Every now and then I come across a story about someone describing their regret for not investing in the Blockchain earlier. The internet of things they call it, they describe it as investing in the internet back in the day, and they wish they'd invested early... As if it was too late already.
I don't know if you've noticed but these kinds of stories have been quite frequent lately. Especially in the recent weeks.
And every time I come across one of those, I immediately start to process that inescapable feeling that pops up anytime I read a story, or watch a video in the same lines.
Maybe it’s the feeling of fear, not the fear of action but the fear of missing out. Maybe
F.U, FOMO!
My brain, by nature - maybe yours too - tries to construct scenarios that rewrite the actual story in a more favorable way to avoid the discomfort that comes with regret, thus disguising it under a more pleasant memory.
Say for example you had the chance to invest in Bitcoin early on and you didn’t take it. Then a few years later you would feel some sort of regret, would you not?
Then in that case, there’s this phenomenon that takes place where you start to imagine a brand new scenario where you did invest early on, and as a consequence you’re in a much better situation now. It’s a really nice feeling.
The problem is that the phone rings and wakes you up from that day-dream.
I call that phenomenon Time Travelling.
Here's the thing, there are no do-overs. There is no insert coins moment. But there’s good news still.
Because it’s not too late, far from it in fact.
There are several other opportunities in the market, as there are other cryptocurrencies that are destined for the same growth than BTC (or maybe even more), including the amazing STEEM which I will get to at the end of this post.
But let’s go back to regret and time-travel for a second.
Stuck Between Fomo and Time Travel
While time-travelling is an excellent way to sooth the temporary pain of regret, it still fails to tackle the root of the problem. In fact, it might just guarantee you the same outcome every time by having you never learning from your past mistakes.
But even with that in mind, is it easy to get rid of?
In an ideal world, I'd would love to tell you that the minute I realized how counterproductive time-travel is, I said never again and stopped doing it.
In the real world however, breaking habits often turns out to be much easier said than done.
One way is to resist, that would be the hard way. And it would require constant efforts and discipline.
Another way is to pull a Sun Tzu and use the opponent's strength against itself.
So instead for resisting time-travel all together, why not travel to the future and compare both scenarios, one with the cost of action, and one with the cost of inaction.
Yes, Fomo might kick in, sure. But Fomo can also be a powerful tool if used correctly.
Be on the Right Side of Time
I like to remind myself sometimes of a story that Gary Vaynerchuk recounts about how a few years ago he was trying to convince a huge mega-franchise called Blockbuster to purchase a little crazy thing called Netflix, for a not so great sum of money.
Their response was a little bit like this: We’ll pass.
Why? One can speculate but a case can be made that perhaps they didn’t see the new trend coming.
Now, looking at what Netflix represents today in relationship to a few millions at the beginning of a gigantic trend, it becomes clear that they missed on a hell of deal.
If I were in that room, I bet I'll be time-travelling right now.
With blockchain tech, the same thing seems to be underway, we are now at the very beginning of a trend that is set to disrupt several markets in the years to come.
The world is changing fast, there’s no denying that, and it will change even faster as we hit the bell curve, so you either move fast or the wave passes you by.
Riding the Third Wave
Meanwhile, the politicians will probably just keep pretending that a decentralized peer to peer economy is just some sort of a hippie fantasy that will fade away once the teenagers grow up decide to go back to state controlled monopolies.
Look around, the largest real estate company has no buildings, the biggest transportation company has no cars, the largest retailer in the world has no stores…
More money is leaving each year from TV advertising to Youtube and social media influencers as the attention economy is shifting rapidly.
Not only Elvis has left the building, but his impersonators died of old age.
The best thing is, steem has the best of both worlds, an efficient cryptocurrency and blockchain, AND a social media site for the attention economy.
As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one thing left to say:
Steem on my friends!
Here and now is the perfect time for investment my friend's.. Steem is going up and its like a train.. More and more people are coming and everything is expanding.. Invest in the site and it will invest in you.
Much love
-Goldie
I joined steem recently and have seen progress. I am bullish about steem and see it reaching 20USD by next year...I am fired up and ready to go!!! steem is where to be isnt it? Good post @the-alien and great comment @vangelov
Yes it is! Im living in a country that doesn't operate with euros and usd and currently the 64 cent that I have on my comment votes can buy me a beer 🍺.
That's how amazing steem is to some people..
So buckle up and lets shoot for the moon :)
The same here. Steem is changing lives hence why I registered my family members last week and promoting this baby to more success. This is time to devote your energy on a platform that will revolutionise social media and hopefully take over in few years time...Lets steem to success, win win for all of us.. and hey, lets stay in touch
Haha that's awesome @Vangelov! Can't beat ¢64 beer :)
And I agree of course, steem an amazing currency and more and more people keep coming :)
Thanks for the great comment!
