I came across a post in FB about some guy who let go of Stratis when it was below 3 bucks and was asking people to share about their own personal blunders that amounted to great losses of money. He seemed to be quite new in the scene and he clearly seemed upset over his lack of foresight. Then I started to think about my own blunders that caused me potential gains. Here's a recent one: I accumulated a fair bit of DGB in anticipation of gains as soon as they activated Segwit. A week into it, there was a slight loss on my initial investment. Figuring the Segwit might have been priced into the price prior, I decided to let it go at a slight loss. I don't think I need to tell the rest of the story. Anyway, just within a couple of days, DGB shot up with huge gains. I sat on the sideline for some time. I just wanted to monitor the price to remind myself sometimes it pays to be patient (pun unintended). Usually, I make it a point not to go into a coin that has risen significantly recently. But for some strange reason, I decided to go back in again. I suspect it was during the time most of the cryptos had a major pullback. I held on till the 2nd major leg up and made some profits on exiting it. Again, you probably can guess what happened to the value after I exited. Yep, it spiked another leg up. This is just one of the many stories I could relate about exiting too early or not getting in when it was a golden opportunity so to say. My point is even the best of us have made such boo boos and as the saying goes hindsight is always 20/20. All these prompted me to write about some attitudes which I deem to be vital if you want longevity in the crypto scene, or any form of investment for that matter.
I) I made a mistake. I learn from it. I move on.
I don't think this point can be over-emphasized frankly. I have been guilty of making "stupid" decisions even when there were clear signs not to. I used to beat myself over them and kept thinking about the losses I have made as a result. Thank God I'm a little wiser now. I learned to move on and not allow the negative emotions to derail my thinking process in my next investment. Frankly, it's darn liberating. Though I still feel tempted to go back and rehearse the mistake and how costly it was, I can now tell myself:"It's over. Let's move on." From the posts I come across in FB, many can save themselves some heartache if they start drilling this attitude into themselves. I sure have retained some sanity practicing this attitude. By the way, this is a life lesson as well. Please apply this tip to life itself. You can thank me later.
II) I do not love any coin.
Guilty as charged. Though my journey into cryptos has not spanned very long, I have fallen in love with so many coins, I lost count. I had this issue as well with my former stock investments. But one of the investment gurus whom I follow a lot said this: "Fall in love with your spouse, not with your investments." or something to that effect. How true. I find that when I fall in love with some coin or stock, it really messes with my otherwise sound judgement. I let go of the investment too late as a result. I tend to buy too much and/or at too high a price, which leaves me with less capital for others. Big hurdle.
III) Please don't go around asking everyone which coin to buy.
If you are new to cryptos or investments, I don't blame you. Most of us can do with some hand holding initially. But if you have been in this for some time, it's time to stop this. I have always subscribed to the philosophy of learning how to fish as opposed to just getting fish. Having been to a number of stock investment seminars, it is so common to hear people asking for recommendations and wasting time over it. For me, I'm spending tons of money to learn how to come out with recommendations as opposed to just paying for a tip. And you'll never know how long the tip or recommendation is valid. The guru will not be trying his best to contact you if something happens and the recommendation is no longer valid. Also, you'll be more prone to be involved in pump and dump schemes which are common in the crypto scene. Some thug will heavily advertise and advice on a certain coin (which may or may not have fundamentals) and some innocent folks will buy them only to be stuck with a bag of them after the earlier ones pull out. It irks me to no end whenever I hear people trying their best to dig out recommendations instead of trying to learn to fish on their own. My bad, I got carried away. :) And this is the reason I spend hours upon hours reading and listening to youtube whenever I can. There's ton of great materials out there. Best of all, they are mostly free of charge. In fact, I'll likely do a post solely on what youtube channels I recommend sometime soon.
I'll talk about more as they come to mind. But even if we can just put into practice the above 3 pointers, that will already put us ahead of many in the investment scene. Till next time,......