A little late, but continuing what I started, after my introduction post on May 14th, here is my third monthly update.

It represents my "log" of sorts, giving my readers a monthly view, through my eyes, of my "journey" into this new "virtual world" based on the creation of our Steem blockchain.

So ... "What are you doing 'in there' @roleerob and how is it going?"

In answering, this monthly update will not be as extensive as what I have written previously. Before I get into the details of why, first a quick overview.

Status or "Executive Summary"

To begin, here is a brief overview to answer the "how is it going" question we should probably be "checking in" with ourselves and answering, from time to time.

Statistics

There is an old saying, "numbers don't lie." Yes, well, there is also an old joke about the executive asking the accountant, "what do the numbers say about how we're doing?" to which the accountant replied, "what do you want them to say?" ...

Required to issue a monthly report for most of my career, with numbers to quantify progress, here are a few:

As written last month, in my "journey," these appear to me to be the big three. Summed up together they seem to best quantify our influence on adding value to the Steem blockchain. Given all of our rich diversity, I trust we all have one focused objective in common. We want the value to go up!

Overall, then pretty modest progress. These simple statistics aside, I would like to quickly touch on one other number.

Still (Somewhat) Engaged

Last month, I had a total of 200 posts. This month I have a total of 319 posts. So, why do I qualify my engagement to "somewhat?" Until today, I had not written a post since July 26th - my Travelogue 1 post, while on vacation. 👎

Yet, I managed to create more "posts" than the previous month!? That is based on how this particular stat is reported. Both posts and comments / replies ("curation") all get rolled up together as posts. So, @abh12345 would be pleased to know I have been applying some of what he was emphasizing to me several weeks ago. I have definitely been doing more "curating!" 👍

So, now to the "heart" of what I have to say this month about how I am doing.

"Recalibrating"

Frequently appearing in my writing through the end of June and into July was the question of my time. I knew the amount of time I was committing to Steem was unsustainable, but not quite ready to state it that definitively.

At the end of July, I left for a much needed two-week vacation. Over the first few days, I still was toying with the idea of trying to maintain at least some engagement with our Steem community, so I actually spent one evening writing my Travelogue 1 post.

What kind of vacation is that? 😧 I stopped ...

Getting home, I was quickly back "into the fire" at work, so it was easy to extend my "time out" from Steem. I did "drop in," from time to time, to comment on others great work, but that was quite limited compared to what I was doing earlier.

So ... After an extended time away, I am finishing my 3rd post of the day. But, this is a temporary brief catching up a little on some thoughts I had, which included finishing my Travelogue 2: Giant Springs State Park in Montana and Travelogue 3: Lake Quinault Lodge in Washington posts that I had done a little preparatory work on during my vacation.

"Recalibrating" simply means I am working on getting the right balance of my time invested in supporting our Steem community and time spent elsewhere. While I cannot be as involved as I was for the first couple of months, I will still "be around!" 😊

Awards and Accomplishments

A real highlight since my last monthly post was getting nominated and approved for the Whitelist in the MinnowBooster Community! I first learned about it through a reading a post on the subject by @vimukthi.

In it, I found a reply from my friend @headchange, who nominated me for consideration by @vimukthi. But, then @vimukthi indicated I had already been nominated by someone else?! I still am unsure who originally nominated me, but now on "the inside," I found after having been nominated, then you still need to "receive 5 votes and be approved by an admin" to be Whitelisted.

So, while I still don't know who was supporting me through this, it was very nice to get some confirmation maybe my writing is worthwhile.

As for "accomplishments," I got a "One Year Anniversary" notification. As a wrote in reply to @meno's celebratory post about also having his 1st anniversary (he and I joined about the same time), he's a lot brighter than I am, as I was only an investor for months.

