His name was Glauber Contessoto.
Sporting wildly matted hair and a thick beard, he stood out from the crowd. Mostly because of his nickname – The Dogecoin Millionaire.
Contessoto, you see, had gone to the extreme with his investing strategy. He had stopped focusing on stocks, bonds, and savings to grow wealth. And he’d put his money into Dogecoin instead.
It was an odd strategy.
Dogecoin, you see, had started as a parody of the emerging Cryptocurrency trend. It was a tender sporting the image of a snarky Shiba Inu.
Much like hippies trading in beads, Dogecoin was not meant to be taken seriously by a wide audience. It was mostly a meme.
But Conessoto didn’t care. He was inspired by the potential of Cryptocurrency. And he went all.
His timing could not have been better. Contessoto’s $250,000 investment grew fourfold in roughly 70 days, making him an overnight millionaire.
This would have been a good time to cash out. To stash the winnings in a nest egg or reinvest them in traditional markets.
But Contessoto didn’t do that. He doubled down on his bet on Dogecoin. And he actively encouraged other investors to follow suit.
What followed next was all too predictable. Cryptocurrency markets saw a correction, and the value of Dogecoin started to plummet. The fall wasn’t quite as steep as the rise, but the tender ultimately lost 90% of its value.
It was enough to make a Dogecoin Millionaire suddenly worth only $100,000. Contessoto’s strategy had most certainly not paid off.
When I was a teenager, I’d often head to the convenience store down the street from school. I’d reach into my wallet for some allowance money, trading that cash for a newspaper and a bottle of Coca-Cola. And I’d stuff those items in my backpack.
I didn’t ride the bus in those days. So, when the last class of the day was over, I’d park myself somewhere in the lobby. I’d pull the brick-like cell phone out of my backpack, raise the antenna and dial my mother.
I’m ready for a ride home, I’d exclaim. Then, I’d put the phone back in my bag and pull out the newspaper and Coca-Cola. By the time my mother arrived, I’d read most of the articles and finished all of the soda.
These days, the waiting game is far less prevalent. I have my own vocation, my own transportation, my own living quarters.
And yet, I do occasionally find myself sitting in the lobby – waiting for a doctor’s appointment or to board a flight. Just like the old days, warding off boredom is my responsibility.
But instead of reaching into a bulky backpack for a newspaper and a bottle of soda, I now reach for my pocket. My mobile phone now fits there with ease. And it can do so much more than dial numbers.
Indeed, I can read news articles, schedule a dinner order, check the weather forecast, and even watch the ballgame – all from my phone screen. And if I need to buy something, I can do it with a tap of the device as well.
My smartphone is now one of the most essential accessories I have. Much of my daily life routes through its screen. And because of that, I always ensure it’s well protected, well maintained, and well charged.
This quantum leap in functionality hit the market in a flash. Apple released its first iPhone while I was still technically a teenager, and it contained many of the same capabilities back then as it does now.
I was only a handful of years removed from holding court in the school lobby back then. I probably could have ditched the newspaper for my phone screen.
But I didn’t.
You see, much like others, I was amazed by what Steve Jobs presented. But I was also disoriented by it.
What changes would I need to make to my daily habits with this new technology in hand? Which rituals would stay, and which would be usurped? How would I measure my own progress in the new normal?
These were tough questions without ready-made answers. So, I waited three years to get my first iPhone. And it took me three more years to cede my entertainment and commerce needs to its mighty screen.
Solve for X.
Those three words were prevalent in algebra class.
I’d long been accustomed to moving in straight lines with my studies. To memorize these facts, to read those chapters, to divide this by that.
Now, I was being asked to solve a mystery. To use the principles of arithmetic to determine what number the letter X represented.
I was annoyed at first. Why was I being asked to go through all this rigamarole? What purpose did it serve?
Perhaps sensing this frustration, my teacher gathered the class.
Algebra, the teacher stated, was not just about solving for x. It was about what X and the numbers around it stood for.
X represented a variable. Something that could be altered as circumstances shifted.
But the numbers around it? Those were constants. No matter what value X held, they would stay the same.
Deductive reasoning relied on both factors, my teacher explained. Change was an ongoing, volatile element of our world. But we could best understand its effects by holding something constant as we sought to isolate the variables.
This description continues to resonate today. In fact, it illustrates my slow adoption of the smartphone ecosystem.
You see, the iPhone might have been able to combine three pieces of technology – and one newspaper – from my arsenal instantly. But it would be a journey to get me there.
I’d need to weigh the changes against the constants to keep from getting lost. So, instead of trying everything at once, I’d adopt features one at a time.
So, my music listening habits would be the first to change, followed by my shopping habits, and my news reading ones. Such sequencing would allow me to systematically address each constant. To try each adaption on for size, and only proceed ahead when comfortable.
Moseying down the pool steps took longer than a cannonball off the diving board would have. But it served me well.
There’s a lot of clamoring these days about disruptive innovation, hot trends, and emergent opportunities. Futurists get plaudits. Nascent solutions get buzz. And figures like The Dogecoin Millionaire get rich.
It can seem as if leaning into the next big craze is the best way forward. As if changing all the variables at once is our only true path.
It’s not.
There is value in expanding our horizons, to be sure. But we’re more likely to maximize that value if we keep some constants in place along the journey.
This is the pattern of change we’re most comfortable with. It’s the pace of change that most fits our natural rhythms. And it’s the approach to change that best helps us hedge against risk.
This approach might not yield us new status, riches, or acclaim. But it will keep us from losing our ability to reason along the way.
And that is certainly a gift worth maintaining.
So next time you’re feeling the pressure to dive in, take a moment to consider the constants. And govern yourself accordingly.