The Opportunity Cost Of Spending All Your Time In Crypto
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The Opportunity Cost Of Spending All Your Time In Crypto
For well over a year now I've been plugged into the crypto universe which is open 24/7.
I've been having FOMO almost daily. Not just FOMO for missing investment opportunities, but also afraid of missing the latest news and the advantage of being 100% updated in the space.
For example, did I have to stay 100% updated on everything in the FTX drama last week?
Absolutely not, but as a person who is getting obsessed over things I often see no other option. I want to stay on top of the game. I want to stay informed. Not just to catch the best news/narrative trades to earn money, but also because I love this.
I started a blog in late 2017 and started writing on Twitter in January 2019 because I wanted to connect with like-minded people. I had zero intentions of earning money from writing. It just ended up this way.
I am utterly grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way since I started writing daily. Since I joined Twitter on the 15th of January there are only two days I haven't been actively posting (24-25th of August 2019). I was walking in the mountains and there was no internet connection.
Being that much online has reaped some benefits. I am considered one of the "important" voices in the crypto space. Not the most important, as there are people in here that are way smarter than I ever will be, but I'm among one of the several hundred voices that people listen to in the crypto space. This is flattering and I can say that I am so lucky that I've made connections on CT (crypto Twitter) for life.
Most of them which I have never met, but with bonds that are stronger than several of my IRL friends. If I were to lose all the money I had tomorrow, I have connections that could put in a good word for me so that I could get a good job opportunity in the industry. I have friends all over the world because of this, and if I am in trouble I have lots of people I can ask for help, and I am sure that even one tweet could solve many problems no matter where I am. This makes me very grateful.
But to get here has had a cost. Not in money. But in time.
Time I never will get back.
Time I could have spent on my family, friends, and my ex-GF. I've been very egoistical about my time, and I think this is the bitter-sweet truth about becoming one of the best in something.
The sacrifices that you have to make. People tell me all the time: "But ser, just take some days off. It will do you good".
And they're right, and I know they mean well, but that doesn't work for me.
My brain is running at 100 mph all the time. I have no choice but to be there. Addicted to the game. Addicted to crypto. Obsessed with what I do.
Irritating for others? Yes. And to be honest, that's probably why I'm single right now. It's hard to be in a relationship when you sacrifice everything for "work". I say "work" because to me it doesn't feel like work. To me this is play, but for others, it looks like work.
There's a difference, and most people won't understand. The people on crypto Twitter that operate in the same way can relate, and naturally, they become someone I bond deeply with.
But what do I work so hard for? Again, this doesn't feel like work. But now that I am free from 9-5, why do I choose to devote so much time to this? This is a good question and something I ask myself from time to time. I can travel wherever I want, and basically, do whatever I want, yet I choose to spend most of my time in crypto.
The best answer I can give is that it gives me all four aspects of IKIGAI (something I'm good at, something that is mentally stimulating and that I can be one of the best in, something I can earn money from, and something that the world want (this is probably discussable because after all what meaningful do I contribute?).
But I've landed on the conclusion that if I at least can help 1,000 people with my writing, my thoughts/ideas then it's all worth it. As an introvert, I'm not the best at always expressing myself orally, but I do think I'm one of the better ones when it comes to "the written word".
Writing is my edge and something I've always used as my weapon in life. When I started my route 2 FI (route 2 financial independence) in 2018 I wanted to get out of the 9-5 so that I could read & write all day. This isn't something that has changed. And in crypto, this is something I get to do every single day. There's never a dull moment here.
But as I mentioned, getting here had a cost. It has cost some friendships, my relationship, the ability to have a "normal" life, and probably also my mental health. It's pretty demanding to always be on the alert in crypto. Last week for example was stressful because I felt I had to inform IRL friends about FTX and tell them to get the fuck out of the platform in time. It's demanding, but also very energizing. They trust you as an expert, and you can't let them down.
Let's talk about the side effects of being too addicted to crypto (seen with my eyes):
1. Hobbies:
I lost interest in everything else I cared about.
