Min/Max is a strategy commonly employed in gaming. The highest priority stat points are maxed out while the lesser gains are somewhat ignored. Sometimes this works out, sometimes not. If you create a character that does the most damage but dies in one hit... you better not get hit.

If you're playing an MMORPG you know what the tank is supposed to do:

Tank!

Your tank should absorb and mitigate as much damage as possible so your healer doesn't run out of mana. Maybe your tank gets the idea that they want to stack dodge stat points. For the sake of argument, let's say they could choose between having damage reduced by 60% or increasing dodge chance by 80%.

Now, a lot of people here would be tempted to take the 80% dodge. They're only going to actually get hit 20% of the time. Seems pretty good. However, what happens if they randomly get crit 2 times in a row? Zero mitigation, Dead. Game Over.

On the other hand, when 60% mitigation (flat reduced damage) is chosen they become much more immune to violent swings from lady luck. All of a sudden they can make it through the unlucky runs whereas before they couldn't... even if the dodge strat seemed like such a good idea at the time.

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Stop increasing volatility/risk for gains over time.

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This is especially true in the crypto market. This unregulated Wild West is completely unforgiving and volatile. We often find ourselves increasing our exposure to volatility rather than playing it safe. Everyone wants that big score.

Everyone likes to min/max

Everyone likes to get the most benefit for their investment.
Unfortunately this is often a needlessly risky strategy.
Why go all in on an asset that could go x100 or lose 99%?

That's just greedy.

And there is really no reason to be greedy in this space. x2 gains every year aren't good enough for you? Is that really a reasonable expectation?

The irony of it all is that if we played it safe we'd probably still make over x2 gains per year. There are several trading strategies I plan on employing over the next year to help me become a more consistent gambler in this space.

Dollar-cost averaging

This is something that really everyone should be doing. Cost averaging is guaranteed to lower volatility in the long run. You'll make less money on lucky upswings, but much more importantly, you'll lose less money on unlucky downswings. My target for dollar-cost averaging is about one month at this point.

There are times in the market where I think I should be buying or selling, but not exactly sure when. The one month window usually works out pretty well, and you can time in some nice trades as the market moves. Just remember, don't spend it all in one trade! For me the rule is 25% max a week.

Never going all in.

We should always have a stable-coin or USD hedge to give us the wiggle room to play the market. I've gone all in way way too many times, and I've always regretted it. Having a stable hedge against the market is important for having the options to make trades, but the ultimate use-case in my opinion is to just have it there so you don't go on tilt.

TILT

When you employ extremely risky mix/max strategy in the market you're going to get burned. When that happens, how will you react? Most people react very poorly and start making even worse decisions in the moment. It's the nasty domino effect of going on tilt, and should be avoided at all costs.

Never invest more than you're comfortable losing. We've all heard this 100 times, yet how many of us can actually say we've achieved this level of Zen when it comes to gambling on the market? Very few. For most, it's more of a goal than an actual thing that can be attained.

Live in abundance.

Easier said than done, but if you live in abundance then you will never go on tilt. You've changed your mental state to one of contentment and security. If some of your investments fail, you're still good to go.

Again, most traders will never attain this state. No matter how much we have, we often find ourselves thirsting for more. Only the truly disciplined will be able to step back and say:

You know what, I have enough now. I should play this game even more safely.

Conclusion

And play it safe, we should.

Imagine if the value of Bitcoin continues to double every year.

Let me give you a reminder:

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2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
$100	$200	$400	$800	$1600	$3200	$6400

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Jan	Feb	Mar	April	May	June
$3467	$3733	$4000	$4267	$4533	$4800

July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
$5067	$5333	$5600	$5867	$6133	$6400

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Even if Bitcoin is increasing in value exponentially every year (2^x) since 2013 that puts it today at $5600.

Let that sink in a bit.

Lower your expectations of making 100x gains. You don't need them, and having that mindset will invariably cause us to make poor decisions based on greed and scarcity.

Thought experiment.

What if you knew that Bitcoin was doubling every year and you somehow managed to attain $40,000 worth of Bitcoin? Essentially, you'd be set for life, and so would anyone who listened to the merits of crypto and decentralization.

Does this sound possible to you? Honestly, it should. The technological advances humanity has made over the last few decades are more than enough to provide everyone with the resources they need.

It's the centralized distribution that sucks.

Fix the distribution, fix the world.