Here's how you can enjoy Steemit even more

if high payouts tend to frustrate or discourage you

I was in 3rd grade. Got a 2+ on my Math test. A special day for 8 year old me. Second best test in my class. Oh that’s nice, what did Felix (my best friend at the time) get? Mom asked. He got a 1. Well that’s nothing new, he’s always the best. Maybe one day your grades can be as good as his…

(Grade system: 1 being the best and 6 the worst.)

Wow. Talk about ruining my day. I was certainly pissed after that. Didn’t know about the growth mindset back then and I’m not sure if my mom studied the works of Carol Dweck and the likes, but to me it was just not encouraging. Luckily I do know the growth mindset now.

“You shall not covet.”

One of the 10 commandments.

“Comparing is the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt.

Okay. I got it. But what is this number 1 rule that will apparently help me?!

Let me explain.

Did you ever get back that test you did extremely well in only to find out someone did better?

Or you were so excited to tell everybody about your awesome vacation only to hear about how other people partied on their yachts?

You finally bought your dream car and someone rolls up next to you in the nicest car ever seen with your eyes.

Started working out only to envy those already hitting the gym for more than 5 years?

STOP!

The list could go on. And on and on.

I guess you get the point.

If you at some point felt like, hm that doesn’t sound too absurd, read carefully.

Do not compare yourself to others.

This is an obvious rule or a guideline rather, if you want to enjoy your life. And be happy.

Everybody is at a different stage in their own life so there is no use in looking up to people doing stuff all their life and then comparing how you would do against them.

There will always be somebody who has got more than you.

(There will also always be somebody that is less fortunate than you. Gratitude should be practiced daily to realize how awesome your reality is)

So, likewise the key to stay sane and happy on Steemit is to not compare yourself to others.

I get it. You check the trending page, see a post with a couple thousand dollars in rewards, maybe even above 10K, then look at your own post and get frustrated with the 4 votes you got.

Don’t do that. It only brings misery. And negativity. Life is certainly too short for that crap. Might even have enough problems already so why stress even more about Steemit. This is a place for fun. Enjoyment. Writing articles and sharing your feelings/experiences because you are passionate about it.

Well, it’s easy to say don’t compare yourself to others, but it’s tougher than you can imagine.
I know.

But here’s the thing. Or a couple of things.

You never know how much effort they put into their posts. It might have taken them days to finalize their post. They felt emotionally drained the whole time because they shared a mental story.

Or they simply used a lot of time to put themselves in the limelight. This is the internet were most people try to show us the best version of themselves only. (Not so much on Steemit, but still)

So, if you, on the other hand, take your worst post and compare it to the trending page, well yeah that’s not motivating.

Not every one of your posts can or will be a homerun. But you should strive for being better than you were yesterday. Improve your writing. Being better than an older version of yourself is everything that matters. In life. When it comes to comparisons and developing.

Think about it this way.

Do you really want to use your precious time to worry about how other people’s posts are doing?

You determine your thoughts. Control them. Don’t let this negative stuff get to you.

The goal is not to be somebody else or achieve their results.

“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”

Be happy for them and use it as motivation. Their success should fuel your ambition. If they can do it, you can too.

Keep doing you and your time to shine will come!

Enjoy the process. Only be afraid of how you compare to your past self.

Don’t have these kind of problems.

Stay awesome and keep on creating!