Why Are You Here? No, Really. Why Are You Here?
To Make Money Is A What, Not A Why
There has to be a reason why you're here. Maybe it is to provide a better present and future for your family. That's a why. What is making money. How is earning STEEM and also how you intend to do that.
So, if you're only reason for being here is to earn something, you need to know what your why is before you go any further. Otherwise, you won't last long because earning is tough sledding.
Image source—Pixabay
Help Others
That's what many people find most attractive about the platform. The opportunity to help others. I've seen it happen, and have even participated to some degree in it once or twice. I was by no means the leader, but it felt good to be a part of it, just like it does in the real world. People everywhere have many needs, and members of the STEEM community are no exception.
There is a plethora of different organizations, initiatives, groups, communities, etc. that are devoted to getting red fish to minnows, and minnows to dolphins (sorry dolphins, not so many to get to orca yet). You would do good to seek those folks out, determine which jives with your own personal principles and tastes, and do what you can to help, because they're trying to help you, and others like you.
Belief In A Better World
As jaded as Steemit can seemingly get at times (in some quarters it's rather relentless), there's more to STEEM than scraping up some rewards from the bottom of the reward pool through posting, commenting and curating while the rest goes to circle voters and bidbot owners.
STEEM is meant to be so much more than that. But it can't get there if we're myopically preoccupied with our own slivered version of the big picture. STEEM is not first and foremost a Social Media Platform. It's a global digital economy being bootstrapped by each one of us working the social media aspect, as well as investors and the eventual businesses and industries that are also supposed to be a part of STEEM. We're not talking about Social Media 3.0. We're talking New World Economy (whichever version of that we might be on).
We're talking about a model that moves away from scarcity to abundance. A model based on attention and gifting rather than gatekeepers and kingmakers. A model where all can earn and make a living regardless of their circumstances as long as they're willing to put in the time, effort and continually improve.
We're Not There Yet
Nope. Not by a longshot. We're still fighting amongst ourselves over what constitutes quality content, including if it's even worth pursuing anymore. We're still fixated on what certain parties are doing instead of whether or not we have anything meaningful to contribute ourselves. Whether or not we have a why that is as compelling to the rest of the world as it is to us.
What About Fun?
To have fun could be your why, and if it is, you might want to have a backup why, too. Fun only gets you so far in most cases.
I'm not trying to suck the life out of STEEM, but I am saying there needs to be a purpose to your spending what time you do. And you have to believe strongly enough in it to keep going. We've seen more people leave than stay by a discouragingly large margin. I don't know why—I imagine it was for many different reasons. I know why I would suddenly give up. I'm sure you have your reasons, too. But none of that will keep us here, motivated, and fulfilling our why.
You Might Not Really Have A Why
Then what? Can't make up something you don't really feel. There's nothing wrong with walking away. I'm just saying, to keep on keeping on requires more than what's and hows. It requires a why. If you have one, great. If you want one, find it. If you can't, well, the STEEM account you created will still be there if or when you ever come back. Find something more meaningful to do. Find your why. If STEEM can become a part of that, all the better.
Great talk, Glen!
I've been away for a while now, partly to the fact that I've lost the sight of my WHY and mainly focused on the WHAT. I can see from my blog that it started with the deployment of Steemhunt. On top of that, I was somewhat busy throughout the summer with family vacations, camps etc.
I can't help but notice the overall theme of your talk - WHY, HOW, WHAT. It just so happens that I'm in the process of reading: Start with WHY by Simon Sinek. I'm about halfway through the book now. You are talking exactly about what's in the book. Maybe because you read it, too?
In any case, there are examples of several successful companies such as Apple, Southwest Airlines, Continental Airlines and even the Wright brothers. All of these knew their WHY and were focused on that more than on anything else.
I can see that there is a strong core in this community that has their WHY perfectly figured out. If we couple this with the network effect, which has proved to be very impactful (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube...), I think we are very much at the beginning. Still the early adopters.
Hey, @tim3w4rp!
Good to see you around.
Simon Sinek does play prominently here. I haven't read his book, but I've watched a Ted talk and other interview he's done and I'd say he's on track with what he says. One of these days I'll pick up the book to get it more ingrained.
What I don't talk about here is the fact I may have well lost my why, too. It seems to happen in my case most when I start having success one month and then it's like I'm starting all over again the next month. Sometimes it's happened faster than that, within a week or aday. I want to build on the success and not constantly start over.
Which means I'm focusing in on the how and what much more than the why.
Maybe that will be another post down the road.
Are you back to make another go, then? Or, just getting a look at the landscape? It's probably quieter now than it was when you last were regularly here, wouldn't you say? And those of us who are here are even newer than we were three months ago, I imagine. I know the engagement league has changed a ton.
I never really left. I've been reading some posts here and there, checking some Technical Analysis and stuff like that.
I'd definitely say it's a lot quieter. No vote wars anymore, people are generally more down to earth. And that's a good thing.
I'm not sure if I'll go back to writing. The payouts were very thin for a lot of work. I may look into some development in the near future, though. I am still figuring that out. I had a voting bot in mind (a good one), but I never got to actually start - I guess it wasn't that important to me.
With the current price of STEEM, I am looking forward to buy more. I've been delaying it as much as I could only to miss the 0,6x prices. I do not think that there will be a lower low though, so I might just go for it. I am not sure what will I do with it, though.
