> I sold my $1000 in bitcoin as it was proving a distraction. I was constantly checking it's value.
One more reason to HODL. Buy some bitcoins, forget that they exist, check the situation 10 years later... either bitcoin doesn't exist anymore (more likely), or you are a millionaire (less likely, but the chances are better than in lottery).
My colleagues are watching bitcoin prices all the time... most of them don't even own any! I bought some, and they were like "hey, did you notice the price went up, are you happy?" or "hey, did you notice the price went down, are you sad?" every day. I told them "guys, please do not talk to me about bitcoins; I am going to check their price in 2030, and until then, I don't care".
I have an approximate idea of where the bitcoin is now, because seeing the headlines on HN, it is hard to avoid the information. But I don't know what happened yesterday, or during the last week. I could check the current price in 5 seconds... but I won't, because emotionally I just don't care. Instead I will submit this comment, and then try to forget that bitcoin exists.
(And this is not specific to bitcoins; I would do exactly the same thing with gold or stock market. Unless active trading is my job, which it is not, I do not need the daily numbers.)
I wonder why this is so emotionally easy for me, and many other people seemingly can't do it. It's not like I don't need money. I don't even feel particularly stoic. It is suspiciously similar to learned helplessness. Maybe I just focus my attention elsewhere... like writing comments on HN.