Thanks Charles! I'm happy for your progress!
Here's to 20USD steem! :)
you are welcome, keep steeming
you are welcome buddy, lets stay in touch so we can celebrate together when steem takes over social media. Following you buddy. Great guy
Thanks man! Of course, let's stay in touch. It'll be great to look back at these times :)
I agree. We will certainly stay in touch. I will be checking out your posts. We will promote this baby to more success. Fired up and ready to go
Thank you Charles, I just follwoed you, I'll check your posts soon as well!
Well said btw: Fired up and ready to go :)
I admire the energy here...the optimism gives a new member like me the raison d' etre to know am in the right place...
i've been here a day and i love it
I'm glad you do :) Wait a couple of months, you'll love it even more!
yeah !! cant agree more !! I just started my first buy and super excited
Haha I love it!
Great exploration of the future that we are glimpsing already. Love this: "the largest real estate company has no buildings, the biggest transportation company has no cars, the largest retailer in the world has no stores". That should be a wake up call for the governments, corporations, and other organizations. P2P is not a fad; it's the face of the new economy.
Exactly, it's the face of the new economy. And it's here to stay :)
Thanks Tom!
I like this blog, it's very true what you say and I think we can all recognise it. I remember looking back at Bitcoin when it fell back down to £200 a few years back and I think, man if'd just invested then ha! So the prices we have now are perfect, and will be for some time to come I think.
Oh man! I've been through the same, I actually bought one bitcoin at 300, too bad I didn't buy more.. But the when you realize there are other currencies and the prices will still rise... You realize there's still much to win if you take action.. Plus, I found steem which is much more beautiful for me than BTC :)
Love the Blockbuster story, haven't heard that before. There is something I miss about walking into the video store though! Thanks for the great post.
This whole idea of crytos is very new. Just wait until the regular Ol' Joe starts catching on.
I don't do regrets. We can only take decisions based on the info we have at the time. If we didn't have the info, it was out of our control. No reason for regret.
If we did have the info, we still took a decision based on what we thought was best back then.
I love your suggestion to focus our energy on the future instead.
Mindtravel to the past is a waste of energy :) (and it's how all the MLM companies sell their coins: Imagine how rich you could be today! :D )
You nailed it!
And you're right it doesn't help at all, just hold you back. Do the best with what you have, that sometimes is enough :)
Thanks for the great comment!
hey, you must be referring to EOS!
And btw... what's BlockBuster?! lol (jk)
EOS has a bright future I'm sure of it :)
Haha Blockbuster :P
"Would've, could've, should've!" ... said anyone who has dipped their tippy toes into investing/trading.
You make some great points at the end @the-alien regarding the demise and disappearance of many brick-and-mortars.
However, there's a strong growing trend of successful online retailers now moving into the traditional retail space. Exciting times!
Yeah exciting indeed!
All we need to do is to be on the right side of time :)
I have this everyday. I think "Should i invest more...maybe.. but i cant afford what i got into it already" It is a painful thing. Hopefully when i am rich because of my current investment I wont think back to today and say "Man i wished i invested more then ... I could be doubly rich now."
Good article. Makes me think...for a change
Yeah it's a tough choice, generally I'm more of a don't invest what I can't afford to lose kind of guy.. But also you never know.
Thanks by the way!
Congratulations @the-alien!
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following categories:
Thanks Arcange!
cool
Thanks!
I entered the altcoin game on Poloniex for 200 euro's last week. I'm constantly doubting if I should take the daytrade route, or if I should just read up, pick a coin and stick with it for the long run. Daytrading is not very much working out for me at the moment, but it does give me a thrill. I guess the long game seems to be a more safe option, since the daytrade seems to be much about timing and ignoring fear of plummets and FOMO. Realy rooting for a Bitshares boost at the moment. Meanwhile I'm reading up on how to read the candle charts and how to derive usefull information from them. If anyone has some links to good information on this subject, it would be much appreciated :-)
I am featured in Investorplace.com as being a musician on Steemit. The article talks about Steemit being the Facebook killer, I am featured on page 2! If you agree that Steemit is the Facebook killer upvote the post! Help spread the word of Steemit by spreading this article and post around! https://steemit.com/steemit/@wvm/i-am-featured-in-investorplace-com-for-steemit-com-check-it
I'll be sure to check it out of course. I agree Steemit has a far better benefits than FB, the no-censorship especially.
Thanks for writing it :)
Thanks for checking it out, it's really about all of us on Steemit right now....
Oh yeah!