I'll just have to have my own private 1-year anniversary next May ... 😉

With that, into my shortened Monthly Highlights section:

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Monthly Highlights

Unlike the first two monthly update posts, I will only have two sections this time. So ... ”Ranking” what stands out to me in Month 3, we have …

👍 👍 Two Thumbs Up 👍 👍

Working with ”systems,” as well as managing the work of others, for much of my career, I have always emphasized ”people” over ”process” believing that is the right priority. From a lot of experience, I know the best systems are greatly diminished, if not ”manned” by competent, engaged people. A great team will always solve the problem of less-than-ideal systems. I have never experienced the reverse to be true ...

This section, then, will always be about the people I “meet” in our Community. Specifically, those who have had the greatest impact on my "journey."

This "old war horse" has a deeper appreciation than most, for passion and commitment. So, this month I would like to comment on my brief experiences with @steemchiller and @tarazkp, as they both clearly represent a lot of passion and commitment.

Somewhere in Month 2, I learned about SteemWorld. And I slowly began to learn about all of its features. I did not "connect the dots," however, until sometime in Month 3 that @steemchiller has single-handedly built this app by himself. As soon as I learned that, I began to follow him and support his work with upvotes every chance he gives us. SteemWorld is an indispensable tool for anyone seriously wanting to be involved with the Steem blockchain. Please give your full support to @steemchiller's great work which benefits us all.

While I had run across some of the posts of @tarazkp early on, it wasn't until sometime late in Month 2 that I began to follow him. Now, following @tarazkp is not like following most anyone else, as you would quickly learn, should you chose to do the same.

What do I mean?

Well, reading this post from him will give you the general idea. I know the picture on his profile indicates he is human. However, to keep up a post production rate like what he describes in this post is more machine-like, i.e. I think he may be a bot ... Just kidding (he doesn't like them ...)! 😉

Using SteemWorld (thanks again @steemchiller!), here are his stats, since starting in Jan 2017:

And here are my stats, with my first post on May 14th:

Hmmm ... Seems to be a small gap ... I'm sure if I just try a little harder ... 😉

Seriously, I can't do justice to describing in this post the amount of quality work produced by @tarazkp. Note I said quality, as well as an almost superhuman quantity. Oh, and don't miss the fact he writes 6 times as many comments, as posts ...

No idea how he does it, but you might want to consider following him, as he has a lot of good content on what it takes to be successful in our Steem community. If you chose to do so, you'll quickly find out what I am trying to say here ...

👍 One Thumb Up 👍

In my first two monthly updates, reference to bots was in my one thumb down section. This month, I am "flexing" a little bit, given some recent pleasant experiences with some.

The most notable was my encounter with the @trufflepig bot, after getting a reply from it indicating my post had been upvoted due to its quality. I spent a lot of time researching and composing the reply I sent to @trufflepig, in response.

I would encourage you to consider taking the time to read it. A "preview of coming attractions?" In doing so, you may then also want to support the work of @smcaterpillar, the creator of @trufflepig.

Closing

So, overall a quiet month for @roleerob. Thank you for reading my monthly update. I trust you have found something of value in it and hopefully even some encouragement.

All the best to you for a better tomorrow, as we all work together to build our Steem Community! 👍 😊

Respectfully, fellow Steemian @ roleerob

Posted using Busy.org and immutably “enshrined in the blockchain” on Saturday, 1 September 2018!

If you enjoyed this post, perhaps you would also find these posts of interest / value:

• Essential Foundation for Good Business
• Liberty: Land of the Free, Home of the Brave
• Observations: Words Matter
• HODLers of the World Unite!
• Focus of our Time – This post won my first Steem award!
• Prosperity: Freedom and Opportunity for Ordinary People
• Observations: Gratitude and the Simple Things
• Reflections: Adding "Value" to the Steem Blockchain - Chapter 1
• Reflections: Curation and Pollination
• HODLer Alert! Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and Bitcoin

Or, on the lighter side, this beginning of a series on some of my travels might be of interest:

• Travelogue 1: Birthplace of Montana – Fort Benton
• Travelogue 2: Giant Springs State Park in Montana
• Travelogue 3: Lake Quinault Lodge in Washington - Listed in a post about quality content!