I was asked the other day what kinds of lessons I had learned from crypto and while my answer isn't satisfactory for some, it was not buying 200€ worth of Bitcoin which at the time would have been about 30 BTC and would have a current price of around 120,000 dollars or, 600,000 at the high a year or so back. But, it isn't the value of what it could have been that is the lesson here.
The actual lesson I learned was, failing to participate.
I participated in drinking instead as working out how to buy at the time, was just too much trouble for me.
It is ridiculous to actually think in the terms of holding for 8 years and selling at the high because at that point, that high was not known and most probably, even if I had bought those Bitcoin, I would have sold when my money doubled, tripled or quadrupled. Very few actually held all the way.
But... if I had participated back in 2011 or so, what would I have learned as one of the earliest in on cryptocurrencies? Even without holding, having doubled or tripled my investment, would I have quit while ahead or, would I have continued my participation in a burgeoning industry and economy, would I have found Steem in mid 2016 rather than early 2017?
This is the thing that people aren't able to factor while they focus on the price of this coin or that, the learning involved with taking part. Taking part in that Bitcoin buy meant having the disposable income to spare which I had at the time and not using it to buy a few drinks and likely pick up a girl or two along the way at a bar. Sure, they were good times but, I could have those experiences any weekend and many weekdays at that point.
How many times do opportunities to be an early adopter into an industry that will change the world come along? And when they do, how many times do people skip because it is too complicated or, it is going to cost them some immediate and short-lived pleasure?
I never even thought about Bitcoin again really until I came onto Steem in January 2017, started learning and then realized that, those 200€ for 30 bitcoin would have been worth 30,000 dollars at the time but, it had cost me much more than the opportunity for that amount. My failure to participate had cost my all of the associated learning I could have been doing into the tech, into the possibilities and of course, into building a Steem account as one of the first users, an original.
Once it dawned on me, I looked at all the other areas in my life I have failed to participate for various reasons whether it was out of not having the capital or, being too fear-filled to take part. I decided that my previous failures were not going to become my future failures as well, it just happened that I had already landed upon the Steem blockchain and, this was going to be my core point of participation. Here I am, participating to my fullest capacity considering all of the other things that draw on my time and energy.
I find it interesting that people are unwilling to participate here for various reasons but also unwilling to buy in a little. I wonder at what point someone will say, "I could have bought 500 Steem for 100 dollars and I went out drinking instead".
While some will regret the "loss" (it isn't a loss until you buy and then sell for less than you bought), how many will consider that in those years they had access to Steem, they failed to learn how crypto works, blockchain, dPOS and the communities that use them. How many will regret not building a personal network of friends and users, investors and consumers at a time when competition was low and, there was still a chance to shape the future?
They say, you gotta be in it to win it and people think that this refers to some lottery but, it need not. Participation and learning is really all it takes to create some kind of position on Steem and therefore in crypto as an industry as a whole. It is by far the easiest way and a hell of a lot simpler than it was back in 2011 or so and still people complain now while wishing they had bought that BTC back when they chose that it was too hard or, didn't have the disposable income available.
Geez, you don't even need to buy Steem to participate, just write and comment, read and have some fun and who knows, 2, 5, 10 years from now, you might have a fair bit if Steem worth a fair bit of value but, what would you have learned in that time? You might be part of a movement and right now, everyone here is still an early adopter, no matter what your feelings tell you, no matter what that bitter person's post says. Your participation on Steem is up to you.
People talk about learning from their past errors and misaligned ways yet, if they did they would be in better positions than they were but instead, they repeat the same processes over and over across different domains believing that, this time it will be different.
It doesn't even matter if Steem crashes and burns because crypto as a whole is not going to and what one can learn here is more valuable than what one may earn here. But, learning is an active process especially if one is looking to change habitual behavior. The habit that most people in this world have is one learned to consume low quality consumables that depreciate instead of investing into assets that may appreciate in value.
The rich get richer by selling them, they get richer again by investing into the infrastructure and materials that make them. So, at what point are we going to learn from our past and instead of consuming, start investing into possibility and in the case of Steem, investing into ourselves and, the chance to support ourselves?
Again, something that people tend to forget is that while many people are looking for Steem to skyrocket so they can sell, the investors are likely going to hold and use their value to create more value, to invest further into themselves and the community that they are participating in in the various ways that they can with their stake. While selling a bit in the short term might be a decent strategy, the long-term demands some portion to be held as after all, wealth attracts wealth.
But of course, you knew that from your past.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
I have learned so much by being here. An old friend who is about 10 years younger than me just asked me a few hours ago why she never saw me on Facebook anymore. I started to explain to her what I was doing these days and it was like I was speaking a foreign language. She had no idea nor did she have any interest in what I was talking about. It made me realize that I'm just much happier hanging out with people who speak the same language I do!
Well said Melinda! I feel exactly the same. :)
The best part is that I continue to learn more everyday!
It is funny how dismissive people are about it yet, I am pretty confident that in 5 years, they will all be on blockchains in some way.
