What is a “long-termist”?

Long-termist seems to be a very unpopular word at the moment, because most people in the circle are pursuing "opportunities to get rich quickly" and "immediate wealth feedback."

In most people's minds, long-termists are equivalent to "Holders". But Holders are more about investment strategies. They are a group of people who have a "long-term holding asset" strategy; and long-termists, in my opinion, have different and richer connotations.

In my mind, the definition of a long-termist can be summarized as follows:

People who have been actively involved and making progress in the Crypto industry for a long time

This definition includes the following aspects:

People: This is a general term. It can be an investment institution, a project owner, or an individual; it can be a trader who does transactions, a researcher who does research, or a technician who sells tools. There are many different types.

Long-term: reflects a kind of ideological persistence. Many people enter Crypto for short-term behavior, thinking that they can speculate for a while and then withdraw, or make money in the bull market and leave in the bear market. Long-term investors want to go through the bull and bear markets with the industry and witness the development of the industry together;

Positive: reflects the attitude of participation. Many people think of the money in this industry as "side money". Due to the lack of supervision, all kinds of "cheating and fraud" are rampant, which has no positive effect on the industry itself. What the positive side wants to emphasize is "to make money, you must make it in a proper way" and "at least do not have a negative impact on the industry";

Progress: It reflects the requirements for ourselves. We can try to introspect and see how much we have changed during the years of participating in Crypto. We should focus on whether we have made progress in which dimensions, whether it is trading level, industry knowledge, or circle resources... If we always stay in the same place or even regress, it will be difficult to become a long-termist in the end (because it is difficult to get positive feedback in terms of psychology or wealth).

How to become a "long-termist"?

Because I have no experience as an "investment institution" or "project party", in this part, I will use my shallow knowledge to discuss with you "how can an independent individual become a long-termist."

1. Clear positioning

Please carefully examine the people around you who are involved in the Crypto industry. What changes have they made between one year ago and one year later?

Most people may have already left the circle, and most of the remaining people are probably talking about which coin to speculate every day, maybe contracts, maybe local dogs, year after year, it seems that there is not much change...

Many people who participate in this circle only set the goal of making money, but do not set a path goal for themselves, that is, "how can I achieve the goal of making money."

Therefore, most people will wander around every hot spot in the market. If it is hot today, they will do it. If it is hot tomorrow, they will rush to do it. If it is hot the day after tomorrow, they will rush to find machines to mine. However, they have not thought about their own ability scope and ability advantages. You cannot understand any track by just reading two articles. It is the same for robbing, but others get weight, while you are witched; it is the same for mining, but others can continue to mine, but you bought a machine but it can't run; it is the same for going to do it, but others earn dozens of times, while you lose money...

Finally, I decided to trade in cryptocurrencies. Trading in cryptocurrencies is as simple as clicking the “buy” and “sell” buttons. You don’t need to think too much. But is trading in cryptocurrencies simple? I think trading in cryptocurrencies is the most difficult. Do you have a standard for selecting targets? Do you have a perfect trading strategy? Do you have the confidence to stick to your strategy? Do you have the ability to withstand the pressure when facing large fluctuations in the market?

Therefore, positioning is critical!

You need to think carefully about where your strengths lie and find your own position.

If you are good at technical analysis, you can try to be a "researcher"; if you are good at hair pulling, you can try to be a "hair puller" or a "hair pulling blogger"; if you are good at trading, you can try to be a senior "trader"; if you have resource advantages, you can try to be a "moderator"... Of course, I am not asking everyone to focus on only one aspect. Maybe you can "hold multiple positions", but if it is difficult to do well in one aspect, it will be much more difficult to "develop comprehensively".

Find your own position and set such a goal, work hard to achieve it, and see the results after one year, no, half a year.

2. Reasonable Wealth Expectations

I believe that the wealth expectations of most people in this circle are "financial freedom" and "getting rich quickly", which include requirements for "total amount of wealth" and "time to obtain wealth".

