Bitcoin Regrets and New Beginnings

Like most of you, Bitcoin sounded intriguing from the get-go. I'm 23, and just barely getting into the BTC game. As an early adopter into other technologies growing up, a decentralized currency sounded fancy and profound. However, I never took the time to mine, or even conduct any research. I had only understood it as a "translational" currency for nefarious purposes, and immediately dismissed purchasing any of my own after hearing some obscure threats that it would be considered a crime to own cryptocurrency.

As the years passed, I saw its potential grow, and still, without reading a single article, assumed you needed to purchase the full BitCoin at once. I lived a relatively broke college kid life, living a fantasy that stocks were the best investments one could make, while personally being locked out from having the coin to even begin investing. I read a book early on saying that the best investment was one that you made in yourself. And so, I did. I devoured books on communication, philosophy, and the like. Over the years, I became a diehard fan of Terence McKenna and Alan Watts.

Bitcoin became a lost remnant in my imagination. I believed in the conspiracies of central banks, and didn't think decentralization would be feasible. Not without a fight. But as time ticked on, I continued down my own path of curiosity.

As a student, I started off with a community college degree in Anthropology, and later realized I ought to switch majors if I want to make some money. So I went upstate and dove into Computer Science. Big mistake. I loved using computers but had never tried my hand at coding. Within 3 semesters, I flunked out, got fired from a tech startup, and moved to the tropics with $400 in my pocket. This was 2016. Just a handful of BitCoin would have sufficed.

Being in the middle of an island with few businesses, and long winding stretches of road made for the perfect level of difficulty to exact the change I was looking for in myself. During my flunk out sessions, I spent a grand on a course teaching me how to freelance. I realized I had been conned - to a degree. I had over paid for something that was freely available on the net. For what? Convenience and the promise of results. He immediately began deconstructing ways in which he hooked me into his course through emails, webinars, and valuable content. Hook, line, and sinker.

I picked up a book on digital marketing a few months later, sustaining myself on a taxi driver's earnings. I worked 12 hour days, barely making ends meet on some months. I learned about drop shipping and Shopify, but later learned there was more of an art to it. With my background in communication and philosophy, digital marketing fit right in.

I started dating my girlfriend shortly thereafter, and the 12 hour demand was getting to me. I quit after 4 months and got some job as a maintenance guy doing grunt work for a property management company. It's a $200 a month pay cut compared to taxi driving, but I'm reclaiming 4 hours a day. I've been at it for 4 months now at this gig, and the nice thing is, I get to drive around most of the time, although it's usually to take out the trash or troubleshoot wifi. I've listened to podcasts from more successful entrepreneurs and have finally tampered down my own selling strategy.

At this stage, my girlfriend is working on her own Shopify store, and I'm doing pro bono work for a client while scrounging money to pay for Facebook ads. It's only been since 2 days ago did I talk to this random cable guy who told me he could live off bitcoin should they fire him. To my amazement, the price had surpassed the 3K mark.

So here I am. Dumbfounded, slightly regretful, and optimistic. I had all the chances to buy Bitcoin, to mine it, and to stash it. But I gave into my fears and let others make decisions for me. My girlfriend has just secured a higher paying job, which means we'll be able to finally pay for some ads. Between running our store, starting up a marketing agency, and being a cross between a life coach and a savage zen master, I am on a path to exact revenge on my former self.

This path hasn't been the easiest. Hell, I even lost 60% of my kidney function due to a crazy disease I learned I had. But I've refined my interpersonal skills, learned a marketable skill, and have been slowly but surely, coming up with a plan to make my millions. It won't happen overnight, and I'm not an early adopter who bought BTC for pennies on the dollar, but at least I'll have learned something more about myself than any BTC millionaire could have ever dreamed of.