Dawn til Dusk til Dawn

I live in the north, so as the "dead of winter" approaches, the days get quite short. For example, these pictures were taken on my way to work this morning and I was at work before the sun broke the horizon. I am going to spend before sunrise til after sunset in the office. Sunrise was after 830am and sunset will be at 345pm - so I don't have to be here many hours to be here "all day".

Last night, the price of Hive pumped up slightly and moved from 85 to 105, about a 20% shift. With the stake I have, that amounts to almost a year's salary added to the technical value of my Hive account in a few hours. It has dropped back a bit now and I didn't sell any at all this round, but it is still quite incredible to me still, as the real world of my life doesn't consider these gains real, as they are completely unrealized.

I was thinking about this a bit in regards to my work however. It is hard to concentrate on doing my job that pays okay, but takes a large amount of my time and energy, while these kinds of movements are being made. If my plan comes to fruition over the next year or so, I am hoping to have enough passive (or near passive) revenue streams incoming that I wouldn't have to work if I choose. As I have said, this has to be sustainable through the "thick and thin" of the markets, so I am not close to that yet.

I suspect that once the top of this bull is reached, the market is going to regress well back into a deep bear, and although I suspect it won't be "as deep" as many might think, it will certainly trim back earning potential, even on assets such as Splinterlands. They might keep gaining players, but the yields for owners will most likely decrease as the markets retract too. I would posit that the future bear will average 10% of the high, meaning there will be a 90% retrace, perhaps more on some tokens.

For me, this means that I whatever revenues I am getting at the highs, I have to be prepared to "lose" 90-odd percent of the value. Currently, that wouldn't cover close to my salary needs, so there is some way to go to set up for that. But, it would still give me a relatively significant supplementary income, which would be like working a second job part-time, without having to do the work.

What I was wondering is, how do the billionaire businessmen really do it? A lot of people assume that the reason they keep working insane hours is out of greed and ask of them, "Don't they have enough?" - But I don't think even the most powerful greed would be able to stay motivated unless they at least simultaneously really enjoyed what they were doing. For example, I completely understand why many people who are earning through Splinterlands are no longer posting unless they actually enjoy it.

I just don't think the "greed" aspect holds up in court for the people who have money coming in easily. I am sure they enjoy getting paid of course, but to remain dedicated takes more than the drive a salary brings. It could be that they see what they are doing as actually being valuable to the world and likely, define themselves by the perceived value they add.

Self-perception doesn't have to align with reality, but I also think that most people have very little understanding about what actually motivates the wealthy to keep working when they don't have to. Most seem to dream about not having to work, which means that the evaluation of those who keep working when they needn't, tends to be unflattering. If I consider success in my career as not working, than those who keep working are not successful, or are broken, or are greedy.

I don't think this is true.

At least for me, I like the idea of being able to add value and I see some of my work a bit like being an artist. I think that an artist need never stop their art, no matter if they are successful or not, as there is always more to explore, more to learn, more things to investigate and evolve. I see the idea of "stopping" work as strange, just because enough money is coming in. I think most people would think the same if for example a sportsperson came out and said, "I love the game and I can improve even more, but I have earned enough money, so I am quitting".

Those athletes can earn a lot more than many business people who are seen as greedy for keeping on working, yet there seems to be a difference when it comes to earning money directly.

I am not great at earning, as I am far too unstructured and do not care about maximizing my time or effort. I am pretty passionate about doing a good job however and I dislike letting people who are relying on me to do something, down, so I end up working a fair bit. My income IRL doesn't reflect that work though and my online potential is definitely not passive at the moment, so what ends up happening is, regardless of whether the days are winter short or summer long - I am generally working from dawn til dusk and dusk til dawn.

Weirdly for some perhaps, I think it is part of the reason I am able to keep going as I do. Yes, I get tired, but my motivation doesn't wane when I am doing something I believe adds value. It is only when the value added is no longer relevant enough to do the work, that I start to shift my attention elsewhere. One thing that is brilliant about crypto in general, is it is 24/7, 365 days a year and holds near endless possibility.

There is always more potential beyond the horizon.
Well, unless the earth is flat.

Taraz [ Gen1: Hive ]