I got into crypto in 2017. I’m not a billionaire, I don’t run a fund with a track record to flex, and I don’t need you to believe I’m some kind of expert. What I do have is a rule I apply to everything, including how I hold HBAR: if something starts to feel like it has control over me, I have to prove I can drop it.
The habit-versus-leash test
A while back I noticed caffeine had crept from “thing I enjoy” to “thing I can’t start my day without.” That shift bothered me more than the caffeine itself. So I quit for a month, cold turkey, not because coffee is bad, but because I wanted to know whether I actually controlled the habit or the habit controlled me.
The test is simple. First, identify the thing you can’t imagine skipping. Second, notice how much resistance you feel when you think about stopping. Third, actually stop and pay attention to what happens. If it’s easy, it was never really a vice. If it’s hard, that’s your answer.
Most people never run this test on anything. Dependencies stack without much notice: morning coffee, afternoon energy drink, evening wine, the phone check every few minutes. Each one feels harmless in isolation. You don’t find out what has a grip on you until you try to let go of it.
Why this matters for how you hold assets
I bring this up in the context of HBAR because conviction and dependency look almost identical from the outside. Someone holding a position for five years can be doing it from genuine research and patience, or they can be doing it because selling feels unthinkable and they’ve never actually pressure-tested why. Those are two different psychological states, and only one of them is a sound reason to keep holding anything.
I run the same experiment on my portfolio decisions that I run on caffeine. Could I sell this tomorrow if the thesis changed? Could I walk away from the position without it feeling like losing a piece of my identity? If the honest answer is no, that’s worth sitting with, because it means the decision isn’t being made by the facts anymore.
None of this is a signal to buy or hold anything
To be clear: none of this is financial advice, and it isn’t a case for HBAR specifically. It’s a framework for noticing when your own reasoning has been replaced by habit. Apply it to your positions the way you’d apply it to any other part of your life you don’t want to be run by autopilot.
The goal isn’t to quit everything, and it isn’t to prove you’re tough. It’s to know, with some certainty, that you’re choosing rather than just continuing. That’s the difference between a position and a leash.
Educational only, not tax, legal, or investment advice. Check primary sources and speak with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