Dang man this is such a good post, in my eyes you are a Steem legend. I haven't read every single one of your posts but I've read a good bit, your consistent quality is kind of mind blowing in my opinion, really impressive. I agree with a lot of what you are saying and I feel like I relate to what you've written. Not sure what else to say without getting super wordy and write a lot but, you are an awesome writer and I do enjoy seeing your posts. Steem I really believe has a lot of potential, people need to sort of maybe shift their brains and just open their minds I guess. You do a great job of doing that, not only with me but I'm sure others as well.
Tanks, it is nice to get the positive feedback at times.
Yep, even those on here who would consider themselves open-minded struggle with really getting their head around where it is all headed.
No problem, you're one of the best bloggers on Steemit. Yes it would just be nice if some people weren't afraid to think a little bit, but I guess until the site/blockchain becomes a bit more commonplace people may have a hard time getting on board. I often struggle to think about where it's all going because I become way too optimistic Steem. I think it could change the world.
But well as you said it could very well possibly be too late for the people that never gave Steem a chance a bit earlier on. Thanks for replying!
I think that for those who are here now and those to come in the next year or two, they are are going to have a massive head start on the rest if they play their Steem right :) we are all early adopters still.
I so hope you are right! Love the optimism. Some users here are negative towards the future of this blockchain, and perhaps they have some decent reasons to think negatively. But there are many reasons to be positive, and I really appreciate the positive energy from a respected, established user like you. Steem on!
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I can't wait until my Steem makes lots of money. I'm not selling until it hits $50.
I can't wait until Steem replaces money. Why would I ever swap it for the thing it's replacing?
I am looking forward to being able to do a great deal through Steem in the future that doesn't require swapping it for anything else, either through upvotes or direct trade. So many opportunities in the future but, they require the foresight and risk taking in the now.
You can't pay for hookers and cocaine in STEEM.
Yet....
Posted using Partiko Android
In fairness even when you can, you'll still need some fiat to roll into a tube.
I wonder exactly how much impact going cashless will have if it crashes the vices trades. I'd guess that the government makes more on them than we might think. As all money eventually filters through into taxes, even if you believe that they have no under the table handouts from vices, that money still moves back through the system.
Straws might become even more popular in cashless, however.
I think that if anything, the vice trade will increase as people will both likely move more and, be lonelier through disconnection.
They'll always be there, you're right. In war time Serbia women accepted tinned foods as payment, in order to feed their family. I guess they'll find a way to get around all payments being tracked with fronts for anything illegal. Either that, or people will have to come up with a new form of tangible currency.
I wonder if you'd start to get cards, like gift cards, or tokens that you can load with money and pass on to each other like cash. Then people would still have something they can tuck into lap dancers garments. ;D
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I heard a story recently of women in Kenya accepting a bag of breadcrumbs swept off the floor... we live in a messed up world and hopefully, it will actually improve one day.
This is called the tradeoff between the opportunity cost and what the funds did for you instead. Some over value the cost of opportunity and think that the time spent on a particular activity is more valuable that the capital compounding over time. However, with new technology it is often missed like you mentioned. Interestingly enough, we are still early adopters and the opportunity cost of not invested at least time is probably still greater than what alternatives you can do with your time.
Posted using Partiko iOS
If one is wanting to work and then buy in, that is great but I would still recommend (as you know yourself and do yourself) to keep posting, keep engaging and use what value one has to build both the self and the community. It is a pretty unique opportunity we have here to take ownership of the future.
"How many will regret not building a personal network of friends and users, investors and consumers at a time when competition was low and, there was still a chance to shape the future?"
Flipside: All the time you spend making friends and networking and they all quit and it was a total waste of time
Depends on how you make those friends and who those friends are as people I guess. Funny thing is that those who network well and build communities are still here.
So maybe it's down to the fear...
'What if the past stops repeating itself right now if I joined for the first time.' And how is that stronger than the fear of 'What if it doesn't?' ... Oh, I think This was in a previous discussion some months ago. Still, I'll leave it here.
I find it very hard to convince people to join. I try with good friends. Some of those people should have progressive thinking. Some of those friends organize an event at the end of this week and it's about 'The Future Before it Happened' or with that kind of meaning. How about that?
I am late (in relation to when they are planning this) and too early (in relation to how ready I am) to ... 'Show Them'.
Four people have followed me here so far, two are already inactive but their accounts are there. One, my fiancee... we lost her password. I still can't believe I haven't been careful enough to remember if or how I intended/tried to keep it for her. We have a string of words from the steeminvite service which won't work. Maybe replaced by another string on our request. Maybe it's lying around here somewhere but... but... anyway. Lesson learned. The account is so fresh that she can just start over again when she finds the time. And I can't stress enough how really busy she is. Enough that I wouldn't press/push harder.
The fourth one is new and active :) Yay!
Some of those I can't convince are even people who were into mining BTC in 2008. Or 2009? Got hacked and robbed, then got refunded and were quick to sell their BTC at less than $20. Or something like that.
The problem is we are quick to quit at the first failure. In general. Unless one has enough experience to know for real not to quit even at failure number 1000+
Do I?
Those that can fail often and learn from each to improve the next instance are those who have a process that eventually leads to success or mastery.
Yep, it sucks to lose the passwords I bet, which reminds me, to resave mine a few times more :) THose inactive accounts might come back later, and the new one might get a bullrun as a welcome :)
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