Today I would like to return to a discussion that concerns all individuals and groups within Bitcoin as well as those outside it. Especially those on the outside, in fact. I have a story to tell: one of health, longevity, fitness, self-efficacy and self-esteem. A story of looking in the proverbial and physical mirror, recognizing that reality is not what was desired, and accepting the responsibility and accountability necessary to produce a life in which an individual is proud to find themselves.
I know what you’re thinking…and no, that’s not my story. Below are interview questions that the woman in question graciously agreed to answer for me in a written interview. I have added anecdotal information which was also provided through a telephone interview, as well as some personal insights.
This is the story of an asset that changes perceptions and thought patterns in such a way that a person has actually decided to improve their health and fitness because of money, because of of a strong and honest currency – because of bitcoin.
Their name and personally identifiable information such as job, residence, etc. were omitted to protect her family – but her “nym” (abbreviation of pseudonym) that she uses on Twitter will be provided later in the article. For now, I’d like the focus to be on her story, not her online identity.
Mike Hobart: “Did you have an ‘active’ lifestyle before you went down the bitcoin rabbit hole?
“I would say yes, I’ve always liked to challenge myself. But every challenge and goal I encountered was quickly followed by absurd self-destructive behavior, essentially undoing everything I had set out to accomplish. This resulted in many years of being severely disappointed in myself and at some point just accepting that I would never be, could never be, the person I had always hoped to be.
It is a series of obstacles that each of us often faces when we come face to face in the mirror of a reality that is missing according to our dreams and aspirations. Whether it’s body composition, nutrition, alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, mental health issues, etc., many of us fall into the psychological trap that my friend found herself. A mental and emotional trap that is most often experienced around a very painful and tumultuous word that I personally aim to avoid at all costs – “diet”.
You see, when reality gleans upon us, our vulnerabilities, our imperfections, and those areas of life where we know we are failing to do our best, it is quite natural, in a certain sense, to seek a respite from the routines we adopt with the aim of achieving a desired result. However, this is only natural when we perceive the engaged activity as a punishment – we do not seek opportunities to actively disengage from something we consider rewarding or something we have the ability to act on. . Seeing a healthy meal as a “diet” tends to immediately run into psychological resistance based on the mentality of preferring to eat something more “tasty”. I have some scary quotes on this because in reality most of the food choices that we find delicious, which are also not healthy, are due to a significant amount of sodium and sugar in the foods we would prefer consume – maybe even cravings.
“Imagine you’re walking down the street and a stranger walks up to you and asks ‘hey, open your mouth…close your eyes and let me put something in there…’ How are you going to react? That’s precisely how our relationships with processed food producers and our food choices work today!” – a hilarious point made by another humble Bitcoiner who wishes to remain anonymous
MH: “How has Bitcoin affected your personal views on lifestyle and health/fitness?”
“Everything, bitcoin has really changed the way I look at everything.
“All of the fundamentals of the Bitcoin network are sort of superimposed on a lens through which I now view the world – don’t trust, verify; proof of work; time and energy; get to work and get rewarded.
“Time and energy were the first fundamentals I started to integrate into my life. And, from there, get to work. Measure the work with metrics, and finally, see the rewards. C It’s so strange if you think about it, using the code…a network, to inspire success in your life.While at the same time, given the fundamentals of the Bitcoin network, it makes perfect sense.
It’s a powerful thing that our woman in question highlights: when someone reaches that point of revelation, when they finally click on it in an organic system, great changes are made slowly, painstakingly, with consistency; that the same reasons that big changes require many small consistent events over long periods of time to change the world, big changes in our bodies will also require extended, measurable periods of time.
MH: “What did the lifestyle change or upgrade entail? (Results)”
“Somehow changes happened unbeknownst to my conscious self. It wasn’t until much later that I realized how easy yet impactful these changes were. Other changes were everything. quite intentional, though painful and necessary.
“One of the biggest changes was that I stopped making excuses. I stopped telling myself that I couldn’t accomplish what I wanted to do. It wasn’t intentional though, it was a by-product of that lens through which I now experienced the world.
“Through this same lens, I looked intentionally and critically at myself. I mean that literally. I looked in the mirror and verified that this person looking at me…wasn’t well. It wasn’t the “me” I felt inside.
“I think it’s important to note that I had additional motivators that fueled my journey, like the fact that COVID wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon and a doctor’s appointment that was embarrassing for me. . The shame I felt presenting this disgusting physical representation of years of apologies and failures to my doctor. It was different now, how could my doctor believe anything I said if he could very easily verify from the outside that it wasn’t true?
“This series of events led to a series of significant changes in my life. I lost 30% of my body weight throughout this six month journey. I worked and now I am rewarded with a physical representation of how I feel inside. I basically reprogrammed myself.
Now, I wouldn’t be acting responsibly with my training in exercise science if I didn’t add a caveat to our discussion here: This is not a claim that anyone (or everyone) will know also such fantastic and fast results. Not only are our bodies different from each other, but so are our environments, relationships, and lifestyles. There is also a dynamic of diminishing returns, which many of you have probably heard of when it comes to investing, especially around the bitcoin adoption cycle. Our bodies are adapting, and so are the markets.
(Source)
Discussion
This story belongs to a woman that a few of you might recognize speaking in Twitter spaces from time to time as “HumbleWarrior.”
My favorite part of the Humble story is Bitcoin’s beautiful intersection, low time preference, investing, discipline, and many other concepts. Over the past few years, I’ve discussed how investing in Bitcoin is a poetic parallel to investing in healthcare. But it’s not just physical health; mental health is also a major benefactor of these two disciplines, as some of the most common mistakes made by investors (especially amateur investors) relate to psychological states of fear, anxiety and confusion, or managing biases such as sunk costs.
I hope Humble’s story helps you improve your life. No matter how much wealth bitcoin can bring to us and our families in the future, it doesn’t matter if we don’t have the physical and mental health to enjoy our lives appropriately and stay present in the moments that matter most.
The benefits Bitcoin is poised to bring extend far beyond monetary or economics alone, both in number and depth, and as long as we all work hard to continue to defend the Bitcoin network and its decentralized operations, I believe we can actually enact radically positive and powerful change in our world.
Not just in each other’s health, but also in the way our countries and states are governed and run. One of these most important points would be the separation of money from the grip of the state. If you agree, I ask you to review the Declaration of Monetary Independence, and if this document strikes you like myself and many other members of the Bitcoin community, then I authorize you to sign it… like Humble and I have done it.
This is a guest post from Mike Hobart and Humble Warrior. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.