I just read Kevinwong's post on becoming a witness here.

It's mad inspiring and filled with good information on Steemit, Blockchain stuff and building one's future.

Here's the thing: I met Kevin two years ago here on Steemit, when Steemit first came to life.

And our paths couldn't be anymore different. You may think since I joined early, I probably am balling today with a crazy amount of Steem and Bitcoin I have today.

Not at all man. Not at all. Here's my account of my own journey as a fuckup.

Here's the other thing: My mindset wasn't very mature back then and my resolve to look into a better, longer future was non-existent.

When I entered Steemit, I saw that it worked. I made my first Bitcoin here and it was worth $300+ bucks back then.

I sold it all immediately and considered it a big windfall.

At the end of 2016, Steemit totally crapped out and had shit prices.

I immediately concluded that Steemit was another internet marketing fad that wasn't meant to be. I thought it was super lame then as people continued to talk about it being something new and cool.

So I got the fuck out of here.

Around June 2017, I randomly checked back my account again for fun and discovered that it was worth thousands due to the SP I accumulated.

I was excited. I immediately concluded again that Steemit was working and that it was a cool thing. 

What did I do? I powered the hell down. I powered down everything and sold everything. Bitcoin was worth $3,000+ or so then. It was big money to me. I sold it all and yes, that was another big ass windfall.

I remember spending it on my first ever trip to Chiang Mai for my birthday.

Such a stark contrast to @kevinwong's journey huh?

I am no witness. I don't think I'll ever be. I don't exactly head any initiatives here either. And needless to say, I didn't practice any foresight.

If I was smarter with my money and Steem a year ago, I'd be a lot happier and secure today for certain.

But... I do feel I can still help the rest of you and teach you a thing or two. You can learn from a fuckup like me.

There is reward for being patient

After my Chiang Mai trip last year, for the first time ever, I thought to myself, "Perhaps I should really think for the future and start investing in something. Perhaps I should be patient. Perhaps I shouldn't be so scared and take a risk."

I still had like $1,700+ worth of Bitcoin. I told myself to hold it. That was my first foray into investing. 

And it paid off. I must have over $10,000+ with that since, a 100% increase or so I'd say.

So for real, learn to be patient. Invest in yourself for a future, not a short-term gain. 

There is an eventual gratitude for struggling and fucking up because it will make you strong as hell

For the better part of 2017, I was forcing myself to write everyday here even though each post made me less than 10 cents.

I didn't give a shit, because I knew I really had to persevere and start thinking about the future.

The struggle helps. It will make you strong. It is honestly a necessary part of life if you want to experience a form of success you can call your own. 

I know it's hard, but find it within you to keep going even though it sounds fucking crazy or that others think you're crazy. Most people in life will only do work when they know they'll get something from it. 

That is called having a job. If you want a guarantee, get a job. If you want to create things for yourself outside of a mere job, then you need to battle this non-guarantee.

When you stop looking for easy solutions after fucking up, you become a lot smarter than most people today

I am going to sound a little harsh here, but I believe it's important:

When I look at my friends who are all working in the Crypto industry today, all I see is bullshit.

• I see ICOs with overly-hyped Whitepapers.
• I see friends proudly tagging #cryptolife on Instagram and I think that's lame as fuck. They talk as if they're part of a revolution when in reality, they're just employees. They'll never be able to do what I've done.
• I see people getting excited about new coins, platforms and their supposedly revolutionary functions when really, it's all hype only. It's so easy to buy into the hype today and ignore proper purpose or even see through it to the end. 
• I see people predicting the markets as if it's prophecy when in reality, it's all lies.
• I see people simply getting in just to scam others.

All my struggles from last year and even today taught me to go back to the basics of everything. 

My best education in Steemit was writing on my own, talking to others and seeing what works for me. 

My best education in crypto is going back to the basics, wherein I studied and re-read the Whitepapers of only Bitcoin and Ethereum. Once you understand them, you'll be surprised how far away most ICOs are away from basic purposes today.

My best education in trading is trading myself, winning and then losing to create my own perceptions. (Honestly? Buy low, sell high. That's it. Anything beyond that that claims to be better is scammy bullshit.)

Start going back to the basics, believe in yourself, follow your gut and stop buying into hype. The basics are there for a reason. Anyone who ignores them and talk about anything trendy today are not people who truly care about something. My own personal beliefs in Steemit stem from the fact that I believe it changes the way artists work. Period. I seen it work for myself over two years of working hard. And that's not something anyone will ever take away from me with some hyped new shit.

When you're in it because you believe in it, you'll find amazing people who are meant to be in your life

Things started to fit together well when I people noticed my writing and with that, I made some cool friends, like @rok-sivante, @kenistyles and @sweetsssj.

When I chat with them, do you think we talk about Steemit, Blockchain and Crypto only? Do you think we work out arrangements on voting for each other?

Hell no!

We talk about life and all sorts of cool shit! Things that matter to us!

Pictured here is me meeting up with @kenistyles and @iamjamie in Chiang Mai. It was one of the more amazing experiences in my life as I knew there and then that they were sincere and genuine people.

I don't want to start preaching about how life is more than just work, money and all that.

But let me ask you this: How many sincere and genuine people do you have in your life now just so you can have  a genuine and sincere conversation with? One where you actually talk about things you all care about and also things that are bigger than your own lives?

It is my humble opinion that if your conversations are all about work, money or anything transactional just to benefit each other, that relationship will not last, no matter how many times you have made each other feel good.

That's it. That's what you can learn from a fuckup like me.

I have no extreme rag-to-riches stories.

I have no deep knowledge on the technical aspects of the technology or deep opinions on it either.

I have no numbers to show off.

I only have heart. This is one of the hidden, aforementioned basics. Start here and you'll go a long way.

Everything I have today, I created them on my own.

It's really okay to want to do your own thing and stay out of the hype bandwagon. It doesn't matter if you fucked up bad before too. There's no need to be so hard on yourself anymore.

You just need to work hard, believe in yourself and start thinking long-term. 

I hope this helps today.

*Dedicated to everyone here who has made a difference for me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.