I just read Kevinwong's post on becoming a witness here.
It's mad inspiring and filled with good information on Steemit, Blockchain stuff and building one's future.
Here's the thing: I met Kevin two years ago here on Steemit, when Steemit first came to life.
And our paths couldn't be anymore different. You may think since I joined early, I probably am balling today with a crazy amount of Steem and Bitcoin I have today.
Not at all man. Not at all. Here's my account of my own journey as a fuckup.
Here's the other thing: My mindset wasn't very mature back then and my resolve to look into a better, longer future was non-existent.
When I entered Steemit, I saw that it worked. I made my first Bitcoin here and it was worth $300+ bucks back then.
I sold it all immediately and considered it a big windfall.
At the end of 2016, Steemit totally crapped out and had shit prices.
I immediately concluded that Steemit was another internet marketing fad that wasn't meant to be. I thought it was super lame then as people continued to talk about it being something new and cool.
So I got the fuck out of here.
Around June 2017, I randomly checked back my account again for fun and discovered that it was worth thousands due to the SP I accumulated.
I was excited. I immediately concluded again that Steemit was working and that it was a cool thing.
What did I do? I powered the hell down. I powered down everything and sold everything. Bitcoin was worth $3,000+ or so then. It was big money to me. I sold it all and yes, that was another big ass windfall.
I remember spending it on my first ever trip to Chiang Mai for my birthday.
Such a stark contrast to @kevinwong's journey huh?
I am no witness. I don't think I'll ever be. I don't exactly head any initiatives here either. And needless to say, I didn't practice any foresight.
If I was smarter with my money and Steem a year ago, I'd be a lot happier and secure today for certain.
But... I do feel I can still help the rest of you and teach you a thing or two. You can learn from a fuckup like me.
There is reward for being patient
After my Chiang Mai trip last year, for the first time ever, I thought to myself, "Perhaps I should really think for the future and start investing in something. Perhaps I should be patient. Perhaps I shouldn't be so scared and take a risk."
I still had like $1,700+ worth of Bitcoin. I told myself to hold it. That was my first foray into investing.
And it paid off. I must have over $10,000+ with that since, a 100% increase or so I'd say.
So for real, learn to be patient. Invest in yourself for a future, not a short-term gain.
There is an eventual gratitude for struggling and fucking up because it will make you strong as hell
For the better part of 2017, I was forcing myself to write everyday here even though each post made me less than 10 cents.
I didn't give a shit, because I knew I really had to persevere and start thinking about the future.
The struggle helps. It will make you strong. It is honestly a necessary part of life if you want to experience a form of success you can call your own.
I know it's hard, but find it within you to keep going even though it sounds fucking crazy or that others think you're crazy. Most people in life will only do work when they know they'll get something from it.
That is called having a job. If you want a guarantee, get a job. If you want to create things for yourself outside of a mere job, then you need to battle this non-guarantee.
When you stop looking for easy solutions after fucking up, you become a lot smarter than most people today
I am going to sound a little harsh here, but I believe it's important:
When I look at my friends who are all working in the Crypto industry today, all I see is bullshit.
- I see ICOs with overly-hyped Whitepapers.
- I see friends proudly tagging #cryptolife on Instagram and I think that's lame as fuck. They talk as if they're part of a revolution when in reality, they're just employees. They'll never be able to do what I've done.
- I see people getting excited about new coins, platforms and their supposedly revolutionary functions when really, it's all hype only. It's so easy to buy into the hype today and ignore proper purpose or even see through it to the end.
- I see people predicting the markets as if it's prophecy when in reality, it's all lies.
- I see people simply getting in just to scam others.
All my struggles from last year and even today taught me to go back to the basics of everything.
My best education in Steemit was writing on my own, talking to others and seeing what works for me.
My best education in crypto is going back to the basics, wherein I studied and re-read the Whitepapers of only Bitcoin and Ethereum. Once you understand them, you'll be surprised how far away most ICOs are away from basic purposes today.
My best education in trading is trading myself, winning and then losing to create my own perceptions. (Honestly? Buy low, sell high. That's it. Anything beyond that that claims to be better is scammy bullshit.)
Start going back to the basics, believe in yourself, follow your gut and stop buying into hype. The basics are there for a reason. Anyone who ignores them and talk about anything trendy today are not people who truly care about something. My own personal beliefs in Steemit stem from the fact that I believe it changes the way artists work. Period. I seen it work for myself over two years of working hard. And that's not something anyone will ever take away from me with some hyped new shit.
When you're in it because you believe in it, you'll find amazing people who are meant to be in your life
Things started to fit together well when I people noticed my writing and with that, I made some cool friends, like @rok-sivante, @kenistyles and @sweetsssj.
When I chat with them, do you think we talk about Steemit, Blockchain and Crypto only? Do you think we work out arrangements on voting for each other?
