5 Absolutely Inspiring Steemit Stories and The Life Lessons I Learned From Them
They say that the human story is at the heart of everything, that it’s the prima-materia of how we each perceive the world around us , and that in the end, it is what inspires us to do the impossible.
There is no better measure of a social platform than the power of the human stories it contains.
For a very long time, I used to wake up, jump off the bed and immediately seek two things, black coffee and the news, after I was done with the news, I had a small selection of websites that I had to visit almost every day: Forbes, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, Inc…etc.
And almost every single day I would observe some article titled “The 10 daily habits that guarantee you success” or some variations of the sort, every single day. If it’s not in one outlet it’s in the other. But I never seemed to click in them.
Week after week, month after month, the time passed but those articles never seemed to run out of fashion, so I started wondering: How many daily habits does one person need? I mean, if someone were to follow all of those tips, when are they even gonna get time to sleep?
So one day I decided to read those lists that would supposedly guarantee my success, and much to my surprise, they were all extremely similar.
Also, they all had at least 3 or 4 habits that every single person on the face of planet is already doing on a daily basis. They shower, they eat breakfast, they brush their teeth… How is that going to set you apart? I thought to myself.
But there was one habit that was extremely predominant in those lists, I checked dozens of them, and it was always there, you couldn’t escape it if you tried. It’s like the Kardashian of habits.
This is the omnipresent habit: They make their beds.
So naturally, given my relentlessly curious mind, I couldn’t help but wonder: What possible relationship could exist between making your bed and achieving success?
A few days later, a friend of mine was going to interview a highly successful businessman that happened to be a billionaire, which one can only assume that he knows a thing or two about success.
So, is there anything you want me to ask him? Said my friend one day before the interview.
Ask him if he makes his bed!
Luckily for me, my friend was able to throw in the question in the conversation, and that gentleman’s answer was something similar to this: I’ve had help in the house for forty plus years, I can’t remember the last time I’ve made a bed.
So back to square one, what possible relationship could exist between success and making your bed? Needless to say, that little piece of advice had no chance of sticking with me, no matter how omnipresent it was.
Moral of the story: There is a lot of types of advice in the world, some good, some bad and some irrelevant, some would work for you while some wouldn’t. Some advice serve no other purpose than encouraging your capacity for illusion and some would change your life forever.
But the best types of advice, are those who are embedded in the middle of an honest story where the author is at the same time the protagonist of his own journey.
So there you are, reading those incredible human stories of courage, ingenuity and resilience. Totally absorbed by the story, and then all of the sudden, something inside you clicks, somewhere in the middle of that story you find something that resonates with you and changes the way you see things.
Personally, I found those to be the best kind of advice, the best teachers.
Ladies and gentlemen, here are some absolutely inspiring steemit stories, and the lessons I’ve learn from them.
From Despondecy To Exhilaration by @benjojo
Never lose sight of why you are doing what you are doing
“I’m as hopeful as anyone about the prospect of hitting the moon with one of the projects I’m interested in, but I try not to lose sight of the real reason I’m involved. It’s for the legacy. I want our children to grow up and have their children in a world that is free from systemic corruption and all the horrendous consequences it brings. Nothing can change the often terrible history that people all over the world live with today. But if we stop creating more in the present, within a handful of generations, perhaps the children of the future could be, to a greater and greater extent, free of it.”
Having a strong why, is with no doubt one of the most important tips that one can ever get.
If you’re why is strong enough, then it will give you the motivation to pursue your dreams. The “Why” is what encourages you when you’re feeling down, it’s what gives you the energy to push the extra mile… And more importantly if you have a strong why, the suffering becomes a whole lot easier.
As Bob Marley said: “If she's amazing, she won't be easy. If she's easy, she won't be amazing. If she's worth it, you wont give up. If you give up, you're not worthy. ... Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.”
