Advice For Minnows

If you're new on Steemit, you might be tempted to think that your voice will go unnoticed, that your efforts will not yield any results and it won't matter if you continued to write or not.

I used to think like that. I started creating on Steemit just a month ago so, yes, I'm a minnow. And it's discouraging to pour your heart and soul into a piece of writing or drawing or music and later come back just to see that just a few people saw it or interacted with it.

It's discouraging, if you look for quick results. It's discouraging, if you need external validation of your ideas. It's discouraging, if you look for approval outside of yourself.

But if you're wielding the power of independence within you, you can be sure, people will notice. Later than you would want, but sooner than you imagine.

I look to upvotes and revenue stream only as a welcome side effect of my work. It's true that students get grades for doing their work, it's true that teachers get paid for doing their work. But the best students don't study in order to get good grades and the best teachers never teach because of money.

There are people who do everything because of revenue, because of ROI. But those people tend to take shortcuts. Sooner or later they cut corners, robbing themselves and the platform from the best ideas worth spreading, robbing others from the gift of educating, elevating and inspiring others. Because they want get rich quickly.

And the opposite is true. If have a voice, however small, and feel the need to let your ideas out, you will understand that it's not race, it's a marathon.

Marathon to compete against yourself. Marathon to get better just 1 percent every day because every 72 days, the percentage doubles and with the power of compounding your skills will be 3800 percent better after one year.

The best approach, I think, is genuinely help people, interact with their ideas and give your own ideas freely without expecting anything in return.

Because giving is already a privilege that not too many people understand.

Your voice might be small, but your heart is big.

If you do this only 66 days in a row, giving becomes a habit and you get to do it again.

Oh, and by the way, your voice won't be small anymore.