A decade ago, I had been working my ass off, saved and invested a lot of money, just bought a house, and just learned my wife was pregnant. Then I lost my job and my side hustle went kaput. Then the stock market crashed hard. We couldn't afford the house and got foreclosed on. My wife and I did nothing but fight and we were stressed out 24/7. She had a miscarriage a few months later. Five months after that she left me. I cashed out half of what I had left in stocks to give to her in the divorce.
I had a decision to make, do I cash out the rest of my stocks and live on my own or do I hold it all, stay in debt and live on my grandma's couch? I chose option 2, and I made a plan to get rich by investing because I believed that companies that survived would eventually flourish once again. I scraped by, and I was lucky to be on unemployment. I ended up getting a job at a place I hated but I needed to work. I saved and invested constantly, but only a few hundred dollars every few months because my pay was shitty, and I was more keen to get out of debt.
During this time, I kept looking at my stocks as the way out, but I refused to cash out because I had a plan and a goal. My grandma was more than happy to have me live on that couch, and current independence was not as important as future financial independence and freedom. I eventually lost this first job within 6 months when they went bankrupt (which didn't matter as I hated it and it was just a need to stay alive), and a few months later got a new job in finance using my previous experience and education in tech and finance.
Fast forward three years, I was no longer in debt, and my portfolio had more than quadrupled what it once was, and now that I was single I had a chance to just quit my job and live off of what I had. Of course I didn't, but now I had the freedom to do so.
Around this time, I got into bitcoin after hearing about it from an old gaming friend of mine in 2012. At first I was a little wary of it because I didn't get it. Then I read the white paper, followed the trail, and fell down the rabbit hole.
I started putting part of my allocation for stocks into it. Every crash that happened during my time in btc I would just remind myself about where I once was and where I am now, and how holding onto my assets that I believed in paid off over time. I made a decision, then a plan, and stuck to it. My plan for btc after falling I love with it was to eventually have all of my assets in crypto. I told my family and friends that one day I may have to sleep on their couches, but more than likely I will have couches for them and their children to sleep on one day no matter what happens. I will also be buying those couches with bitcoin, and the furniture store will accept it and keep that bitcoin.
I still believe in my plan. As hard as it is to see such large usd shifts in my cryptfolio, I just remember that I have a goal and a plan. My goal has not been achieved yet because we still talk about exchange btc for fiat and I still look at my portfolio in terms of fiat. When we get to using btc as the primary means of exchange AND store of value then I will be satisfied. I will buy those couches for my friends and family if they ever need it. Most importantly, I will buy a new couch for my grandma and a new house in California close to where my grandpa is buried to go with it.
If you believe in bitcoin and how it will shape the future, make a plan, stick to it, and remember that there is nothing wrong with sleeping on somebody else's couch.
submitted by 
No comments:
Post a Comment