I’ve been having this feeling for a while now: lying still, eyes open, staring at the ceiling and hoping for something to take decisions for me. Not just related to the crypto market, but my decisions in general, my patience and my belief that holding onto something would eventually be worth it. I’ve told myself many times that all I need is one more bull run. Just one. I promised myself that I’ll do things differently next time. I promised myself that I’ll take profit. And yet, deep down, I know how fragile and emotional that promise really is as mostly on the hype I tend to delay taking profits. This is not just about charts or prices. It’s about adrenaline bundled with hope and the quiet fear that maybe the cycle I believed in so strongly doesn’t work the way it used to. Truthfully in 2025 I took some profits, but I hope that 2026 the bull run will continue stronger and I'll be able to book other profits as well.
Waiting feels like a lifestyle now
At some point, HODLING stopped being a strategy and became a habit. I kept telling myself that patience was strength, that pushing through pain was how winners were made. But patience without action slowly turns into wasted opportunities. Every peak feels like it might go higher. Every drop feels temporary. And before I know it, the moment is gone. I’ve watched markets run up fast and fall even faster. I’ve seen profits on paper disappear because I convinced myself that we can go higher. The truth is, it’s easy to say “I’ll sell next time” when prices are low. When numbers go up, logic fades and greed quietly takes over. Holding feels safer than deciding. But what is clear is that when the market is low - like I feel it is now - it is the best time to build and improve the holdings in my wallet.
The market is different now or is it another lie?
Something has shifted in the crypto space. It no longer feels like everything moves together. Some assets surge, others never recover even if it is hard for us to let go. The idea that all boats rise in a bull market feels outdated. Utility matters more. Tokenomics matters more. Blind hype doesn’t carry the same weight it once did.
There’s also this constant background noise of uncertainty. New technologies, new risks, new narratives that threaten old established blockchains. Long term security no longer feels guaranteed just because something worked before. Even Bitcoin, once seen as untouchable, now exists in a world where power, regulation and influence are impossible to ignore. Ethereum follows it in big lines as well alongside some other tokens that this well in this bull run. But besides these it is the uncertainty and disappointment of others that drains our confidence. It makes every decision heavier. It turns investing into something emotional instead of strategic, which comes with higher risk.
Belief, hope and reality
I’ve noticed how often hope enters the conversation when logic runs out. People pray for pumps, for dips, for miracles. It’s half joke, half desperation. When you’re deep in a position, hope becomes the last line of defense. But stress changes perspective. After years of cycles, promises and near-misses (like forever waiting for Ethereum to hit $5,000), I’ve learned that belief without discipline is dangerous. Believing in something long term doesn’t mean never taking profit. It means respecting risk and understanding that survival matters more than being right. I missed booking profits on ETH for about $50 just because I was stubborn to wait for the psychological price of $5,000. But I am telling or lying myself that it will not happen again as I still have hope for it.
Truth is that I still want one more bull run like you probably do as well. I won’t pretend otherwise. But I’m starting to understand that waiting based on hope is not a plan. The real lesson isn’t about predicting the next cycle. It’s about taking responsibility when opportunity shows up, even if it’s not 100% at the established exit criteria. There may be another run. There may not. What I know now is that if it comes, I don’t want to be lying still again, hoping and promising. I want to be awake, prepared and willing to act with some flexibility. Because in the end, hope feels good, but decisions change outcomes and taking profits is always good. My luck is that I took some profits this bull run and left something for the next one, as otherwise my mental balance would be suffering as I am writing this article. 😊