Most investors focus on finding new projects and trying to predict market moves. . This is the reason why self-management is a crucial skill for an investor to have. We don’t know the future, but we can prepare better for different scenarios I wrote before about different processes from the . Now, I would like to show you what skills are needed to find success as an investor. These competencies can also be used in professional and personal lives. Crypto Investment Framework I’d like to introduce you to the concept of self-management. We can manage many things like business, portfolio, or people, but we should always start with ourselves. Self-Management can be divided into five areas: Goals management Time management Energy management Focus management Emotional management I will briefly discuss every one of them in this article and show you how you can use them together to become a better investor. Goals Management . Don’t just think about them; create a system for achieving them. Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the process that leads to those results. Remember, . Goals allow us to focus on the most important things the more you let a single belief (goal) define you, the less capable you are of adapting when life challenges you Goals without a system won’t solve your problems: Winners and losers have the same goal (we need to change a system that causes those results) Achieving a goal is only a momentary change - you either achieve your goal and be successful or fail and be a disappointment Goals restrict your happiness - it's not about a single accomplishment. It’s about a cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement Goals are at odds with long-term progress Many people use the for designing goals: SMART methodology : Well-defined, clear, and unambiguous Specific : With specific criteria that measure your progress toward the accomplishment of the goal Measurable : Attainable and not impossible to achieve Achievable : Within reach, practical, and relevant to your life purpose Realistic : With a clearly defined timeline, including a starting date and a target date. The purpose is to create urgency. Timely : ● Why are you investing in crypto – what are your goals? ● How do you want to achieve them – what is your system (investment strategy) I wrote a guide before on setting your investment goals Another important aspect of goal management is the decision-making process. We can think about this as determining whether a decision is good or bad. This means examining the quality of the beliefs informing the decision, the available options, and how the future might turn out given any choice you make. Time Management When you decide what is the most important for you and how you want to achieve it, you need to find time to do this. . The most popular framework is the . Time Management allows us to optimize the usage of our time Getting Things Done I really encourage you to read this book or check other GTD materials. is a hot topic now. Most people have heard about it, and even more experience this daily. . Procrastination The key to overcoming procrastination is to better understand this phenomenon Why do we procrastinate? And how can we prevent it? -> It's normal if you're just starting out Boring -> limit the time of working on the task and often switch context Frustrating -> divide into small parts and do it when you have more energy Difficult -> create a plan Unstructured or ambiguous -> give it meaning Lacking in personal meaning (i.e., it’s not fun or engaging) -> give yourself a reward Lacking intrinsic rewards Habits are also a powerful tool in your struggle with procrastination. S . . mall changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold The real reason habits matter is because they can change your beliefs about yourself Crypto can consume all your time, so it’s crucial to spend it effectively. Start with an honest evaluation of your available time, and adjust your strategy to it. This is the reason why I created a – to optimize the process and save time. Cryptocurrency Investment Framework Energy management . Let me tell the story to check if it resonates with you. When your energy decreases, your need for willpower Increases Bill has a raw idea of why he is investing in crypto. He wants to be rich, but he is not thinking about any specific goal – “let’s see how it is going.” Bill also doesn’t have a written investment strategy. He wants to buy low and sell high new promising projects. To do this, he has booked a 30-minute time slot each evening and half of Saturday. During this time, he doesn’t just want to find new projects but also learns more about crypto investing. What is or ? DeFi farming Substrate Unfortunately, he doesn’t have enough energy to follow his strategy and spend this time as he planned. Saturday also doesn’t work because there is always something more substantial. As a result, he only invests in DeFi projects promoted by the biggest Twitter and YouTube accounts. You can fail even if you have a clear goal, a strategy to achieve it, and time to execute it. You need the energy to do it. . Think of willpower as another resource like time or money -> using self-control can lead to losing control Every act of willpower depletes willpower -> you can train it A consistent act of self-control can increase overall willpower There are no shortcuts when we talk about willpower. . Focus on: A healthy lifestyle is the most significant contributor to it Sleep Diet Training and physical activity Distress tolerance (limiting stress impact on your life like mindfulness, hormesis, or breathing exercises) Supplement (if needed) Focus management Information is no longer scarce, but attention is. . Focus is our mental stamina which helps us recognize the signal from noise Most of us lose focus because of the following: -> Goals management Lack of interest, not liking it -> Emotion management Negative emotions, afraid of screwing it up, hard/unpleasant -> Time management Poor organization -> Energy Management Low energy levels -> Environment and external factors Lack of control As you can see, we can mitigate all main reasons for losing focus through better self-management or by changing the environment. If we maintain it long enough, we can achieve a flow state. . It is a product of radical , , and (large swatches of the prefrontal cortex deactivated, our shut off, and our inner monologue rendered silent) functions triggering the whole-body transformation. is an optimal state of consciousness, a peak state where we both feel our best and perform our best Flow neurochemical neuroelectrical neuroanatomical inner critic All of this also applies to crypto. Think about what your biggest struggle is that limits your crypto gains. Emotion management . They consist of the following: Emotions greatly impact us, regardless of whether or not we are aware of them ("I am getting nowhere with this) Thoughts (tense, upset...) Feelings (tense shoulders, churning stomach) Bodily sensations (escaping...) Impulses/behavior Why do we have them? Emotions have many functions in our lives. Like: Signaling meaning of the event to self and others Enlisting social support Regulating behavior Maintaining social control and hierarchy Organizing activity Influencing cognitive processing As investors, we also constantly deal with stress. . . . Stress is not good or bad, but it can lead to the bad or good output This is information and energy we can use to make adjustments I like to think about stress as a gap between demand (environment) and our capacity (time, money, physical energy) Knowing this, stress is not a feeling; it’s insight: Look into the information it's trying to provide. Ask clarifying questions to get to the core (what is going on) Appreciate that you are aware of it (feel grateful about it) Use that same energy to fuel some sort of action Stress management can be the most crucial skill during a . . . bear market Investment is not a sprint; it is a marathon You can lose in a short time horizon but win this game in the long-term horizon What Next? In future posts, I will discuss the new Cryptocurrency Investment Framework process.. Stay tuned and follow me on to get a sneak peek of what is coming! Twitter