Hell no!
We talk about life and all sorts of cool shit! Things that matter to us!
Pictured here is me meeting up with @kenistyles and @iamjamie in Chiang Mai. It was one of the more amazing experiences in my life as I knew there and then that they were sincere and genuine people.
I don't want to start preaching about how life is more than just work, money and all that.
But let me ask you this: How many sincere and genuine people do you have in your life now just so you can have a genuine and sincere conversation with? One where you actually talk about things you all care about and also things that are bigger than your own lives?
It is my humble opinion that if your conversations are all about work, money or anything transactional just to benefit each other, that relationship will not last, no matter how many times you have made each other feel good.
That's it. That's what you can learn from a fuckup like me.
I have no extreme rag-to-riches stories.
I have no deep knowledge on the technical aspects of the technology or deep opinions on it either.
I have no numbers to show off.
I only have heart. This is one of the hidden, aforementioned basics. Start here and you'll go a long way.
Everything I have today, I created them on my own.
It's really okay to want to do your own thing and stay out of the hype bandwagon. It doesn't matter if you fucked up bad before too. There's no need to be so hard on yourself anymore.
You just need to work hard, believe in yourself and start thinking long-term.
I hope this helps today.
*Dedicated to everyone here who has made a difference for me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
yep, sometimes there's no substitute for the lessons that can only come through "mistakes" and "fuck ups."
though as Roger Hamilton, one of my most influential teachers, often said, "wealth is what you have left when your money is all gone."
in such a case - wealth being the wisdom derived through experience, such that we're better prepared to make smarter decisions next time...
Oh I like that. I gotta check him out then!
Yes indeed. Wisdom. I like to think that I finally ready to move forward and gain all the success I want.
And I don't gotta #cryptolife for it.
these two are pretty good starting points:
One additional point: You are what you read. My first 3 months on Steem was shit because of misinformation. By stroke of luck, however, I walked in on Steemians that have been here for two years then I started gulping down their posts most especially the ones concerned about Steem and how it's been changing for the past two years. Whatsup and Exyle are two of such.
Just like books of authors past help us develop new perspectives, their blog posts helped and pushed me into researching how exactly Steem works and I found out money was just a byproduct. It is guaranteed as long as you are patient. What mattered was that Steem as a system was working.
If you read anything like this article below, I doubt you would have made the same choice of powering down and selling off.
https://steemit.com/steem/@taskmaster4450/steemians-do-you-understand-what-it-means-to-be-an-early-adopter-do-you-realize-how-early-it-is
It is this same mindset of mine that made me start following the conversations about Tau. My rule is simple: If it makes sense, follow it. Money will come along because there is nothing that makes sense that ends up being worthless.
Cheers.
Hi @holybranches, what is Tau? Where can I find a great conversation about Tau? I agree with “you are what you read” After reading lots and growing as a human being, I am finding less and less time to read, forcing myself to be more selective, and only soak in knowledge I can apply or be inspired by.
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Nicely said.
I tend to try to follow a few writers here too myself.
It's hard to find good content here honestly considering most mistake the payout to be a benchmark of quality.
Truth. Unfortunately, getting lots of votes is not a good measure of quality.
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Well said.
What a post man! I just stumbled upon it... You never know what the future holds, but now you're armed with a solid lesson and experience. Not many people can look at the mirror like you did and take conclusions.
Great post!
Thank you! As @cryptoctopus said, it's still early!
Story was too long. Halfway through it, I got hungry so I left it playing and went to the kitchen to fix my self a sandwich. But then I found out that I'm out of mayonnaise so I went to a store. There, I saw the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my whole life. But I'm really a shy person so I took up a three-year personality development course so I can introduce myself. She was very friendly and all, but unfortunately, she has a boyfriend. So I said, all good, I'm a mature person. I want the best for her and I harbor no illusion that I am the best person for her and she seems happy with her boyfriend, so I did not bother her anymore. But we kept in touch and we became friends and I got over my crush on her. Then she broke up with her boyfriend, we drank some alcohol because of it, I told her she'll be fine and I wished her well. I still think she's the most beautiful woman in the world, but like I said, I am over my crush on her. It was like five years already when I first saw her. Besides, I am quiet happy with the friendship I developed with her. It was more important than a crush. So we kept hanging out, drinking, having coffee, and all. I had a girlfriend, she started dating other guys. My girlfriend wants to live some other life without me in it, so I said, okay, I want the best for you and I want you to pursue your happiness. My lady friend and I drank alcohol about it, and she gave me the same advice I gave her when she was in that position and I became okay with the breakup immediately. But we were really drunk, so she spent the night in my apartment. I only have one bed, so you know what that means: She took the bed and I slept on the couch. But on the couch, I really can't sleep. Something was bothering me. So I tossed and turned for about three hours, then I finally can't take it anymore, I stood up and went straight to my room where she's sleeping. I approached the bed, gently sat on it and I reached for her shoulder to pull her closer to me. She stirred and woke up. She asked what's up. I told her, you know, the first time I saw you, I was watching a video and left it playing to get myself a sandwich then went to the store to get some mayo then I got distracted by life that I forgot to finish the story. She said, you know what, I've been wondering about a weird noise in your night drawer. So we opened that drawer, and low and behold, there's my phone and this story still has two paragraph to read on it.
