Are you desperate?

I'm writing this post sitting at Vilnius University and waiting for the time to go to a dinner with an artist friend who expressed interest to introduce her to Steem.

The other day @laputis and I went to our annual book club meeting at a friend's house. The group of 10 people gathered and everyone had to bring some books for presents. Later we threw a dice and and selected some books for ourselves. It was fun.

Before we discussed the books we read over last month each of us talked a little about what we've been up to lately.

I talked about Steem, my activities here and potential of the platform.

Everyone of course looked at me with awe but it wasn't my point. I wanted them to know that they too can start posting on Steem and start earning some crypto.

But they saw me as some sort of tech wizard who is literally from another planet. Because to them it might just as well have been a code, a computer language (and I'm not even a coder).

Those who know me will probably guess that I couldn't shut up when I opened my mouth about Steem so some of my friends might have been annoyed too.

Then I told them the reason I think they are not willing to put themselves out there and join Steem.

I asked them what is the chance they will have a job a year from now. Everybody seemed to think that their chances look pretty good.

What if the situation is reversed? What if they will be looking for a job very soon? Do you think they wouldn't want to miss an opportunity like Steem?

I told them that unless a person is desperate and reaches the bottom, they can't rise and subsequently can't search for new opportunities.

Because every new opportunity is also a risk, they are more willing to have the status quo because they at least know that right now they are not worse. With risk comes change and people normally try to avoid change if they are in a relatively secure situation.

But what they are forgetting or not noticing is that we live in a time when out financial future is quite uncertain. People lose jobs every day and with automation and AI this process is even more apparent.

So the riskiest strategy is actually wait and not do anything at all.

People who are joining Steem are only risking their time and energy. If the platform doesn't succeeds those who have been active here will not lose at all. They will be winners too because they will be gaining new skills every week.

If you don't believe me, look at yourself and ask if you know now more than when you first joined?

Do you know more about Steem, blockchain and cryptocurrencies? Do you know more about digital communication and storytelling? Do you know more about community building?

If the answer is yes, then you are obviously on the right path and you just need to keep going.

If the answer is no, if you only know how to upload a picture or make a comment, then maybe just maybe look around and explore this platform a little more.

What you find here might surprise you.

Never stop learning and always stay curious. This strategy has been working for me quite well for the last 7 years.

Stay desperate for new knowledge and skills.

Now my hour is up and I'm ready to go to have dinner with that artist friend and see if I can create Steem account for her.

Let me know if you have some questions about your Steemian journey.

Posted using Partiko Android