Books, writing (besides crypto writing), working out, running, meeting friends, my GF, and family all became pretty uninteresting.
It's sad to write this, but it's first in retrospect I am able to see how bad this had become.
2. Physical activity:
I've always been interested in working out in the gym and running/cycling.
During the bull run I "didn't have time" for it, and that really took a toll on my physical health. I spent most days on the sofa or in bed, and like 5 out of 7 days I didn't even leave my house. As a consequence, my physique became pretty bad.
I didn't gain weight, but instead, I got a little thinner because I simply forgot to eat.
For the last 3 months though I've started working out again + doing some cardio, so I am slowly getting back to my "normal" shape.
3. Addiction:
During the bull run, I was so addicted to my phone/PC that I simply tried to avoid all circumstances where I couldn't monitor my DeFi positions, Twitter, Discord, TG, etc. My GF (now ex) tried to tell me how addicted I was, but I simply wouldn't listen.
4. Relationship:
From prioritizing her on a daily basis to barely seeing her because I was too "busy" in the metaverse definitely broke our relationship. She never gave up on me, but eventually, we ended our relationship because I wanted to focus more on crypto.
Writing this now makes me laugh at how stupid I was, because wtf? Focus more? I did nothing else! But I was too blind to see it.
5. Sleep:
It became a routine to check Tradingview during the night + ApeBoard to just "control" my positions.
I also had alerts on key trading levels + news aggregator bots in case there was big news to trade on.
Obviously, this ruined my sleep pattern.
6. Mental health:
While the bull run lasted, and as long as I kept myself busy in crypto I honestly had a really good time.
Talking to great people, trying new things in crypto, and writing about my experiences. It was like playing a video game that never ended.
But in June when 3AC collapsed and $BTC went to $17K and $ETH went below $900 I got a wake-up call that I should have gotten a long time ago.
The DeFi yield was mostly gone by February/March, and I focused more and more on trading.
What I did really was simply to replace one crypto activity with another.
But my wake-up call came one morning when I simply asked myself what the hell I had spent so much time on for the last year.
While I was invested in the stock market I had a healthy balance between investing and everything else.
But now, I made crypto my only purpose.
And when the crypto bull run was over and the market conditions got harder I was forced to ask myself the hard questions in life.
What was the meaning of everything and how could I make a plan to get back to real life again catch up with friends, get back in shape, and enjoy my hobbies again.
I had sacrificed everything for one year.
Lots of drawbacks for only one positive factor: money.
I felt sad that I had sacrificed everything else in life for gaining wealth.
This is not a post about losing money or getting rekt, because money was the only thing I got more of this year.
Financially I am in a much better position now compared to 1, 2, 3, and 5 years ago.
But waking up that day feeling sick realizing that I was in bad health only because I chased more money, wasn't what I wanted.
Something had to change.
In June my physical and mental health was at rock bottom.
I won't say I was depressed because I still wanted to find a way out.
I still had the motivation to try to get out of the terrible condition I put myself into.
Because after all, what is money without health?
Compared to my friends I'm still a lot online, but at least I'm making progress.
One thing I haven't fully solved yet is my hobbies. I still find crypto my main interest, and I still prioritize it over reading books or writing.
I hope to get more back to that later this year.
A question I've asked myself lately is why have I traded all my time for the obsession of chasing money.
One answer is that it is a way to keep score & that it is addicting AF.
But I realized I'd lost the balance between time/money.
What I wanted was time, but here I was trading it all for more money.
Going forward I will continue writing my newsletter, doing research in DeFi, trading a little, and in general stay in touch with all the amazing people I've met here on Twitter.
I'm also going to join a crypto startup on Monday, so stay tuned to see which team I'll join :)
And honestly, I could be doing more research in crypto right now.
There are a lot of good protocols and people who build during this bear market.
I just need to find back to myself again first. Money comes secondary.
Crypto is an intense game, and a huge admiration goes out to long-term players like eg. @cobie that's been in this game for 10+ years.
That's it for now!
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