I just watched a youtube video - well, it was a livestream actually, by a guy called Richard Heart (you should check out his non-crypto stuff on his channel by the way - really interesting life lessons) and he's what's known as a 'Bitcoin Maximalist'. Basically, he's been one of the most major proponents of Bitcoin there is. He just did a livestream saying he's sold all his Bitcoin and that he's devastated that Bitcoin is dead. That's quite a thing... Is it dead? I don't know. Certainly though, it's scary to hear Richard Heart saying it is. He's the main 'It's the best thing in the world' guy.
It's frightening when you realise that you need a bandwagon. It's comforting. Everyone likes to be surrounded by a crowd all saying the same thing and moving in the same direction. I do. I feel safer in a crowd. Is that why I've been buying cryptos so much? Am I so easy to sway? :) Yeah, probably. I think we all are. Well, I can't speak for you...
So now, it looks like the crowd may be leaving. Or maybe not the whole crowd, but after watching that video, it looks like that really certain strong man at the font of the crowd has just left. He was so sure though! Nothing could shake him. Why's that guy gone?? Now I'm a little more scared. There's still a big crowd around me and they're still shouting that 'we're going this way! This is the way to go!' they still sound quite certain, but there's an edge of panic in the whole shout now. Why did that guy just leave? What's going on - he was such a strong member of our crowd!
So, automatically I start looking around. Are there other equally strong people in the crowd shouting that it's all going to be O.,K, and that we're still heading, as a crowd, in the right direction? But that guy was seriously like THE guy... I can't believe he just left. The crowd feels weaker now. Shit, am I in the right crowd here? Are we actually going the wrong way? Have i just been on a bandwagon here? I think I'm smart. Smart people have been saying this is a real thing - this isn't just an 'asset', it's a 'movement'. It's unstoppable.
Uh oh. Shit, what do I do now. Now I'm looking round at the crowd and I can see the fear. I'm suddenly in a weaker crowd. There are other people with strong opinions, but somehow, I don't feel so safe now. There's a gnawing fear that the guy who just left has chosen the right path... There's doubt, and there's fear. It's easy to underestimate the emotional aspects of investing. If we were all lost, and it was night, and we had some torches and a big group of survivors, who would we follow and why? Who makes us feel safe? Remember LOST? The tv show? Imagine Jack and Sawyer had just gone off and done their own thing and we stayed with the other characters on the beach... Screw that. We look for - well, I look for - leaders. Always. It's a very basic instinct. When one leaves the crowd, it's a big shock, and now there's the need for decisions, and I don't like the options. Where'd the sure leader go!
Panic can easily set in. Big picture perspectives are very useful when the panic hits. Detach. How much can you really lose as a person? If it all goes to zero, could you survive? They're actually profound questions, reaching far further than finance or trading. Now you're alone with your decision. They're about what it is to survive as a person. What do we really need to survive? If my assets were to vanish and the whole crowd was wrong. If everything drops and goes, how much am I really invested in this asset. Is it just money to me, or is it more I'd lose? Is it hopes, dreams, self worth? Is it my fantasies? Is it my reputation? Just like the crowd on the beach following leaders for their very survival, I've noticed how much an asset crash plays into exactly the same stuff in me. Those fantasies? Even those 'dreams' - can I survive if they're gone? How necessary are they really?
This is when I start seeing value in the life of farmers :)