all sense the seismic movements taking place with regard to crypto of late and the interest from the non blockchain savvy world is unprecedented. I have had conversations with several random people recently, one in a supermarket queue, the other an electrician doing a wiring check at my home and a couple of others. who have pretty substantial crypto holdings, things ARE changing.
However we do not know exactly how this is going to play out yet, it is more like a zeitgeist moment, a collective consciousness that things are changing. Does this mean the financial system will collapse in the next year, is it a sign of oncoming anarchy which will challenge the rule of law and governmental structures everywhere, are the banksters panicking?
I have no clue! Sorry was that an anti-climax? The truth often is.
When I speak of the conversations I am hearing on a seemingly endless loop the chief one I am thinking about here is the one that goes something like:
"I wish I had bought more Bitcoin or Hive or Leo when I had the chance, now I have missed out, I wonder if the price will dip again?"
This is a disempowering position to be in because it leaves you at the risk of market forces and relies on your favourite crypto taking a downturn, none of us really want to be hoping for that, do we?
Some people literally did not have the funds to do that, in which case doubling down on their Hive earnings is obviously the most pressing and prudent course of action.
BUT What of the others, those who know they had opportunities to buy in and ride the crypto-train all the way up through the recent highs? I mean those who absolutely did have the resources to take a stronger position. You know the reasons as well as I do.
Many are far too moved emotionally by FUD, I often encounter those unfamiliar with even the most basic crypto terminology so should explain. FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. The sad truth is that many are swayed by even the merest breezes of negativity being blown in from any source. So when the banksters or mainstream media attack crypto as something they do not understand or are terribly fearful of, these people put their wallet away, just in case there is truth in the words. they are hearing
Some people are so terrified of risk that they rarely do anything in life for fear of it having unpleasant repercussions later on. They use phrases like "what if this happens or what if that happens, there's simply too much risk". Often the risk they cite is based on nothing more than their own uncertainty.~
I was talking to a friend of mine just before the massive BTC rally about investing. He was talking about being on the fence about whether to buy his first £200 worth ($275ish) of bitcoin (I told him to dip his toe in the crypto-waters and go for it) but sadly, he decided it was far too risky and it may drop in value!!!
Let's think about that for a second, his thoughts regarding the fact it could potentially drop in value suggested he had indeed, heard the term 'investment' before. everyone on the bloody planet understands they can go up as well as down lol. Next let me tell you the friend in question earns way more than I do, he earns almost £600 per week.
So his total investment would have been one third on 1 weeks wage. Yes it would be disappointing if you lost that much money BUT in the big scheme of things, would that loss have any impact on your life a few weeks later, I think not. It's not like betting your house on red, is it?
He didn't invest in BTC because he could not see past the risk of losing £200, risk averted, money saved to blow on some other mindless junk that will not improve life.
Yet he has a 100% risk of NOT seeing potentially life-changing returns by declining the investment. NOW THAT'S WHAT I REALLY CALL RISK!
My friend also has savings in the bank and interestingly spends around £10 on lottery tickets each month! Keep dreaming of that lottery win Mikey.
One other group of people worth mentioning are those who always assume they have plenty of time, almost as though the market will wait for them to be ready. We all know these people, I am often one of them if truth be told.
Speaking of me, I have not been able to use any credit/debit cards for a couple of months as being granted my mortgage was on a knife edge due to a 'chequered' financial history. I missed out on a few investments that I had penned in because of this BUT as my mortgage is at a £39,000 discount, I could live with it.
I turn 50 next year, I could have viewed this as a risk when I considered taking on my first ever mortgage, right? Below is my assessment of the risk.
Today I live in a rented home in an area I don't even like that much, working hard to make ends meet, if for some reason I could no longer afford my mortgage and found I was unable to keep up the repayments, I would end up living in a rented home in an area I don't even like that much working hard to make ends meet.
Many people have told me that this mortgage is a risk but best as I am able to work out, the fall if everything went wrong would result in me landing back where I am right now...
Sometimes all it takes is a little perspective.
Now my mortgage has been dealt with I am going to have to survive some cashflow problems until the funds are released from the building Society as I have a lot of fees to deal with and some materials to buy for home improvements.
BUT...
Once this crazy spell has passed, I will be putting my money where my mouth wallet is by being some Hive every week or 2, sometimes the price will be up, sometimes down. I believe this dollar cost average method will all work out fine in the end.
I have missed opportunities in my life for one reason or another, funds, timing, life problems, cashflow but I won't miss this one. I will have a multitude of crypto holdings by the end of the year and I believe my faith will be rewarded. If for some reason we were plunged back in to a bearish market again, so what, I would capitalise on some of the cut price investments those times offer.
I would never over-extend myself and would invest small, sensible amounts that cause no hardship to my family. I fail to see any huge risk in this strategy.
Cast your mind forward to the culmination of this decade...
It's December 31st 2029:
Your mind wanders across the events of the past few years, how do you feel?
The clock is about to strike midnight, ushering in the futuristic sounding 2030. You weigh up the way your life has gone over the course of the last decade and think of what the future has in store, your mind abuzz with plans, goals and dreams you would like to achieve in the 2030's
Are you grateful that you allowed your mind to consider possibility, did a little research while planning for your future and acted decisively? Maybe in the early days you skipped a few luxuries, maybe you even worked a little overtime at work and set aside some small regular amounts to make some investments that grew exponentially over the years allowing you a degree of time freedom in the present day.
Or are you consumed with guilt and regret that you did not follow your heart and mind when they were screaming at you to act?