I just read today that advertising dollars will be down by 13% on Television due to retail companies going bankrupt, and others just shifting ad dollars to online. The revolution will not be televised...it will be Steemed!
Haha I love it! The revolution will be steemed!
Once I have enough capital, I'm investing in steem.
I for sure wish you all the best!
Good morning.... big thumbs up and a follow!
Think positively, act alike and only good things shall follow, sometimes the bad things on the path are just tests in life that make you a sturdier and better person.
Cheers!
Thank you for this awesome comment! :)
Full steeeem ahead!!
Was a good read. Like the pictures you added too.
Showed my appreciation ^
Thank you!!
well it kinda late to invest in blockchain unless u got a couple thousand dollars
Hmm I don't see it that way actually, it depends on how long you're planning to hold and what you're investing in, and a host of other factors... I don't know.
Hmmm, what should i say sir.
Let me just complain here, in this corner.
Back then in December 2015, i was traiding Eth at 0.6 $... When he got up to 14$ i was like, no way!!! this is to high. But no, i missed the second train.
Same thing in March 2016 with Monero and recently with Dash.
I think we are to afraid to make big stepts. Why? I have no freakin' idea....
That's tough man, I'm sorry to hear.
Maybe we should focus on the nature of the beast, is this something that will keep growing (with ups and downs) or should we believe the media that all cryptos will have one train and then crash?
I think that's the question in this case.
Anyways, I hope you hit a hell of a train next time and make it for the past ones.
"Look around, the largest real estate company has no buildings, the biggest transportation company has no cars, the largest retailer in the world has no stores…"
This is a very poignant observation. Physical presence is getting less important and everything is decentralizing. The era of "the little guy" being able to get his proportional stake, instead of being shaken down by economies of scale working against him, has begun. It's become more possible in the last few years to strike out a life and support yourself in a way that doesn't make you an Office-Space (the movie) style wage-slave. I'm excited to be here trying to contribute to it.
Thanks for the article.
I agreem the era of the little guy is coming if it's not here anymore.. As opposed to the gate-keepers who used to decide who gets to do what.
I think that's a great thing :)
Thanks for the great comment!
Regreting something you should have done in the past can only get you to make a mistake now. And it could be bigger than not investing before. So if you find the right amount between the invest something you can lose and regret not investing anything, than you are on the right path.
That seems to be the sweet spot yes.
Or if you wanna be a tad conservative, don't spend on luxuries and invest only what you're OK with losing.
Although I realize the definition of luxuries may be different from each person.
I remember that Gary Vee story... wow!
That was an awesome one :)
I tell people who bemoan not buying bitcoin when it was at $xx.xx price, "If you don't have the balls to buy it now, you wouldn't have had the balls to buy it then. Put up or shut up."
I guess it goes for other aspects of life as well. :P
Later, is one of the easiest words sadly.
Great article. I try to explain it to people. Their eyes glaze over. Maybe someone here will wake up thanks to this post!
Thanks for the nice words! Btw, it happens to me too, believe me. So I just give up and write a post about which I don't know why.. but it works better.
I like your article, that part about politicians dreaming that p2p economy is just a hippie fantasy. Hehe, upvoted
Haha yeah, let them dream.
Thanks!
Great points you've made. I can see this taking off in the future for sure.
Knowing your opponent is half the battle won. Know yourself as well, and you will win.
BTW @the-alien -- you're the first person I've followed. Cheers.
Oh thanks a lot! Well said! Knowing yourself is the other half of the battle :)
nice article, have to admit I'm one of those that fears I've missed the boat. Well, the first boats anyway. That's why I'm now trying to do catch up haha. Here's hoping all our boats sail merrily :)
I love it! Here's to all out boats sailing merrily!
You deserve a +vote bro. Well written and interesting. Reminds me of when I missed out on BTC back in 2009 because I thought the Stock Market offered a far better deal and more security in regards to future profits. Invested in a couple stocks, made 13k and then lost it all to a penny stock that had been pumped hard. Lesson learned. Invest early, hold on to it if there's value and thank yourself 4 years later. Following you now. Cheers
Great lesson, thank you for sharing! I hope you'll make back more than those 13 K :)
RESTEEMED Warrior Writer! Following Too.
Haha thanks! Awesome GIF!
Batman VS Superman if I recall?
WOW! First off love your writing style, and thank you for reminding us it is never too late, even if there is no do over. :)
Thank you!! I'm glad you liked it :) Yeah it's not too late, there's no do overs, but still other opportunities that can bring new beautiful chances and experiences :)
I like your positive attitude. I personally do not regret anything I do in life. I believe that everything happens for a reason. :)
Haha thanks! Yeah dwelling on the past is only gonna take you away from the new things that can still be done.