There's a definite time investment versus return ratio that needs to be watched. I've decided that for the most part, I need to stick to two hour or less posts. If I can't crank them out in that amount of time, they're probably not going to be worth it. That said, I ended up writing three or so that took much longer than two hours—eight or more in two cases. One received a curie upvote, so I'm feeling a little better there. :)
I wish I knew what it was going to do. We were over a $1 recently before it plunged to those lower lows of $0.60-ish, so who knows?
You're right. I know how much time I've spent writing and polishing some of my articles only to get a measly 0,15 up-vote.
Most of the people I've been talking to for the past 10 months have forgotten about the all time highs and are only focused on what the price is right now. THE BUBBLE HAS POPPED, they say.
I, on the other hand, don't really care that the prices are low.
I know your situation might be different, but hey, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Oh, I don't know how different my situation is. The lower prices have actually helped lower my overall average cost as I bought more, so that looks a lot better than it did. And with less people participating, while I still feel like i'm not making as much as I did before, I've made more than I would have had I also quit or if all the people were still around with the lower prices.
My own financial situation is good enough to keep going. At some point, though, it would be good to see better returns. Makes convincing the wife easier.
Why Are You Here? is a good question @glenabrethsen and one I frequently ask myself. To be honest I haven't come up with a satisfactory answer and it seems to change from week to week anyway.
I'm not a very "answer your why" sort of person. I'm more of a go with the flow and see what happens type. More of a "why not?"
I don't think life is as black and white as we pretend it is most times.
This whole find your passion/purpose thing can be a big red herring I think. Some people find it helpful and others don't but the consensus seems to be that life is so much better if you know what your "purpose" is.
I'm more of the ilk that such things can't be known. We can pretend we know, if that makes us feel better, but I believe it is ultimately unknowable. 😊
I'd hate to think that there needs to be a purpose to everything we do, other than I want to do this or that, but for long term things, like I'd like STEEM or at least writing/creating for an actual living to become, it's been helpful to have a reason why. Even if I consciously didn't know it.
Going with the flow can be pretty cathartic for a while—sometimes it lasts longer than others—but then something causes it to lose its sparkle and the next thing you know it's off to something else. Which might not be so bad, but it doesn't always mean the thing being left behind was no longer worthwhile, it just fell out of favor for whatever it might be—it's newness, it's shine, it's initial attraction are gone.
That's not to say I'm saying STEEM is worth doing any of this. Just that if it's going to go beyond a few weeks, months, even a year of dipping in a toe or even throwing everything you've got at it, there has to be more of a reason to stick around. And it needs to be central to who we are. Not necessary our purpose in life, but a why for continuing to do what we do.
I think it's possible to know what we naturally gravitate to and what we'd like to have out of life, and I think it's possible to go even deeper and discover what truly motivates us. I've done it. It can actually get surprisingly candid and emotional, which wasn't at all what I was expecting or I probably would have shied away from doing it.
As far as life purposes go, I think there may be several. I don't think we're necessarily limited to one. And some may be harder to discover or even implement than others. And sometimes we're just not satisfied with the ones we end up with, even if they're it.
It's definitely true that pursuing your passion can be a red herring. Passion and purpose don't always go together, just as passion and what you're good at don't either. But I do believe we should be able to derive higher levels of meaning and satisfaction from life, and if we're not getting that, than we're bound to feel unfulfilled or dissatisfied, or at the very least, listless, or mostly meh. :)
I am happy I have found many reasons to be here but mostly is about learning and getting perspectives on a number of subjects within my interests. Someone else recently said, “you come here for the money, but stay because of the relationships.”
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howdy sir Glen! haha! I wonder what the majority of answers would be if you asked people why they're here? A few would say because it's fun I'm sure. But 95% would say to make some money.
Is that what you would guess? I think a few would be on here writing even if it didn't have a chance to make anything.
But very thought-provoking post sir!
My guess is the numbers who have decided to stick with it because they're having fun or it's social for them is higher than just a few. I'm not sure if I could put an accurate percentage on it, but my gut feeling is one in four or five people would say that. 20-25%.
Those that are here to help people, are somewhere in that range.
Those who came here to make money, definitely larger, but probably more like 50%, or even a little less. The reason is, if you're here to make money, and that's your sole intent, without any other reason, you're probably not going to last long, or you're going to find yourself burning out more often, because you don't have a solid why. Since making money is a what, there needs to be a reason for making the money that is more important to you. Otherwise, you will look elsewhere for fulfillment until you find it.
Applies to every other money making opportunity, not just Steemit.
I'm sure there are quite a few that just enjoy writing. I'm one of them to a degree, but I wouldn't be spending nearly as much time as I have doing this if there wasn't some payment involved. I couldn't. I'm justifying it now, and only to myself, because I fully expect STEEM to rise in price before next January, hopefully sooner. If it doesn't happen within the next three to four months, I will not be able to justify it to even myself.
The way my timing works, though, is I will miss out on the moon shot which means I will also miss out on the opportunity to do more. I really hope that doesn't happen. :)
to share and grow, to learn and teach. not to leech.
i believe that everyone has something to teach.
Cryptos is the future. i figured. decentralization is a matter of when.
me i just want to create have a great time. and earn a living doing it.
i care for equality. and i believe it will become a reality one day.
Hey, @franciferrer.
Nice sentiments all around. I hope we're able to keep this crypto-thing and decentralization idea going and don't end up falling prey to the worst of ourselves. It would be nice that the better side would win out.
I agree that equality of opportunity should exist. Equality of outcome is a little different, but still, just opportunity would improve people's lives so much that the outcomes wouldn't matter so much.