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I don't think I've ever gone 4 days without posting on steem before. But I've been tired the last few days, as I recently returned to BTC trading and had forgotten how much it can feel like a drug when you get in the swing of things.
The adrenaline of taking a position with leverage and trading based on moving averages takes a special type of crazy. I've had a few decent successes in the last month, but it has taken a lot of focus to follow my strategies and properly manage risk... and a fair amount of chart watching 🤯
The thing is I've never really been someone who cares all that much about money... until the shit hits the fan and things get sketchy with debts etc. And this is ok! I have no children, or dependents, so if I choose to live this mad existence earning my keep from blogging, writing for a few websites and some other freelance work, I'm not hurting anyone.
But sometimes it just gets old scrabbling to pay the bills. It may seem that trading BTC is far from the answer, but at the moment it's the best answer I've got as my crypto has been sat in hodl-mode for over 18 months.
It's well past time I put it to work!
A real job just isn't an option for me at the moment as the chronic illness I suffer can leave me bed bound at the drop of a hat, but in those times when it strikes it's doable to force myself the distance from my bed to my computer to follow up on an alert from blockfolio.
I have to be honest, I've made more from basic support/resistance trading, and conservative margin trading in the last month than I have in the last 4 months writing on steem.
So why the dramatic title?
To Post or Not to Post? That might be a bit of clickbait 🤣
Don't worry, I'll never stop posting on steem. This place has been the catalyst for my return to writing and it holds a special place in my heart! I guess this freewrite is just my way to work through my thoughts, and conceptualise what has been at the back of my mind for a while now.
There is nothing wrong with adjusting steem habits to fit in with life's rhythms!
I think sometimes on steem we all push ourselves based on what we think is expected of us. Sometimes this may take the form of adhering to a certain genre, or trying to produce daily when the spark isn't... sparking.
I had an epiphany the other day and I've decided to stop beating myself up about a lot of stuff. My illness, which I can't control and my capacity for work which is closely linked to my health.
So if my posts come a little less often this is why. I've come to realise just how unimportant these types of stresses are in the grand scale of things.
My focus on steem hasn't changed, but I've let go of these (unrealistic) self imposed expectations I place on myself.
Thanks for reading my late night ramblings.
P.s. I'm writing this on my phone to test out Esteem's post editor... so far it seems pretty good. My only criticism @good-karma is that it could do with a spell checker 😉
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What is it about Steem?
It holds a special place in my heart too...
Good to know that you will stay til the end :D
Hope. I think there are many factors but for me it's hope. I once hoped to travel the world while writing travel content on steem but it wasn't to be.
I'm hopeful steem can still make inroads into mainstream with our current more focused leadership than the ned show, and maybe the next few years will be very exciting here... ha ha, I hope 😉🤣
'Hope is weathering and waiting out the eye of the storm.'
I hope so too
Loved the poetry reading <33
First bit of advice: stop fretting about anything. Doesn't help and just makes your illness flare up. If you can coast, then coast. As for posting, we love your posts, but they have to fit your lifestyle. So, as we used to say in the 60s, get in a groove and relax.
Hope you are well and that your trading continues to be profitable. I'm really impressed by people who can make a profit at that sort of thing.
Hi @agmoore
ha ha, yeah me too ;)
To be honest, I used to be a bit of a throw a dart at a board trader... but the last two months I've taken the time to learn basic technical analysis and it has really payed off. The key is patience... so many people lose money basically because they can't wait for key price areas to be broken either to the up or down side. If you mess around with taking positions in a range then you have to be good at technical analysis, but if you wait for break outs, you can catch multi-thousand dollar moves and this is where bigger money can be made. The art of technical analysis is to map out these key support and resistance levels and keep an eye on the market daily or set a limit order to trigger when the market drops below or above certain levels.
The case of BTC recent drop is a prime example of how even beginner traders like me can make good money by simply being patent and not getting greedy. All I did was wait for BTC to break it's key level of $7800 and then took a short position with leverage 5x. This means I increased my amount of BTC as the market went down and the leverage (borrowed BTC contract) meant I made money as well despite the price drop.
I'm currently experimenting with trading the bounces on the way down and it's going well so far :)
P.s. thanks for the advice on the health thing, you are completely right.
I had an uncle who did well in stock market trading. He was a projectionist in a movie theater, but his hobby was to make stock picks. His system? A little like yours. He had huge graphs on which he plotted performance. I hope you do as well as he did :)
Good to see you still here, @raj808, and very sorry to hear about your illness (didn’t recall that you suffered from chronic-anything).
Heading to UK, soon, and wondered if you might be interested in this:
https://www.rai.ox.ac.uk/event/book-launch-and-conversation-with-yahia-lababidi
Get well,
Yahia
Hi Yahia.
Great to see you're still posting too m8. Yeah, I'm still posting when I can... I've a stubborn streak a mile long 😉
I kept it quiet, but I've been sick with something called SIBO (it's a gut condition) for nearly 5 years now. Tried every treatment for it and every exclusion diet that is meant to help, all to no avail. To be honest, I'm at the end of my tether with it as the symptoms keep on getting worse year by year, but just have to keep readjusting to diminishing capacities. The head gastroenterologist here in Liverpool doesn't have a clue what to try next, and has pretty much given up on me. It can be very frustrating.
I have an old friend who lives in Oxford so if by some miracle I'm feeling human, I might jump on a train and go visit him... as well as checking out your book launch 🙂
it's not very likely to be honest but if I can it would be great to meet you.
All the best with the book launch.
So sorry that your illness keeps you from traveling and working a "real" job (should you want one). If it enables you to write more (and post it here at Steemit), there's the upside for the rest of us. May you make a good living with crypto and may you be well again!!!!
ha ha, well truth be told I don't really want a real job. I'd be happier if I had normal energy and cognative capacity to get a novel written and then hopefully, fingers crossed that would be my 'real job' ;-)
Thanks Carol, I appreciate the well wishes :)
The title got my attention for sure! I'm struggling with the same question but find myself on steem much more and posting more because I'm laid up.
I'm all for letting go up unrealistic explanations and late night ramblings. Mine don't earn as much as yours do though! Nice!
Thanks for the well wishes @owasco
I do love steem, but I've always put unrealistic expectations on myself with producing content here and suffered for it in the past both physically (with this illness, taking on too many steem projects) and financially as I prioritized it over freelance gigs outside of steem. I'm just kind of thinking out loud in this freewrite and cementing my intentions not to do that anymore.
Thanks for reading my late night ramblings :)