Things are looking bleak. You can't sleep at night. Keep checking the prices every few minutes throughout the day. Get irritable with friends and family. Sound familiar? Well, the violent down move in the markets during the last couple days could cause any one of these symptoms to manifest. Perhaps all of them at once! But it need not be this way if we take a step back and methodically digest the information being flung our way. Here are a few tips that help "me" with my sanity. Well, most of it anyways.

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5))
Go Do Something Else for a While - Watch a movie. Play a game. Go to the gym. Read a book. Basically, tune your mind off from the markets by concentrating on something entirely different. Some may say that's easier said than done, but the minute you realise that you mindset is a fully self-controllable, highly manipulative tool, you're already halfway there. Us humans aren't as complex as we give ourselves credit for. It's like waving a stick in front of a dog. Persistent with something else enough times daily and it'll soon become our main focus of attention over time. Watching the markets day in day out ain't gonna change their irrational behaviour. But we can change ours.

4))
Understanding Market Cycles - The patterns of a healthy market are cyclical in nature and repeating. You get short to long periods of sustained downtime and vice versa when times are good. It just so happens that we're slap bang in the midst of in a bear cycle. And quite a drawn out one, at that. But will this last forever? Of course not! Remember the hysterical euphoria when BTC was speeding up to the heavens at the beginning of this year? Everyone was happy and people felt great, right? But such a crazy upmove was obviously going to be met with at least some type of equivalent reaction in the opposite direction. And here we are today. Doom and gloom all round. Will it end at some point? Yes, it will. There are good times on the horizon. It's just a case of adjusting your expectations and patiently waiting until those times arrive once more.

3))
Look at the Bigger Picture - Hours can seem like days when the charts are in a constant decline like the way they've been lately. But rewind back only a few months and see that the Steem price was much higher back then. It's just that we've fallen from those highs down to where we are now. Remember even further back, when price was at 7 cents. Had we rallied up to where we are now (40 cents), people would now be celebrating instead of despairing. It's all a matter of personal perspective. On the way back up, watch the misery melt away as if it had never existed in the first place.

2))
Don't Listen to Others - When markets are in freefall, the so-called "experts" start getting very vocal about what's going on and why you should be listening to their advice. So many people suddenly gain the holy grail of knowledge in all that is crypto related and feel the need to impart their worldy foresight upon your shoulders too. And to make matters worse, because of the emotional turmoil you've already been subjected to, this makes you more susceptible to on-boarding this special kind of bullshit. Listen, I'll give you the best advice you'll ever hear about the markets absolutely free of charge. "Nobody has a clue where they're going". Remember these precious pearls of wisdom and you'll create your very own mental "BS filtration" system, working 24/7. Which brings me nicely to my top tip...

1))
Have a Pre-Decided Gameplan and Stick to it - This is the number one piece of advice for anyone, especially in regards to the crypto markets and the terrifying volatility it attracts. If you have a mechanical strategic game plan all figured out "before" the markets go ape shit, this is the cleanest line of defence against making the wrong decisions. The best kinds are emotionless, disciplined and regimental implementations of whatever plan you wish to choose. Forget how the market fluctuates as that is not in your control. What "is" are your actions within the eye of the storm. And that's where we currently are. Always keep a level head and work according to what your realistic goals were. Maintain that stance and when you come out the other side, you'll be all the better for it. Don't let wild swings be your downfall due to these temporary and fleeting shifts in market sentiment. Use them to your advantages, such as investing a little more or simply HODLing.

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So there you have it. A few tips to get you through this madness. I mean, it ain't rocket science by any stretch but at the some time, crypto can be a lonely place. Imagine it's just you, with your friends and family simply not caring less about your personal journey to potential financial freedom. That sucks real hard, right? So knowing that you're not the only one will surely make you feel that we're all in this together. Which we are. There's no competition or rivalry here, guys. We all have exactly the same chance and opportunity offered as the next person. So let's make it count and we can all share in our success stories down the line. God bless and wishing you all the best. And most importantly, don't worry about it! Give those silver linings some time to push their way through...

Hope you enjoyed this post, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)

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