I am excited to be here and to be part of such an amazing community. I am a couples therapist by day and a Bitcoin treasury reserve manager for my family by night. :)
My Bitcoin journey is similar to most.
A couple of differences:
I worked as a stockbroker for major wirehouses in the 90s in San Francisco.
So, I had already been at the center of many opportunities to get in on big life-changing opportunities early. Still, I took the consensus trade and talked myself out of opportunities right under my nose.
I thought San Francisco house prices were too expensive when I was in my early 20s. I was making a ridiculous amount of money for someone that young. I used to have a Debt is Slavery sticker on my fridge. Doh!
I was convinced that Google IPO was too expensive, so I didn't buy it even though they were my client while I was a corporate client group director at Citibank. Amazon didn't make any money, so of course, I didn't buy it.
The nice thing about getting it wrong over and over and becoming aware of it is that it primed me to be ready for the next time the opportunity arose where the herd couldn't get it, and those brave enough to buy and hold would inherit the earth!
I almost fucked up with bitcoin too. When I tried to buy some in 2012, I needed to get off the couch to get my ID and verify my identity. That was too big an ask, so I didn't buy any. Arrgh!
In 2017, I thought I was a genius trading Bitcoin. My wife asked me if I was sure I wanted to stay a therapist when I could make so much money every day. Yep, I know everyone is a genius in a bull market. I fell for that, too.
Another big difference from most people's journey is I studied economics at Trinity College Dublin. I didn't even know I had been brainwashed. I was a lefty European-San Francisco progressive through and through. I had no idea I had been ideologically captured. Shout outs to breedlove22 (npub15vz…k4um) and LynAlden (npub1a2c…w83a) for helping me to get edumecated.
I was outraged by the 2008 financial crisis and the banks' bailouts, and I was an active participant in Occupy Wall Street. In 2009, I wish I had found the Bitcoin white paper rather than the Occupy Movement!
Needless to say, Bitcoin has changed my life and how I understand economics. Discovering Austrian economics and libertarian philosophy through my Bitcoin journey has profoundly changed me.
Today, I am blessed to live life inspired by a Bitcoin mindset:
I own my business, my house, and Bitcoin. That is all. Shout out to saylor (npub15dq…lm5m) and jack mallers (npub1cn4…3vle) for inspiring me.
I make sure I am a net producer and live within my means. Shout out to preston (npub1s5y…6q7z) for making me feel like I was going crazy by integrating the importance of continuing to give more value than I extract. Changed my whole mindset about what it means to retire, etc.,
These days, I dream of providing my wisdom and skills as a couples therapist and relationship expert to Bitcoiners. Bitcoiners are people, too, goddammit!
For the last 14 years, I have primarily served as a relationship expert to Silicon Valley's movers and shakers. I had to be good at something—couples therapy is my area of mastery/competence! And I love it. So, I am here for bitcoiners who could do with help figuring out how to make love and relationships work. Good luck trying to implement your right to divine individual sovereignty in your relationship!
I am also shifting my focus to giving my expertise and wisdom to my local community here in Hawaii. Spending the dollars I earn from the mainland here is not enough. I have to do more to help people here in Oahu. Shout out to petermccormack (npub14mc…frlx); what you do in Bedford is inspiring.
My big crazy dream is to educate local Hawaii residents who have been priced out of paradise about Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the equivalent of the 21st-century version of 18th-century Hawaii, Manhattan, and Miami Beach property. Hawaiians could buy Bitcoin right now from under the noses of the elites that took their sovereignty from them, hold the Bitcoin for a decade, and be in a position to get their land back or keep their Bitcoin forever.
If anyone here in Hawaii has ideas on how to spread this idea to the local community, please let me know.
A long introduction - but this is like my own coming out as a Bitcoiner - so I am primarily writing this for myself. If it is too long, I respect your right to keep scrolling. ;)
Mahalo!
Figs
#introductions