Confessions Of an Ex Self-help Junkie by @rok-sivante
“This isn't so much my unique story as it is a mirror into archetypal patterns at play within each of us, to some degree or another. Some of my experiences might be slightly different than others', but the the lessons within them are fractal in nature - playing themselves out across multiple timelines in multiple lives amongst the intertwining threads of humanity's dramas, manifesting with slight variations for certain individuals - though at their core, the same.
Because it's possible that by putting my ego down to share such weaknesses may provide others here a reflection to see similar parts of themselves at work in their own addictions - and somehow be of benefit in generating greater clarity for several of us, that creates unforeseeable ripple effects doing someone some life-changing good down the line. Maybe, maybe not. But if there is the possibility of such good coming out of it, then fuck it”
Although the main story has a many more interesting things to explore than what I am about to say, and for some really strange reason, this what resonated with me the most:
Fuck it!
Yes, fuck it! I’m all for fuck it!, a lot of humanity’s most important achievements occurred as a consequence of some sort of ‘fuck it moment’, a lot of happy relationships have been forged as a consequence of a fuck it let’s married!
You see, fuck it is responsible for millions of scientific inventions, thousands of musical careers… Ok, maybe even the occasional genocide as well. But the point stands.
What I’m trying to convey here is that I had that wake-up moment as I was reading @rock-sivante sharing his thoughts, doubts and fears with us, his concerns that there might be a lot of similar posts already, his concerns that there may be nothing new or original about his story, that maybe it doesn’t help a lot of people…
And in the end, he said: You know what? Fuck it!
And the result ladies and gentlemen, is this beautiful piece that you can read and enjoy and hopefully forgive me for butchering it with my excessive use of profanity.
Love Will Set You Free
I know it sounds corny, I know it sounds cheesy, I know it sounds like a love song by some boys-band from the 90s, but it’s true, love will set you free.
Especially if you make it an official member of your decision making committee.
Life is all about choices and we all have some really tough choices to make, sooner or later we all do. Whether it’s dropping from college like @Kaylinart, leaving your stable job to pursue your dream job, or even jumping out of a bathroom window on the very day of your wedding as Julia Roberts did, though I’m concerned about why I know this.
Bottom line, decisions are hard to make, and by hard I mean terrifying.
The more important the decision, the more pants you’ll have to wash. The next time when you're faced with a significant life altering decision, just pay attention to your subconscious’ immediate reaction and you’ll see how strangely it starts resembling a cry for help.
Why do you think we’ve invented crystal balls and Tarot cards in the first place?
We all have coping mechanisms to deal with hard decisions, I for example tend to put my trust in the wise and sound strategy that is coin filliping. That way if my most immediate feeling is regret then I would know that I made the wrong choice, and if the feeling is relief then I would know I that I made the right choice.
Though I have to confess, I only do that if the decision have little to no impact on my life.
But if on the other hand, I found myself faced a major life changing decision, then what I’ll do is to try to figure out which option would take me closer to my aspirations or drive me away from them.
After exhausting the Tarot option and checking with the crystal ball obviously.
So we all get that moment in life when you have to chose between love, dream, passion at the risk of failure, or to chose safety and comfort at the risk of regret, and on that note, I have to highlight the courageous story of @kaylinart with an inspiring passage:
I Dropped Out Of College Then Something Magical Happened by @kaylinart
So far I have no regrets with dropping out of college, I’ve been working hard, and I am almost fully self-employed. I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I think for myself, which seems to be rare these days! I feel like college conditions you to be like everyone else. To have no mind of your own, I feel like quitting school has given me opportunities to learn and grow and make my own decisions.
And for once in my life, I feel completely FREE! It’s like when you get out for Christmas break for school as a kid. When you feel like you can do anything you want in the world. Except I get this almost every day, And once I’m fully self-employed I’ll be unstoppable. Drawing for 5 hours a day Is already a dream come true!
Thank you @kaylinart for your courage and for sharing your inspiring story!
My 9-5 Didn't Ulilize My Talents So I Hired Myself by @stellabelle
Striking it rich on YouTube these days is quite difficult due to the enormous amount of competition, but it’s not impossible. I always encourage everyone to go for their dreams, yet I also want to show the reality of the ad revenue numbers. Since 63,000 views results in only $67, your videos need a lot of views before any money will come rolling in. (YouTube deposits money in your account only after your ad revenue has reached $100.)