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Lame. Not original at all. Saw this shit ages ago.
seemed like kind of an interesting story to start with.
however, the HUGE single paragraph flashed, "keep the fuck away, info overload." couldn't progress past the first few sentences.
lol. but true.
Powerful testament. It's still early and we're glad you are here!
Thank you @donkeypong!
Realy beautiful comment
You have been flagged by @abusereports for being a bad Steemian!
It's still early aldentan :-)
It’s still Day 0
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Sure is!
"When you stop looking for easy solutions after fucking up, you become a lot smarter than most people today" - Bravo. I could not agree more. I think we all learn from failures. It is during these times we can truly celebrate our success.
Yes. Be thankful for the struggle. It feels shitty, but it has to be done somehow.
I know it's hard, but find it within you to keep going even though it sounds fucking crazy or that others think you're crazy. Most people in life will only do work when they know they'll get something from it.
I like the way you explain things a bit rude but cool ! By the way i started my life in this platform a year ago i still do not have a big success but i must admit i am not so active i will end my job on september and i plan to force myself too to write and get more info about steemit and steemians and why not? find new friends from all over the world, it seems a good place for that too. Steem on!
Thank you.
Well, we'll all be rooting for ya!
I hear you, @noemilunastorta. Steem on!
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Thanks for sharing your Steemit story. Thinking of sharing my story so far as well. At least I managed like you to keep on writing. In my case every day 2 blogposts. Never had huge payouts but steadily kept on grinding. Never powered down and hope my effort pays out in the end.
It will. You just keep hustling. Write well. And then comment well to know others.
Cool story @aldentan, but you know it is really freaking hard to see into the future, and sometimes you just can't be patient, you might need that money.
But I believe in steemit and STEEM and I think it will be here to stay for quite a while!
Cheers!
/FF
Money is a fact for life for sure. It's an element of society.
And... it's everywhere.
So the way I see it, it can go up anytime and then it can go down anytime.
Be safe, be smart, be healthy. So just try your best today and do what you think is right.
word!
I agree, @friendly-fenix. Cashing out for a life-changing vacation seems reasonable. Experiences from that vacation are priceless.
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@torrey.blog
You can't take your crypto with you into your sarcophagus, or you can on a "tresor" or usb stick... But you will not be able to use it... Down there in the cold crypt...
😃
So vacations are always a good idea!
Cheers!
/FF
Good Sharing @aldentan. Im new to steemit and after experience few months of daily posting, for some moment i do feel to stop. However i think back as trading is my day job and analyze the market is my daily homework, why not I just continue share and post daily here.
You are right in one thing, being patient is the key. I totally agree with that.
Yeah! Why not huh? Start with a pure intention and not just because you wanna make loads of money.
Love your article, and it sure helped me :)
Thank you! I am glad.
I feel what you meant anf understand.Thank you for sharing your story that may encourage everyone during this time of low value
No prob. Hang in there!
Yes,Sir with positivity.
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
The kind of Post that should have made it to the Trending page, because everybody needs read this. Do the good articles ever make it on there?? Smh
I am greateful for having open this post after @surpassinggoogle shared it, on facebook.
Great motivation, thanks for this ey, you have fueled my fire.
Thank you!
Well, good is subjective here. We'd have to work on that.
Nice and realistic words of writing and best for beginners like me.
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Thanks for sharing your story. Gives me an inspiration to keep on working and see what the futute might give me.
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the steemian very exams are when sdb, steem and steem power plummet, the creativity and wisdom in steemit are really tested
I can relate to a lot of this post actually. I never feel so alive as when I’m about to lose everything. I’ve made some huge mistakes and I can see them now. Interesting to realize how everyone learned a ton last year. I tend to write a lot more when the Steem price is low, and I blogged heavily during ten cent Steem mainly because there was less competition. I have a Blue Ocean philosophy that I developed last year. This is one thing that has helped me a lot....
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Heya,
Nice to hear from you again. I like to think that it's us who will always stick around and be there for each other.
Damn, Blue Ocean Strategy yeah? That book is heavily recommended by a marketer I really look up to, Ryan Holiday.
Many beautiful posts.Your posts are a lot of learning topics. that is my favorite
You have been flagged by @abusereports for being a bad Steemian!