Author: Carter Thomas
Compiled by: TechFlow
At a party hosted by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut told his friend Joseph Heller that the party's host - a hedge fund manager - had made in a single day more money than Heller had made from his wildly popular novel "Catch-22" over its entire history. Heller smiled and replied, "Yes, but I have something he will never have - enough."
Between the ages of 0 and 25, our brains complete most of their development. In particular, we gradually learn to rely more on the prefrontal cortex, rather than the emotion-driven regions of the brain.
We learn to think rationally and make decisions based on "what we think is right" rather than "what we feel emotionally."
When we study mental health and addiction issues, we can clearly see that this period is crucial for our growth. Sometimes we are forced to face unexpected trauma; sometimes we are already addicted to substances like alcohol and Adderall by the age of 20;
Or our brains have been completely hijacked by the "dopamine era" - a euphemistic term referring to how screen time and social media have seriously disrupted our ability to disconnect from the real world before our bodies have fully developed.
All these factors are quietly changing the way our brains function, making it increasingly difficult for us to maintain clear thinking in a world where emotions are pulled daily.
Now we are entering a stage of the crypto market cycle where rational thinking becomes increasingly difficult.
If you've already made big profits, you may feel the market can still double or triple; if you just broke even from the 2021 highs, you'll convince yourself that this breakout is the opportunity you've been waiting for a year for;
If your performance is worse than the market, you'll feel strong FOMO and frustration, and may not dare to exit.
Underlying all of this is the same thing - your prefrontal cortex is unable to withstand the onslaught of emotions.
The mind is an excellent servant but a terrible master.
The original title of this article was "Enough", because at the end of the day, what the market really tests is whether you know when to stop. That is the essence of the problem.
Can you make a wise decision and then decisively withdraw? Can you hold on to the money you've made? Conversely, can you cut your losses before the losses completely wipe you out?
The market, especially a volatile one like crypto, is not about who makes the most money, but who can retain the most wealth five years from now. After paying taxes and avoiding the impulse trades and irrational investments of the bull market peak, how much will you have left?
The ultimate goal of this journey has never been to make an astronomical fortune, but to make "enough" money and keep it.
Everyone has their own definition of "enough". Some feel that $10,000 can completely change their lives, while others believe they can't be satisfied without $100 million.
But what's truly important is whether they can actually choose to withdraw when they reach their own goal.
Ironically, we could have defined what "enough" is, but we're always immersed in X.com (Twitter), constantly surrounded by bull market stories and profit/loss screenshots, fueling our desire for more.
As someone who has been through several crypto market cycles, I can tell you with certainty that you will never feel you have enough.
Even if you buy at the bottom and sell at the top, you will still feel unsatisfied.
Even if you open your Phantom wallet and can't believe this huge sum now belongs to you, two weeks later you still won't be able to resist trying a few more "seemingly simple" trades.
People enter the crypto market because they are inherently unsatisfied people. They enjoy the thrill of risk, while deeply fearing the passage of time. They are afraid that if they don't seize the opportunity now to create wealth that can change the lives of generations, it will be too late.
This mindset is precisely what keeps you trapped. Over the next 4 years, you may continue to chase that elusive 100x return, believing that's the only way to be "enough". In this mentality, you will ignore the fact that wealth accumulation takes time, only thinking about how to surpass others quickly, fantasizing that if you just make a little more money, you can fill the "sense of fulfillment" that has been missing all these years.
However, the reality is that this sense of fulfillment will never truly come for most people.
Whenever the market top arrives - maybe today, maybe a few months from now, maybe the end of 2025 - you will still feel it's not enough.
Even if you see the market experience the craziest surge, with all the top signals flashing, and you sell all your coins for huge profits, a month later when you see another meme coin skyrocketing, you'll still feel it's not enough.
Even if you take profits and protect your trades as the market starts to correct, you'll still feel it's not enough.
In this market, there is no outcome that will truly satisfy you. Therein lies the problem - making money at this pace will cause most people, especially those easily swayed by emotions, to lose their rational thinking ability.
The only answer is to accept the reality of the crypto market and recognize that "comfort" is your biggest enemy when you try to make money. If you don't want to experience the ups and downs of wealth repeatedly, you must replace the excitement with a mundane but viable plan.
Accepting this may make you feel disappointed or even pained, because you have to face the fact that you won't become a figure remembered in crypto history like Cobie or Bonk Guy. You may never become the person you've always longed to be - someone loved and unconditionally admired.
You must shed these self-driven fantasies and accept the reality of the market. None of us are special, most of us are just lucky enough, or rational enough, to withstand the volatility.
This is not a price prediction - no one knows what will happen next. It's just a reminder: you will never feel you have "enough".
Even if Bitcoin goes to $300,000, you'll still feel it's not enough; even if SOL goes to $1,000, you'll still feel it's not enough.
You need to learn to make decisions outside of these emotions, just as you need to eat healthy and exercise regularly, even if you don't want to, because you know it's the right choice.
Sadly, very few people are able to actually make money from the crypto market after taxes. And even fewer are able to hold on to that wealth a few years after the bull market ends.
The only way to ensure your success is to stop relying on intuition and start thinking rationally. Intuition can be left for your personal life, but the market only believes in logic.
This game should be fun, but not comfortable. It should be like physical training - challenging, arduous, but rewarding. True satisfaction comes from continuous progress, not from the vanity of showing off.
When you truly realize that you already have "enough", that's when you've won. And that's when you'll truly start to become truly wealthy.
