Living on the edge

I gave my boss a ride home tonight, which I have done before so, she doesn't mind the duct tape that holds the wing mirrors in place from when someone decided to break them and, she knows that I am not an instant gratifier. The mirrors work, there is no point in getting them fixed just yet as I have more important things to spend value on than a car at the moment.

As we drove along, she was talking about work things interspersed with personal as we tend to do and was saying where she sees the team and asked my opinion. Toward the end of the ride, she asked where I see myself and the question is quite easy for me to answer at this point.

I don't know.

It is not that I don't know because I don't know, it is that I don't know which of the many paths I am going to take and as I explained to her, it is going to depend on what I find interesting enough, not what makes me the most. I told her that my mid-term plan is that I am not planning on having to work for the money and that means that I am willing to work for work I want to do.

She understands what I mean by this and she is in a position that she can do what she chooses to do already to a great extent, she works hard. What I like about my company is that this is not uncommon and the founders members are still there working and, still grinding at their jobs because they enjoy it. The one who started it still codes for it, 30 years later.

But, while we sat outside her place she mentioned something that resonated with me and that was that she liked to work in the margins, not the mainstream and I completely agree. This is what I love about Steem and while at some point I do want it to go mainstream, the thing that is the most attractive about it and the entire industry is that it is not mainstream yet.

So many people love popular because they want to feel part of a group, be one of the cool kids. I however don't care much for that at all and prefer to be in the margins and on the tails where there is the chance to be free and, the chance to have higher value and impact for work put in. It is not just that there is lower competition at those points, it is that often things are uncertain and what that means is, they are undefined. It is on the fringe that one can really be creative because it isn't bound by what is known yet.

One of the massive advantages Steem could have in the future is that if it takes the mantle of industry leader in the definition of what social blockchains are capable of. It doesn't have to be the best at every single part but the infrastructure has to be very good at delivering supply to demand and growing demand and supply. It is getting there and one day it will prove itself a formidable force with more heads than hydra.

The power of Steem lays in the ability to reinvent itself forever through a community demand and subsequent development cycle that means it is always able to remain relevant, even though pieces of it can fall out of favor. This means that for people like myself who are interested in interesting things, there will not only be a constant supply of new content coming through the wings, there will be the opportunity to be part of creating it.

Of course, the content creation can be done as an individual but when it comes to developing and creating the applications, that is going to take a team and that team will require some funding. Luckily, that funding can come through the blockchain also in various ways and in time, I am looking forward to using my stake on some very interesting developments.

Sure, it isn't going to happen overnight and there are going to be a few hurdles along the way but, that is what makes this place so interesting. When prices increase, a lot of the people here now are going to sell and most likely, never get their buy-in back, not that they would necessarily buy back in anyway as after all, they didn't after the last bullrun. That is fine, good luck to them but there will be more and more people willing to stay and participate in the growth of the blockchain and they won't only be after the rewards that are in the pool.

The thing with Steem is, that is not where most of the value is going to be derived from because the value of the pool is dependent on the value put into the chain by people buying and eventually, businesses buying and selling a range real world items in a multitude of ways on the blockchain. Yes, it could still be digital content but that doesn't mean it has to be blogging or even gaming. Who knows what people are going to develop one, two or ten years from now.

I am interested in finding out though and I am interested in being a part of their pathway too. Just like the work I am currently doing for my new company is not my end goal, it is still a prerequisite to gain access to future possibilities. And even though it is not my dream job, it still has to be done very well to be considered for those opportunities in the future.

People like to say things like "he got lucky" but luck is absolutely useless unless one has the skillset and resources to take advantage of that lucky opportunity. Most people aren't willing to really put in the work because they are worried that it will be wasted however, because they haven't put in the work they are unlikely to even recognize the opportunities as they arise as they do not have the right experience to identify them. It is somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy and one that people can say, lucky I didn't try my hardest. I'd rather try my hardest and fail at this life than coast on through living experience as a mediocre version of myself.

One day, I am not going to have to work for the money and I will be able to pick and choose where I turn my attention and effort but, that day isn't today and it isn't likely to be tomorrow. Regardless of when it is though, I can still live on the fringes and still participate in the definition of the future.

At least on Steem.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]