And you're right, sometimes for a bunch of reasons even... One of them may help you find a better opportunity the next time :)
Absolutely... Did you ever watch Steve Job's speech he gave to Stanford graduates? One of his messages he gave to the students was that even if you think your life is random and you don't see the connection... in ten years, you will. Everything you do in life builds on itself and one day you will find the purpose of it. For him it was taking a typography class, which gave him the idea of having beautiful typography for Macs.
Yeah I remember now.
I forgot about that, but I was thinking about that lately. That most the skills I learned in the past have came when I needed them.
Funny how that works.
This FOMO has been on my mind for weeks, I have known about ETH Ethereum since it was $5.00 but thought I missed out because of the growth from under 10 cents was so massive there was no way it could grow like that again after the DAO debacle. I then started mining ETH at $14 but electricity just was too expensive so I stopped after a few months. I even got involved in the steam network at 18cents back April 2016 but I only started engaging recently. I even saw Dash $6.00.. But the part I like most about this post is that it's NOT TOO LATE for any of us.. We are just at the beginning of the next transfer of wealth.
I encourage you to look at the historical snapshots of the Altcoins on http://coinmarketcap.com/historical/ and compare this to today.
The opportunity to take advantage of this epic growth for years to come as this new paradigm becomes our everyday reality.
Yeah that's the thing, it seems like growth is on for a few years to come, not just if you missed one train it's over. I hope FOMO will get encourage you to not miss the next ones :)
The same counts defently for you, Steem on, we will be glad to read your future posts! 😎
Thank you! I appreciate it :)
Interesting post
thanks for sharing
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.
Yes, you are welcome
Please votes also my posts, maybe interesting
https://steemit.com/food/@ekaputri/good-cuisine-and-fresh-drinks
Thank you again
Please votes also yes
https://steemit.com/food/@ekaputri/good-cuisine-and-fresh-drinks
I voted on one of those earlier, no need to keep posting links :)
Excellent post! So glad to be part of the Steem community!
Thank you! It's a great community indeed :)
Interesting thoughts! Followed you and looking forward to more posts from you :)
Tack så mycket! :)
It's funny watching these people try and stay relevant. "Everything" will be disrupted. From real estate, money, finance, and even government. Change is here!
Haha yeah, and change by definition cannot stay constant :P
And so we shall!
:)
Awesome, great work...
So interesting, thanks for sharing..
Upvote and Resteem.
Dear friend @the-alien
Have a nice day ^_^
Thank you!! Have a nice day too!
You are welcome..
Good luck 😊
Thanks, you too! :)
Gary Vay–Ner –Chuk!
Great post and I appreciated that reference. The man is a beast and clearly great at learning from past mistakes (his or others) and applying what he knows to present situations for better future [longterm] outcomes.
Good reminder, thanks for this.
Oh yeah, he's absolutely fanatastic!
I really enjoyed this article, thank you man!
I'm glad you did. Thank you!!
Loved the blockbuster example, so crazy to see how the world changes. I feel even those would invest still feel it. I believe it is a constent battle look in reterospeced
Oh yeah, change is constantly happening.
STEEM ON!!
Thanks, you too!
What an awesome post, I couldn't tell you how often I have come across people with the woulda shoulda coulda mentality. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks a lot! I'm glad you liked it :)
I think you misspelled IOTA
I do sometimes :P When I want it to come out raw, I write here and then I start editing as I have more free time when the comments slow down.
Not always-always though. I wouldn't be able to do that with comedies for example.
Thanks for the observation! I'll make sure to read again a few times.
I was ironic as to "the future shitcoin will be... " :D
Haha I didn't even hear about that coin until today.. I thought you meant IOTA as in infinitesimal amount now I get it :P
lol
Great Article. much appreciated my friend!
Thank you! :)
I regret cancelling buying order of eth during presale in the February od 2014. It was 1000 eth for 2 btc. :(
In 2010 I turned down a payment of 1750 bitcoins for something I sold...
Ouch, so 7 years later and $5 million shorter.
Oh that sucks! So sorry to hear!
It happens to the best of us. Hope you'll get other chances either in ETH or others :)
Great post and succinctly put @the-alien - thanks. Following you now. I've been on steemit for about a month now and I'm on my own steep learning curve with both the blockchain technology and with social media (tried my best to opt out of this in the past but with steemit I'm adopting it quickly). Thankfully I started buying ETH early and have done extremely well out of it.
Yeah and it still have a great window of growth it seems. I'm happy for you.
I hope the coming months in steemit will bring you a lot of great experiences!
Hindsight is 20/20
Actually, I prefer pre-sight :P Haha just kidding :)