A few months ago, I stumbled onto the wonderful world of Crypto Trading. I had no idea what would follow.
How it all begun
I never invested my own money, I did some faucets, got together 450 Doge coin. I took that 450 Doge coin to a coin exchange and started trading.
The date of my deposit was August 13, 2017. I traded up that 450 Doge coin that I made on a faucet. Back then it was worth around $10 maximum. I simply wanted to learn. I wanted to make an extra $100 a month. That was all, 4 months later. My balance was over 5 Bitcoin. Now I am not saying this to boast, but to tell you that I went up a few steps in life. I was already living from passive income alone. I was already financially free. But I never really made a large amount of money at once. Just a bunch of small ones enough to sustain me. What I took on out of curiosity turned into over $50 000.
Now depending on where in the world you live. That might not be much for you. But where I am from, I could buy a house. All for 4 months worth of work.
The Night I made 1.6 BTC
One night particularly stood out, I was checking out new coins. When I noticed a behavior on a coin called DFS coin. So I decided to go all in on it. I had just cashed out so I only left 0.13 BTC. I bought in and bought roughly 1.2 Million of the coin. I was a little bit worried that I had made a mistake, but 5 hours later I had sold all my coins and my portfolio was on little over 1.6 BTC. Enough money in my local currency to pay my rent for 5 years.
It was 4 AM, I crept in next to my partner. I told her that I had just made over R150 000. Which was around $13 000 in 5 hours. She was asleep. So it was a very short conversation.
What happened next?
Nothing really. I did not lose my mind, go shopping or any of that. I simply continued with my usual plans. For the better part I just ignored the increase in income. I kept my cool and just continued life as usual.
I found this strange. I made more money in 4 months than my entire life prior. And I felt the same. I somehow expected more. I expected that I would be happier.
This brings me to the lesson.
Happiness is not about money. When you only want more you are never satisfied with life and simply having more will always harm you. I believe that people suffer if they place their happiness and success in money. True value is tied to living with a purpose. It is tied to developing a strong character. The numbers in the bank itself. They are nice, but they might have no purpose.
So where does this purpose come from?
I believe that living with purpose comes from having a positive impact on the lives around you.
Some of the really great things about my life:
I have founded a few successful companies
I have equity in a few companies
I am a very skilled programmer
I have a passive income that sustains me along with a healthy bank balance.
I have good health
I have my dream life partner
I have the freedom to choose what to do with my time.
I know some reading this would be happy in life if they had half of that. My observation though is that none of what I mentioned above are the true highlights of my life.
Where purpose lies
One night I was sitting by a campfire (and I actually hate camping). I was at a camp and a girl started sharing her life story. She had a very hard childhood. She was living in a safe haven for teens. She was addicted to heroin for some time in her life and she wanted to commit suicide a number of times. She just had a hard life. Then she shared about how something that I told her a few months prior made her rethink her life. How it helped change her life.
Now honestly I cannot take all the credit. I simply said the right words at the right time and she heard them. To me it was nothing, but to her a matter of life and death.
With everything that I have achieved in life. That would be my highlight. I was there for someone else when they needed me.
That was a lesson I learned. If I had to choose between being a part of the solution to another person's problems and a sum of money. I would pick the person. If I do not it means that I leave my humanity behind.
So to anyone who wants to make a large income. I get it. Its good to achieve financial success. Just remember to also be there for the people around you. They matter. You do not want a life where you have everything you ever wanted and nobody to share it with. For such a life is a sad life. Such a life is empty.