My goal in 2021 was to teach myself about the stock market and how to trade/invest. To this point in my life, I have investments that I trust to be taken out of my pay twice a month to a broker, but I never completely understood the market. I figured why not learn. As a math teacher, I teach students how to read graphs, diagrams, and create plots of data to analyze. So I spent a considerable amount of time teaching myself the patterns of the stock market, especially understanding the patterns of reading the candle charts in a bunch of different time intervals. For those that don’t know, you can visit a site like Tradingview. Here I would select a stock and look at the green and red candles for 5, 10, 15-minute intervals, as well as longer intervals of time like 1 hour and 1 day. After watching a bunch of Youtube videos, I spent days and weeks analyzing stocks and eventually fell in love with cryptocurrencies. For whatever reason, I was intrigued but I knew very little about this seemingly growing sector of finance.
After weeks of reading and researching, I put a little bit of money into Bitcoin. At the time, it seemed like Bitcoin was the main player in the space. I also put a little bit of money in Ethereum. I saw my funds grow a bit but nothing too dramatic. I even put some money in a cryptocurrency I knew nothing about but seemed funny and it was really cheap per coin. That coin was Dogecoin. It was a fraction of a penny at the time. After putting a little bit more into Dogecoin, I didn’t pay much attention. As life moved on I would check on my investments from time to time, but I didn’t keep too close of an eye.
One day I realized, ‘Holy Crap!’ my account had grown considerably. Dogecoin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum were going up and up. Especially Doge! I was euphoric. As naive as I was, I doubled down and put more money in, and it kept climbing. I felt like I was the most brilliant investor in the world. The next Warren Buffett. I started telling my dad and sister about my investments and they listened but also were super cautious. I told them ‘with crypto you can’t lose, it keeps going up no matter what!’. I kept adding what I could. It seemed like a no-brainer! Boy, do I feel stupid now. After being up what felt like a ton of money, it soon crashed and crashed hard. I panic sold everything! I was able to still turn a profit, but not much. The euphoria of the parabolic climb, and the anxiety of the crash, was a roller coaster of emotions. I learned a super valuable lesson that week back in May.
In the midst of the euphoria, I would check Twitter for updates, investment tips, and any news surrounding the coins I was invested in. The news always fit what I wanted to hear. It was confirmation bias at its best. I was reading and believing what I already believed in and wanted to hear. Once the prices of these cryptos crashed (especially DOGE), I wanted to find more credible analysts that seemed to be more trustworthy about the crypto markets, not those trying to pump a particular coin. As I followed and read their analysis, there was one thing that was clear. NO ONE CAN PREDICT EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE CRYPTO MARKET. The biggest rule of thumb I took away from my experience thus far is: “It’s not about timing the market, it’s about time in the market.” Meaning you may try to predict the perfect time to invest, but it’s usually just gambling. Of course, you may be successful here and there. But the truly successful traders and investors are the ones who have put more time into the market. They aren’t playing a guessing game of when the conditions will be perfect, they are in it for the long haul. Consistently these investors seem to be the people making consistent money in the crypto game.
So what does this have to do with your health? How many times have you researched your new weight loss plan and found source after source promising miraculous weight loss results on this new diet you heard about and can’t wait to try? How many times do you go ALL IN on a new diet or workout plan because you believe it’s perfect to lose weight and get fit in the shortest amount of time possible. Just like people trying to become millionaires overnight in crypto, the perfect diet/fitness plan will not get you where you want to go overnight. It takes time. ‘Time in the market’ in health terms means staying the course of a sound plan, being consistent, iterating when needed, and staying the course. Over time, the consistency will compound to a life-changing transformation as long as it’s rooted in sound fundamentals of health and wellness. Just remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
That is the approach I have developed for investing in crypto as well as my health. For crypto, I have chosen a few projects to invest in that I believe have great fundamentals, investors, and utility for the future. I don’t worry about the ups and downs of the market because I want to build wealth long term. As for my health, I have already developed an amazing plan that has led me to feel the best I have ever felt. Not only have I lost 50 lbs. but I have set up principles that I follow that will lead to a long, healthy life. I detail these principles in an ebook I am currently finishing. I can’t wait to share it with everyone. If you have any comments or questions, I’d love to hear from you.
