Hello all… I’m gonna start my first post of the new year… A little different… Here I am embarking on 2018 with a dream… another year posting and hoping, and hoping and posting, and posting and hoping… Blah blah blah… Blah blaaaa…

Wow… I can’t take that any more… No one wants to read shit like that regardless - right?

I’ve come across quite a few of these over the last few days, you know the new years “resolution” post. I’m sure everyone has read at least one by now, the post that starts off with a promise and ends in a lie, that perfect blend of willful ignorance and delusional fantasy. The ignorance of believing anything you resolve to do is important, or has any relevance to the big picture. The delusion of thinking you will actually do it this time, all just to make yourself feel good.

All the lame bullshit promises to quit smoking, stop drinking, get to the gym more, read more books, finally clean out the garage, and the ever popular, not gonna do heroin any more – everyone should actually follow through on that one (jus sayin)… And the thousands of unfulfilled resolutions that do the rounds every year, and every year they stand zero chance of being anything more than the bullshit they were born of.

Forever forth known as “masturbatory self indulgence”… At least to me…

Ok then... Now that my first rant of 2018 is out of the way, I can get to the good stuff…

Changing my perspective…

It took me a while but I think I FINALLY figured out what I want Steemit to be… At least I’m pretty sure, sorta kinda, not completely uncertain but almost positive - I know what I want Steemit to be.

Confusing right – yah for me too…

Notice I didn’t say what Steemit is – I wouldn’t claim I had the slightest clue what Steemit is for anyone else. Obviously Steemit is different things to different people, and my perception will likely be vastly different than the next guy. I think for most people Steemit is nothing more than a novelty social media platform that somehow pays for content, for others it’s a community of likeminded people to exchange ideas, for some it’s a new business loaded with potential, and for a select few it’s a future trophy wife and a Lambo in the garage.

Regardless of where you fit into the overall picture, no matter if you’re here for the money, here for the friends, or here for the trophy wife and lambo, there’s one thing that binds us all together. Every one of us has a vested interest to seeing Steemit succeed, and I can’t think of anything I want more than the price of SBD’s and STEEM to continue growing.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t care why anyone says they’re here, it’s always the money that gets them here - right. How about you - what got you here in the first place, and whats keeping you here now.?

I can only imagine the life changing potential Steemit offers to people in Calcutta, Monrovia, or Buenos Aries. Take a second to ponder this and consider the implications - anyone with a cell phone or internet connection can effectively elevate themselves out of poverty. Combine the willingness to put in a shit load of hard work, a bigger shit load of time, and maybe just a little bit of luck, and there’s no good reason someone shouldn’t be able to make at least a dollar or two every day. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but considering that most of the world survives on less than a dollar a day – it’s fucking huge… That used to be called “upward mobility” and until my recent cryptocurrency epiphany, I figured it was all but dead.

Oops Sorry… I started basking in the glory of the blockchain and got side tracked…

Ok... Back to Steemit and what I want it to be…

On the rare occasion that I post anything on Facebook, I have the expectation of a certain level of engagement from friends and family (AKA my followers). Regardless of the topic, at least a few people will be interested in what I have to say, and its not uncommon for 30 or 40 people to actively engage in the conversation, whatever it may be.

I’m pretty sure it’s this expectation of engagement, and by extension the expectation of success, that causes much of my frustration at the lack of engagement, and therefore the lack of success I tend to get from Steemit. I only recently figured this out, and looking back on the “why”, I’m surprised I didn’t figure it out sooner. I guess it can be summed up in a word – Dumbass…

Navigating the Steemit waters isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do, and for someone like me it can be dam discouraging. That feeling of defeat when the hard work goes nowhere has made me to say fuck it more than once. The relentless battle for upvotes can really take its toll on your psyche. You have to do everything possible to get as many eyes on your post as possible, all the while trying to avoid unwanted attention that could prompt a downvote - it officially starts when we hit the post button, ends six days later, and usually sneaks up to crush whatever glimmer of hope you had - time after time…

Every one of us knows that feeling, and it sucks… Now think about this for a minute…

• In my personal life I have gained the respect, and in many cases, the admiration of people who know me.
• In my professional life people tend to do what I want no matter what, regardless of whether or not they want to – one of the perks of being the boss.
• In my Steemit life I struggle at everything I do – without much success.

This might not make sense – but I think my perceived failure with Steemit is directly related to my success in life. Considering this, I have come to the conclusion that the expectations that came with me where unrealistic, and now that I’ve had this epiphany, what am I gonna do about it.

I know I’m a little late to the party and my only response is “old dog new tricks”… Moving on…

The logical conclusion…

To continue doing the same thing expecting different results is the very definition of insanity - right…

So what can I do to change EVERYTHING…

I always come back to a post from a couple months ago by @kafkanarchy84. What he said has stuck with me, and it just about summed it all up… Im paraphrasing but it went something along these lines…

“Steemit don’t owe anyone shit”

…and you know what, he’s right… Every way you look at it, these five simple words, this one sentence pretty much sums up the reality that is Steemit…

I have also been thinking a lot about a post from about the same time by @snowflake. In Enter a whales mind he gives the reasons why he doesn’t vote for content even though it interests him, is high quality, and deserves more than it receives. The reason is actually pretty simple and makes a whole lot of sense – there’s no incentive for him to upvote anything when he can earn more from simply selling his vote to a bot.

I think there’s a lot to be learned from @kafkanarchy84 - just take a look at his latest post, obviously he’s doing something right. I do however think my answer lies more with @snowflake and the “what can you do for me” to incentivize my vote.

So what am I gonna do about it…

Here's what I propose to do - until my account is worth 2000 STEEM, I am going to give half (50%) of all liquid rewards (SBD’s) back to whoever upvoted my posts. Think about that for a minute and let it sink in - minnows, dolphins and whales. Upvote my posts, and get half of it (or more) back.

I’m not 100% certain because the math behind it all seems to change almost daily, but I’m pretty sure it will be of much more value than selling your vote to a bot. Not to mention that you'll have the added benefit of helping me to build my account into something... That is of course provided there's more to it than just money.

I still have to work up the finer details, but I should have it all together soon... Maybe I can even get @paulag or @arcange to show me how to pull the specific data I need out of a SQL query - instead of the long way around... Just maybe...

So to all the dolphins and whales out there... @snowflake @reggaemuffin @aggroed @berniesanders @stellabelle @blocktrades @adsactly @transisto Etc. Etc. Etc.... Help me build my account and make 2018 a great year for both of us...

I definitely didn't forget all the people who have given me much love over the last few months either - @theleapingkoala @crystalize @doc.hodes @doctorcrypto @steemmeupscotty @nedspeaks @steem-samiam @sultnpapper @openparadigm @preparedwombat @binkley @crimsonclad @minnowsupport @minnowbooster and @qurator - and sooo many more...

Thank you all... 2018 is looking like a great year already...