Are you a gambling man?
My wife got a call from her mother a little while ago and they spoke in hushed tones, mostly because our daughter is asleep. But, after my wife hung up she laughed a little...
A few weeks back I tried to explain to my father in law that I earn from writing online and since my Finnish isn't very good it seems he misunderstood my explanation but, didn't ask for clarification. They are in their 70s so I assume it was one of those, kids these days things.
Tonight, they were watching a panel discussion that was talking about Finns staying up all night playing games on their computers for money so now...
They think I have a gambling problem
As evidence of this, they mentioned our lack of money and how we seem to struggle even though I am working so much. They are convinced it is because I am losing it all on poker and they think that there needs to be some kind of intervention for me, especially since we have a child to take care of.
I actually do understand their concerns though. Finland suffers from addictions, there is something like 450,000 registered problem drinkers and 125,000 known problem gamblers. The problem part I think is defined by negative effects on the people around them, their jobs and of course, themselves. In a highly educated country with a population of just over 5 million, that is a lot of drinkers and gamblers.
Many Finns I know have addictive traits in their personalities, not necessarily directly negative but, it can lead to it. For example, when Finns start something, they throw themselves into it hard so when they go to the gym, it is often all or nothing. This unfortunately also means, If you are going to start drinking, you are going to finish drinking so to speak.
Other than my overly sweet tooth, I am not much of a compulsive person but, for those who watch me work, they might think that at times. My current work isn't out of compulsion though, it is for investment into the future. For me, crypto isn't a get quick rich scheme, it is a plan for long-term improvement of living standards and increased opportunity to act more freely.
But, it is a gamble.
I have pushed and pulled, earned, traded, lost some, gained some and struggled to get to this point yet, I still have a fair way to go and, that path is one of high uncertainty. I asked a question in chat the other night, how much held now (in decentish coins) would be needed to retire in 5 years. Someone answered that 5000 in bitcoin 5 years ago would be enough now.
May 15th 2013 BTC was $114 which would be 43 bitcoins for 5000 dollars worth. Today, that is ~378,000 dollars. Not enough to retire in Finland, but, definitely debt-free living the way we are content with. With 5000 in the right coins now held until 2023? What are the right coins is the real question but, even with a half decent spread, the chances of large gains are pretty good considering all of the banks and investors lining up to enter into the market.
However, it is still risky, it still takes work and it still requires a fair bit of luck along the way and at least for me, a fair bit of work to invest because even though there are the chances of enormous gains, the attrition rate on many of the coins and projects is going to be high, especially since large investors are going to be trying to limit competition, something that doesn't happen too much yet.
This does make me somewhat of a gambler and looking from the outside in with the eyes of my in-laws, they are unlikely to see much of a difference considering the risks and the bets on which coins and teams are going to make gains. What is needed for a five year retirement plan is a fair bit of luck and there are many more pathways than betting black or red.
Risk is acceptable
I am not compulsive, nor am I a risk taker but I have been developing my attitudes to lessen my aversion to risk and uncertainty. To have a chance at the future I am aiming, it is going to take an investment of myself into that fog. The equation is pretty simple, what do you want and, what are you willing to do for it and if there is a gap between those two points, either one or both need to be adjusted. Some people are willing to do a lot include break laws and harm others to get what they want and we each have our personal moral limits. These obviously vary wildly as we can observe daily here.
What this means now for me though is that I have an opportunity to take some risks on the extras, the uncertainty with high reward as my fallback position is not zero, it is my work ethic. No matter what happens, I am confident enough in myself that I will be able to provide enough for my family to survive on, even if it kills me to do so.
I am not planning on retiring in five years, I am planning on being able to work more on projects that add larger value to the world than I do now. If I fall short, that is fine but, it isn't going to be because of the laziness and unwillingness to try I have suffered from in the past.
I may not be an addict in the traditional sense but, predicting the future is always a gamble and that is what investing in the future is, a bet there is one.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
Note: I am going to have to show my in laws what I actually do soon. I am not sure if I should show them when price is up or down...
