Dear Aunt Agony,
Crypto is known as high risk high reward because it seems to be a minefield riddled with hacks m, scams and rugpulls, basically the Three Musketeers of Crypto Doom. Despite our best practices, we may have succumbed to mistakes and mishaps, causing our previous portfolio to be wiped out. Take for instance the extermination of our METAMASK wallet because we keyed in details on a phishing site. Lost our money on a lending platform because we were too slow to recognise the red flags and take our money out.
In such instances, shame consumes and engulfs us, settling into our consciousness and reminding us of how silly and stupid we were. Our confidence is shattered. We feel inadequate to traverse the crypto space. We keep thinking of the money - our life savings in extreme circumstances - we have lost.
How do you cope with your shame? How do you begin the healing process, eroding your layers of shame one by one until you feel somewhat okay again? Okay enough to not give up on yourself and rebuild your wealth from scratch.
Dear crypto investor,
Perhaps these methods will help you take your losses in stride:
1. Everyone makes mistakes. It is in fact human to make mistakes. Take it on the chin and learn from them.
2. Reframe your monetary losses as tuition fees you pay in the school of crypto. Remember that experience trumps all and that you have first-hand insights on certain things you ought not to do.
3. Zoom out and take a helicopter view. You are investing for the long term, so focus your energy on earning more money so that you can exact revenge on those losses during the next bull run. There is a Chinese idiom that says, “While the green hills last, there'll be wood to burn.” When there is life, there is hope.
4. Venture into the crypto space with the mindset that not all your investments will be statistically successful. While you can do your best to avoid collateral damage, shit sometimes happens, so just bite the bullet and take the hit. In such a volatile space, it’s almost guaranteed that you will lose money at one point or another. If loss aversion is something that screws your mental health badly, you may want to re-evaluate the percentage you allocate to your crypto investments.
5. Detach your sense of self-worth from your investments. Remember that hindsight is 20/20 and that just because you banked on the wrong investments doesn’t mean that you have failed as a person. Self-pity is a bitch; don’t expend any energy on her.
I hope these five suggestions help you feel that you have the renewed capacity to take this in your stride. This too shall pass.
Dear Agony letter first posted on r/cryptocurrency. The five coping mechanisms adapted from the users’ responses I received as I beefed them up with my personal insights and experiences.