So why are “get rich quick” stories so appealing (even if it’s easy to prove that some are fake)? Because they’re so tempting and they fit perfectly with our beautiful ideas about what it means to be in a circle.

But the fact is: look at the people around you who play Crypto, what percentage of them have achieved this goal? (Note that it is a percentage, don’t just look at individual cases, if individual cases don’t happen to you, they are actually meaningless)

Let's do some research to see how those who did get rich overnight are doing now. Are there many people whose final outcome is not good? It is actually more difficult to "keep wealth". I know someone who went from 10 to 800, but in the end, it was all back to zero. You may think this is a kind of training, but most people can't get over this kind of experience.

Recently I saw a view that the Crypto industry has no value and has only created a big casino. This view has been recognized by many people. I think this is an illusion magnified by "unreasonable wealth expectations". Everyone wants to get rich quickly, and this kind of story has the most traffic in the market. However, under the extreme PVP in the field, one person makes a lot of money, but behind it are actually hundreds of thousands of people losing money. So if you think Crypto is a casino, then I suggest you quit the circle now, because the casino in Crypto is very unfair, with all kinds of insider trading, it is better to go to Macau casinos. The essence of Crypto is by no means a "dopamine game". Long-termists should continue to pay attention to its changes to the real world.

When faced with your own “get rich quick” mentality, ask yourself: “Why me? Am I the chosen one?”

Therefore, reasonable wealth expectations are very important. It will allow you to face the market more calmly, and it is also a quantifiable goal that will make your steps in the circle more stable.

My wealth goal in this industry is to strive to reach my salary level in the traditional industry (30) in a relatively stable manner within 3-5 years. I know that many people look down on this number, but for me, I think it is enough.

3. Everyone loves money, but get it in a proper way

Everyone has different ways of making money in this industry, but not everyone thinks that "making money in a proper way" is the right path. Some people start groups to reap the profits of group members, some people do insider trading to reap the profits of the community, some people commit fraud, and some people steal...

If you want to survive in the industry for a long time, "reputation" is actually very important. Many people may not agree with this and will use some "previous big cuts" as examples. Maybe our retail investors' memories are as limited as fish, but "historical records" are always there, and it is only a matter of time before they are discovered, especially in an era of high information flow like now.

Sometimes, I feel that "excessive wealth expectations" and "lack of supervision" are the main reasons why some people "make money in an unlawful way". The inability to achieve the wealth goals they set makes people start to think about more speculative or even shady things. The vague supervision means that such behavior will not be effectively punished, thus encouraging this trend.

Since we want to be long-termists, we should have our own "persistence" in deciding what money we can make and what money we cannot make.

4. Maintain a learning attitude

Many people told me, "Learning is not important. What's the point of learning so much? Making money is the bottom line."

This sentence sounds fine, but think about it carefully. If you don’t learn, where will your ideas for making money come from? Where will your basis come from? Where will your confidence come from?

Of course, learning does not mean that you can make money, but learning can give you a better understanding of the entire industry, more basis for your own judgment, and at least a clearer understanding of how money is made and lost.

I encourage everyone in the community/Twitter to keep learning, and I am also practicing this myself. Although my progress through learning is slow due to my limitations in level, over the past year or so I can feel the difference between myself and before, and my understanding of many things has indeed reached a deeper level.

5. Refuse internal friction

Internal friction is very draining and can also affect your mood. My feeling this year is: It is very important to keep your body and mind as simple as possible. It is very important to maintain a stable mood, which can significantly improve efficiency.

Most of the internal friction in this circle comes from "anxiety caused by wealth events" and "losses caused by market fluctuations", both of which are related to money.

Therefore, reasonable wealth expectations are an effective solution.

Another simple way is to "simplify your investment", set a logic, and then trade or invest, make appropriate feedback and corrections in the middle, do not change your mind every day, and do not trade rashly due to emotions.

Another point that may work is: don't care too much about what others think, do what you like, don't seek others' approval, and just follow your own heart.

Finally, let us walk hand in hand on the road of becoming "Crypto Industry Long-termists"!