There are still a lot of voices absent on YouTube. I encourage you to speak your mind, use your authentic voice and let yourself go. The world is waiting for your unique vision!
The whole story I have to say is well worth the read, however there is a reason why I’m highlighting this particular section. You see, a lot of people usually grow disappointed with their projects and as consequence they try to warn people away from following their dreams.
To some of them, if I struggled with it then why should you have to succeed?
@stellabelle did the exact opposite, while she recounted her experiences and struggles with generating a steady income via YouTube, the part that is highlighted on her post is the one where she encourages you to follow your dreams.
As you can see fellow steemians, we are in a good company!
And She’s absolutely right, the world does needs you unique vision.
Moral of the story: Always have an abundance mindset.
And last but not least, I would like to close with this amazing post that clicked in my brain the moment I’ve read it, it and it still keeps me thinking even at this moment: How can I focus on my goals without letting life pass me by?
Behind Every Successfull Man by @dantheman
Over the past three years I have been swamped as I attempted to bootstrap BitShares and now Steem. The first 9 months of BitShares were very difficult. I was working around the clock attempting to bootstrap BitShares. It wouldn’t be uncommon for me to work 16 hour days 7 days per week….
…Somehow in the mist of everything I managed to meet Jenn. Meeting Jenn completely changed my day to day life. I finally had someone who I looked forward to seeing outside of the cryptocurrency world. My 16 hour days slowly morphed into 10 hour days as I regained some semblance of a life. I am fairly certain I would have burnt out years ago without her.
I know there are many people out there that are working around the clock on their own startups. I highly recommend you take some time away from everything to balance out your life. Building a successful startup is a marathon, not a sprint.
These are some authentic and wise words of wisdom from Dan Larimer, I’m glad he shared them with us, and I really hope that I will follow this advice in the future. It's a Marathon, not a sprint.
Ladies and gentlemen, these were some of the posts that inspired me the most. I hope that you've enjoy them, and I hope that you share yours as well so we can all learn from them and be inspired by them.
I wish all the best!
Wow, what a nice post. You're a good writer and a good curator, it seems!
Thank you Richard! I think should do another one about the top 5 insightful posts about Steemit sometime this week. Some of yours and @Cryptoctopus are definitely homage-worthy.
At the rate you're writing, we'll all be paying you homage pretty soon!
No man! I'm just humbly doing my best, trying to provide the best value as every one else. And to be honest I'm really grateful for the reception I'm receiving here!
So sincerely, thank you!
This is an excellent compilation of some great Steemit stories. I like how you introduced them, and then highlighted what you found meaningful in each one. I have read two of these but now I will check out the others. Thanks!
Thank you Kenny! Actually I was considering one of yours until the last moment, it’s really inspiring but I was fiction and I couldn’t post it :)
The thought experiment one..
Ha, not a problem! You picked some great ones to showcase, and thanks for mentioning mine, here in the comments! :-)
I can't describe how deeply touched I was to read your post when I woke up this morning. To learn that some of my words resonated with you literally brought a tear to my eye. I found the whole of your post to be uplifting and though I'd already read all the posts you refer to.....I enjoyed your perspective on them and loved re-reading them all. I find this post, as well as a few that others have done, exemplify a very exhilarating means of connecting with each other here on Steemit.
I know Ben, I feel the same. And they say that we're growing disconnected with each other. I think that human dynamics would just take some time to re-arrange, but we'll become more connected than ever. Plus, we learn a lot from each other.
Plus, steemit, it's just great! I think Ned and Dan did a spectacular work for making this happen. So why not use it to inspire each other, right?
Glad, you like it man!
Thank you for this! I look forward to diving into each one. I know what you mean...I do a bit of eye-rolling myself every time I log onto medium.com to post a story...refreshing to see there are others also waking up!
It's true! it is refreshing. I'm glad you like it.