I am Sotiris Rovithis from Greece. My nickname is Roso. I am 29 years old. I want to quit my job and go full-time in crypto but almost everyone in my circle is against that. Let me explain why I am so sure that ignoring them is the best thing I can do right now. I will begin from way back.
I grew up in a beautiful home with a beautiful family of 3 (only child) so I got all the love and attention my parents could give me. At the age of four, my parents signed me up for piano lessons. My teacher did everything in her power to make me hate the piano. Not on purpose, that was her method of teaching. She was really strict with the technic, which is common in classical music studies. When implemented to young kids though, it is intimidating for them. All children want, is to have fun. They don’t understand why they are getting “tortured” in the class. It should be more like a game.
The gamification of music came for me at the age of 12, when my parents signed me up in a music school. There, I could select an instrument besides piano which was mandatory. So I picked drums. This is when I really got interested in music. I studied all day even though I had no one to push me. It seemed so easy and my passion was growing more and more. At 17 I had to decide what I was going to do with my life. By that time I had joined many bands and had classes with some of the best drummers in the world. My parents did everything they could to support me. They bought a really expensive drum kit and even built a studio for me to practice at home. When asked what I wanted to study after school the only thing I could think of was music.
But…
Until then I had the full support of my parents regarding music, but they had different plans considering my university studies. “Music is a hobby”, are four words I will never forget. “You can always play music while studying something serious”. This is what my parents believed and they convinced me as well. So I studied economics and I played music in my free time. The problem was that in the last year of university I had passed 20% of the classes.
One day, while meditating, I imagined that I met my younger self and I wondered what I would say to him. Do you know what I told him?! I said, “Listen to no one. Do what feels right to you and ignore everybody else”.
I am at a point in my life right now, where I may have to follow this advice.
Fast forward 5 years, I got my economics degree in 9 years instead of 4 (since I had no interest in the subject), but I stopped playing music at some point during that period. I had no love for what I spent 9 years of my life achieving. I had no goal. No purpose. I just knew I would do something beautiful in my life. I didn’t know what. I was lost.
In late 2020, crypto came into my life. I believed that I would get rich in a month. Of course, that did not happen. The months passed and while I could’ve made some money I lost it all when the market died after May 2021. I even borrowed some money from my parents and lost it as well. Instead of quitting though I knew I had found my passion again. It was the same feeling I had with music. It never felt like work to spend hours and hours learning about blockchains, web-3, DAOs, NFTs, etc. I experimented with my own NFTs and I even created a DAO to buy a floating city (although I haven’t communicated the vision (yet)).
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Today, I am 29 years old and I want to quit my job and go full-time into web 3. I face the same challenge I did back when I wanted to devote my life to music. My parents and my girlfriend don’t understand the potential of our space and they will not support my decision to “burn all boats” and chase my dream - to be free from geographical and time restrictions. I believe I can attain that goal through crypto. They say that in big decisions one should follow their heart. This is what I am about to do, even if everyone is against it. I will not make the same mistake again. I will follow the advice I gave to my younger self that day.
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What I need is time. I tried to dig into crypto while working in a traditional job but it’s not that easy for me. English is not my native tongue and this seems to be a big obstacle. At least a psychological one. Also, the time difference is a b#@ch. Maybe Will Smith can do it, in a movie, while working two other jobs, but it is really difficult irl. I need time to explore coordination tools but most importantly to engage in conversations with people in order to build self-confidence. It is hard to communicate your ideas in a language you don’t speak fluently while having to compete with native speakers, for the same web3 position.
But I know I can do this. I just need to get started. I will do this.
I want to quit my job and focus on acquiring the skills needed to take the leap and get a web3 job. The problem is that I need a web3 job to quit my irl job or else I’ll have no money.
So I decided to ask for your advice - guidance and also maybe to crowdfund. I am not sure what exactly it is that I will end up doing in this space but I am sure I will follow my heart this time and I will listen to no one. Our fear deprives us of our freedom. As a Greek poet said, ”We hold the keys to our prison”. My only fear is not being free to do what I want.
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WAGMI,
ROSO