"The better you feel about yourself, the less you feel the need to show off"
- Robert Hand
Everyday I read posts about how much money people are making through Hive, how their wealth is increasing and how closer they are to being able to retire early.
A few small points.
Most people won't retire early. Fear of 'not having enough' holds them back. The more they shout about their wealth, the less likely they are to actually do something with it. Retirement is an old concept anyway, the aim ought to be monetise what you enjoy and keep doing it until you stop enjoying it!
Tokens in a wallet are not wealth. They are simply that, ones and zeros on a magnetic strip. There is potential for wealth, but that's all it is. Potential.
In January 2018, Steem was valued at over $7USD. Many people held on for dear life, one witness said in his blog that he fully expected them to be worth over $50 each by Christmas. Hodl, you'll be richer next year. If you were lucky, you weren't richer. If you were unlucky, you were dead.
We all know what happened so with Hive currently at 50cents, you'd have to have 14x the amount of tokens you had in January 2018 just have parity. That's after almost 4 years.Look back over those 4 years. Are you happier than you were then? Do you have more wealth? Is there more abundance in your life?
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
There are some wonderful success stories here on Hive. Last week, someone told me how they had created financial independence through crypto. It was in a comment on a post, with sincerity and I was so happy for him. I read another post about a guy that had planned to work until he was 40 then quit work and start ticking off his dreams. He did it. Brilliant. Total respect to him too. These two guys are 'doers', the people that all of us ought to be learning by example from, people who quietly go about the business of creating their personal definition of success. The doers rather than the talkers.
Back to the original point. Until you do something with your potential wealth, you still have nothing and you are a gambler just as much as someone who throws their life savings onto red, and that's your choice, and not my, or anyone elses to criticize. Just be happy.
If you're thinking about writing a 'look at how much I got' post, remember, other than potential, you have NOTHING.
I read this story a long time ago and it stuck with me.
One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.
About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “You aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman to the fisherman.
“You should be working rather than lying on the beach!”
The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “And what will my reward be?”
“Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” was the businessman’s answer. “And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman, still smiling. The businessman replied, “You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!”
“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman again.
The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman’s questions. “You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!” he said.
“And then what will my reward be?” repeated the fisherman.
The businessman was getting angry. “Don’t you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!”
Once again the fisherman asked, “And then what will my reward be?”
The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, “Don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won’t have a care in the world!”
The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “And what do you think I’m doing right now?”