You realise now, with crystal clear, 20-20 hindsight that it could have been so very different. You always knew you could have made a few tiny sacrifices in life to begin making those investments, you used to plan how you were going to do just that, you used to call the idea, planting seeds. You could have worked a little overtime, stayed in one of those nights each week instead of going out to drink beers with your friend.
But mostly, you remember that it was infinitely doable. Life could have been so different.
Now I don't know about you but over the years I have missed out on things that I could've had and promised myself it will be different next time. Can you relate to this?
The question is, when will your 'next time' be NOW?
As I hope I have communicated thus far, I would never recommend anyone plough all of their ready cash in to any investment, don't bet your emergency fund or next months rent on ANY crypto, stock, share or business opportunity, that's just not sensible. I have always suggested that people only invest money that they can live without for a few years at-least.
Imagine each investment pot to be like planting a seed, you wouldn't rip it out by the roots and declare your efforts a success with a scrawny, sickly looking seedling grasped in the palm of your hand, would you?
View each one, more like a fruit tree that has the capacity to produce fruits that can feed you and yours for a lifetime to come if looked after carefully and given the time to ripen fully.
Consider this, you have an intimate, working knowledge of the Hive blockchain, it's dapps, initiatives, and community that the vast majority of the general public do not have. You have access to Hive engine and a multitude of tokens, smart-contracts and a ton of guides to help you understand all of these things better.
You have access to all of the posts from @leofinance and the amazing resources on LeoPedia that can help even the crypto novice at day 1 of their journey. Have you ever really explored the cornucopia of stats at your disposal on LeoDex? Do you know about WLeo do you know how LeoInfra is solving many of the problems of old style onobarding? Learning about these things will help solidify your belief in Hive and Leo, along the way you will learn more here about the wider world of cryptocurrencies.
Let me give you a top tip if you are unaware, anytime you see the name LEO attached to anything, get ready to hear the ROAR that future investors will make as LEO achieves everything it sets out to build and rollout, faster than anyone expects. You can learn about LEO specific investments here, have you heard about #ProjectBlank, #CubFinance CUB tokens so much more being developed my head is spinning.
Have you heard about or played risingstar learn about it by folowing @risingstargame what about @splinterlands or @dcitygame these are no longer tiny little niche apps anymore. Have you used @threespeak if you create content for YouTube you should be making the switch.
Do you take part in the TwitterHive promotions? Check out the initiatives promoted by @nathanmars @theycallmedan and do many other Hivers, if you don't, why not? We need to promote what we have here to the wider world and social media is one of the most obvious routes to do this. We do not have the perfect community here yet, but we are getting closer by the day. Have you read the posts on @stoodkev s blog? They detail the news that @keychain is ready for mobile??? This is frikkin' epic news and shows we are one step nearer to being ready for the once thought 'theoretical' mass adoption'.
I could easily list 50 more things that you are privvy to here that suggest where Hive is heading. When you consider this as a whole, things are moving rapidly here and you have 'INSIDER KNOWLEDGE', whether you take action or not, Hive will continue moving and others will come and buy up stake. People who have none of the information that we have due to being in this community will buy in based on a hunch or a snippet of info they hear on some blog somewhere.
You know what Edith Piaf would say, right?
Don't hang around waiting to see how things progress, do you think all the people and initiatives mentioned in this post (just a fraction of them) would be here working, creating and developing for a ghost-chain that was heading nowhere, I think not!
Invest in Hive's future, invest in our future, invest in YOUR future and stake your claim here. Don't wait till the price hits a dollar and your buying power is sufficiently eroded.
Don't worry if the price goes up by 2 or 3 cents by the time your payday comes around, this will make hardly any difference in the longterm, remember your stake will be earning APR for you of well over 3% too, curation rewards will grown and so will your stake, reputation and influence within the community.
When the big move comes, I want EVERYONE here to be in the 'party mood' give yourself that chance and when the 31st December 2029 comes around, you will be sipping champagne whilst singing loud and proud...
"No, I do not regret anything"
Thank YOU for taking the time to read my post and if you're one of those amazing people who like to hit the comments section... Then I doubly thank YOU!
Either way I want you to know that you are appreciated!
Keep taking the time to connect with each-other both here and in the 'so-called' real world and try and look after each-other, because as you already know...
I am an incredibly proud member of #TeamUK I love the global community immensely, but it is nice to have a home-team banner to add to my posts. The banner was made by the inimitable RoastMaster General himself @c0ff33a If you are an active UK member and would like to be added to the teamUK community on Discord, just let me know 😎
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
do not Cry over spilled milk
You should not think about the past and move forward
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
As someone who has spilled wagonloads of milk in my time I concur wholeheartedly. I think we should keep past experiences at hand like a favourite teacher, to teach us to approach the future with an enlightened view.
But I try and go boldly forth knowing the I am giving the milk the best possible chance to remain in it's chosen receptacle, free from clumsy interference from me.
I will fail but if I spill a little less... That's progress right? 😁
Thanks for stopping by, it is more than appreciated 😎
!ENGAGE 20
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ENGAGEtokens.Hi @stevenwood,
Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content.
For more information visit our discord https://discord.gg/8CVx2Am
You cannot sent token to yourself.
YUP. I know that but I am clearly a bloody idiot, right 😁😂🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
I replied to my own comment instead of Natalia-irish
I mentioned the part about being a bloody idiot, right???
It really is surprising that I manage to put on my own clothes each morning!!!
Thanks for continuing to make Hive awesome.