I won't apologize for using your comment section to promote a project I'm involved with. As someone that is interested in the long-term success of the platform, I believe that you'll approve of it. The project in question is:
Steemit Betting Community
So far, we have a discord server and a community upvote bot that currently supports 32 whitelisted members. I believe that you'll recognize some of the names.
We have a few contests running in parallel and a lot of new faces are showing up, but unfortunately, not all of them are interested in the long-term and are just trying to get some easy votes & sbd.
If you have some ideas on how to encourage community engagement and quality improvements, I'm all ears.
Since your in-laws won't believe you anyway, come and join us: https://discord.gg/SAEf6nV 😄
I might drop by :)
That is funny. Taraz the gambler. I can see the misunderstanding and their concerns. Show them what you do sooner than later. Life is a gamble. What we are all doing is a gamble. Nothing wrong in wanting something better for your family. It is a gamble worth taking as far as I am concerned. Nothing will get in the way of at least trying to secure my families future. It is a low risk strategy in our eyes but others don't see it like that. At least we are giving it a go at 100 percent and that is what matters. We can't all be wrong.
Oh, yes we can. Human propensity to be wrong in groups based on hype is high.
But... hopefully we aren't.
That's the thing, putting in effort to provide for those you care for and maybe even yourself a little can't be a bad thing.
I made a lot of money in online poker, and explaining it to my parents was never easy. They mostly perceive Steemit as blogging, which they're otherwise ok with, and they're used to because I've been doing it for almost 20 years. (Also I'm so private with them about a lot of things that they're happy to have more of a window into my life than they would otherwise.)
I don't know if showing yours the blog first and trying to explain the money second would help, but it seems unlikely to hurt.
Yeah, i think they will just be happy I am not gambling away baby food money.
Hahahaha
LOL
Living is gamble and everything has it's price. So why gamble on such small things as online poker :D when you can really go bigger? Crypto and steem in particular push many to learn something out of their comfort zone, and get better at things that they already do.
This makes the gamble all the more interesting and rewarding :)
Crypto is a lot less edgy as the pursuit of art, so your in laws shouldn't worry that much.
I don't mind too much as luckily, my Finnish is bad and so is their English. They can complain to my wife... :D
just tell them you are publishing articles online and people donate money if they like it ^^
It's still one of the best ways to earn cryptos without having to buy them first. Not as good as it was three years ago, sadly.
Good luck to you, to me, and to everyone who is taking the gamble :P I hope it works out for us.
Is getting a regular job more worth it than what I am doing here?... While a regular job has some security now, this has more risk, but in the long term, this could play out far better... Getting a 9-5 job, travelling, having less time in the day... but making more steady income for now... has it's appeal and drawbacks...
I work for myself so it is more a 24/7 job ;)
Stability (illusory) in the short-term leads to complacency (high risk) in the long.
I just heard that Bloomburg and someone else was opening up an Exchange . Like the NYSE . Making it possible for large investors to invest , like pension planes and so forth .
We all gambal in one form or another . where are retirement money goes , what school we send our kids too . the problem comes in when one feels compelled to wager .
As far as inlaws goes ....RUN don't stop . business takes you out of town . war , plagues any excuse LOL ....or just let the wife handle it and take ques from her :)
There are several they are trying to fast track in so they don't miss the start of the flood. Competition is already here.
This definitely is a gamble, and I think steemit/crypto is quite addictive too. I find it funny that because my relatives don’t really get how I earn money, they keep trying to find me a real job. Everyone is really worried and don’t believe when I say that I’m doing better in every sense than I was before in a real job.
It is so foreign to most and screams scam of some sort to those who don't look into it. Also, people here are so conservative when it comes to adventure.
This was a fun read. People tend to fall into stereotyping especially when we don't understand. But its up to a person being stereotyped if they're going to dwell with it with rage or just like you—laugh it out and continue to do your thing.
All the best @tarazkp!
I have always been into stock market because it is easy to analyse company accounting statements and it is interesting to follow finance market and all the gossip.
I am new to crypto but as every investment, it has some sort of risk to it. It has more upside and more risk to it. I think general rule of thumb with investments should be you should not risk more than you can afford to lose. Blockchains are the future, its good to be onboard now to be prepared for the time to come.
That said, i think you are doing fine job here! :)