Black Belt + Gold Belt = Menē 24k
In order to achieve personal success on Steemit or in any aspect of life, a certain degree of discipline is required. Almost everyone has at least some level of struggle daily to accomplish their objectives.
Manifestations of these efforts are usually incremental and mostly invisible. Over time though, the constant grind of labor tends to pay off in real tangible ways.
Long before I was a Steemian or even Goldmatters, one these manifestations was awarded to me after years of practice and education.
This milestone was not the end game but merely a validation of the work done up to that point in my life.
It looked like this:
I’m referring to the black belt... the gold is another story!
I trained in martial arts for MANY years and earned a black belt quite literally through blood, sweat and tears. The training itself set the stage for a roadmap to achieve many wonderful things since.
While the belt itself is just symbolic, I do feel a sense of pride when remembering all the pain I endured to earn it.
Lessons learned on the way to the black belt include:
Discipline
Long term thinking
Not quitting
Discipline: There were so many other things I could have been doing while training for the day I would test for the belt. Playing video games, Watching TV, reading, sleeping. I DID those things too, but I dedicated a portion to my life to training through discipline and abstained at times from doing the things I would have rather been doing.
Long term thinking: Some things just take a long time. There is no getting around it nor should there be. You can’t expect to earn $1 million dollars on Steemit in a month and you cannot earn a black belt in a year or even a couple years.
Not quitting; Being completely honest there have been SO MANY times in my life while I felt like quitting things. Thats part of human nature . But I can’t think of a time where I actually did quit something important to me. I might throw a fit and trick myself I was going to quit... but I always came back to finish the job.
I am so grateful to have learned these lessons.
There are many parallels between gold:
And:
The inputs of time, labor, energy and information to earn both is expansive.
Like a black belt, gold takes a long time to produce.
A black belt is an achievement, and gold is a physical entity.
And neither can ever be destroyed.
What do you think is considered a black belt on Steemit? Is it length on the platform? Reputation? SP?
Tell me your thoughts Steemians!
Goldmatters
For $5 in Menē 24k investment jewelry credit sign up here in 30 seconds: http://Mene.com/invite/JrT26p
Menē crafts 24 karat gold and platinum investment jewelry™ that is transparently sold by gram weight. By combining innovative technology with timeless design, Menē restores the ancient tradition of jewelry as a store of enduring value.
To find out more about what Menē 24 karat gold and platinum investment jewelry is from your fellow Steemians :
https://steemit.com/steemit/@goldmatters/what-in-the-world-is-mene24k-35-well-researched-blog-style-essays-contest-winners
Or
https://steemit.com/mene24k/@goldmatters/what-is-mene-24-karat-platinum-and-gold-jewelry-valentine-s-day-gift-winner
To find out more about what Goldmoney is from your fellow Steemians : https://steemit.com/contest/@goldmatters/what-in-the-world-s-goldmoney-winners
To sign up for a Goldmoney Holding start here: https://www.goldmoney.com/w/goldmatters
For Menē 24k investment jewelry here: http://Mene.com/invite/JrT26p
I am on a personal mission to spread the word about Goldmoney and Menē through any means necessary. Goldmoney allows individuals to empower themselves by protecting their savings by owning small or large amounts gold previously inaccessible to regular people like you and me.
All images sourced from Menē and Goldmoney.
Read more about Goldmoney: https://steemit.com/@goldmatters
What is Menē 24k gold and platinum investment jewelry?
I will let famous Steemian @coruscate explain:
Wow, a new interesting personal fact about @goldmatters! What martial art were you practicing? Black belt is, indeed, an impressive achievement.
I guess, for me the equivalent of the Black belt achievement on Steem would be a combined function of length of time on the platform, the number of posts made (and that’s including comments), whether still active or not, and the current SteemPower. It wouldn’t be enough, if only one of those factors were considered. I can easily imagine:
…all excelling at just one or two of those indicators. But all of them, taken holistically, would tell us a story of discipline, long-term-oriented effort, dedication and perseverance. In other words – all the things that the martial arts Black belt represents.
Thank you for your thoughts! I don’t train anymore but it was : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shōrin-ryū. Great well thought out answer to the Steemit black belt question!
I heard about Shōrin-ryū, when I was studying in Japan. Anything Japanese automatically gains my approval and respect. :)) Thank you for the upvote! Arigatō gozaimasu, sensei!
Awesome! I just read in the comment section that you were also a Shorin-ryu practitioner and it always makes me happy to meet fellow Shorin-ryu practitioners. Coincidentally, I just wrote a post on Becoming a Black Belt.
You did a creative way of transitioning to informing about goldmoney. I'm not entirely familiar with it but I'll look into what it's about thanks to your post!
Cheers! 👊
Thank you so much! I am definitely out of practice but I may still be able to pull of a Fugyugata or two !
I don't doubt it.Sometimes we think we forgot everything but really it's just there, sleeping. and it's so awesome that it actually comes out when the situation calls for it. Cliche but still true. lol
Whaaa?? That belt is seriously cool, i just love the embroidery and everything that goes with what had to be done to earn that! Congrats and thanks you for sharing some of your belts. LOL
Thank you:) you are an awesome supporter!
it helps that you deliver great content, cool ideas, interesting posts and innovative ideas!:)
There is an adage; before you quite, remember why you started it. Perhaps if you remember this, the hunger for success increases.
To me, I think it is reputation, anyone can buy steem power and any user can be here for a long time without adding any value to the entire platform.
Good answer:)
Nice to hear you are a martial artist and won a black belt. Thats great achievement. I really impressed with your unrivaled writing. Thanks for sharing your achievement with us.
Thank you!
He persevered a lot, and writing come so easy to him :) He learned all of those things from martial art, I learned them through long distance racing. It is amazing how buddies drop before getting to mid point.
Wow....So you know martial Art!!!
Thats Amazing!!
I would love to see you do a video of yourself performing some moves though. Never mind, Thats too much to ask.
Thanks for this wonderful sir. I've gained alot.
Thank you! Ha ha I’m too camera shy!
Wow...really😂😂
I think it would be a combination of parameters that includes everything like reputation, account age, posts, organic votes, etc. We all know the regular stuff.
But I think that there is this one crucial element that we don't have a parameter with which to measure it. I think it is how much you are valued by the other users on Steemit. In fact all the other parameters like reputation, SP, etc. are just the indicators of that.
Although it might not be a visible number but sometimes it is better that way. I think there are times when you can tell when a user sends this mental signal of appreciation that you are somehow able to catch. I think that is the 'black belt' moment.
Good analysis, i like it
Thanks :-)
The Martial arts for me are the best in sports due to they teach you values that other sports do not
Agreed!
Hi Goldmatters. Don't think it is any or those. You can buy reputation. It has to be commitment and being part of the community. It would've taken you years of dedication for the black belt. Quite an achievement. You can't buy one of those (maybe you can) you earned it. I saw an account today that had a reputation of 55 and she has only been on here 2 weeks. Bit like a white belt buying a higher color on the ladder.
You will be called Sensei Goldmatters from now on.
Lol i like it:)
Read your last post and see you did 10 000 posts. That is more like grand ninja stuff. Don't know what is up from Sensei but that is big what you have done.
what is meant by it
Which? The belt? I think I explained it