In today's world of instant gratification it can be a struggle taking a long-term view of anything. Companies, jobs, and opportunities come and go faster than we can keep up with and everything is always in a state of constant change. But to be successful on a platform like Steemit requires a persistent approach that embraces a long-term view to get the results we strive for.
To help keep me focused on the big picture I like to use an analogy of growing a tree. In many ways growing an active Steemit account is like growing a fruit tree. I have grown many varieties of trees and plants from seed and the similarities are striking.
If you were to plant a seed in the ground, for our example let's say you planted an artichoke seed, a plant that takes two years to grow before it produces anything.
What would happen if you stopped watering it after the first few months? It would die, right?
Or let's say you looked at your tiny little plant after 6-months and proclaimed that artichoke seeds don't work. You planted it and cared for it, nurtured it and fed it and still have no artichokes to speak of.
Does that mean that growing artichokes is a scam or a waste of time? No, it just takes longer to grow than that.
It requires more from you to start producing results and if you want artichokes you'll have to continue caring for it. But here's the thing about artichokes. Once they start producing in their second year they will produce about 20-40 artichokes a year for years with very little attention needed from you. Not only that, they will start producing about ten little baby plants that you can pick off of the mother plants and if you plant those babies they will produce the following year without having to wait 2-years for them to fruit.
That is an increase by a factor of 10x in half the time! If you plant all those babies and care for them for one more year then they start producing and creating babies giving you 100X increase in production in 4-years!
Have you ever had a job that gave you 100x raise in 4-years? Probably not. But if you knew that your boss was going to give you 100x raise in 4-years for getting the job done how motivated would you be?
Starting a Steemit account is very similar to this example. Of course, the numbers could be different but the exponential similarities are striking.
When I started on Steemit, for example, it took me:
- 8 months to get to 1000 followers
- 4 more months to get to 2000 followers
- 2 more months to get to 4000 followers
- 1 more month to get to 5500 followers
- 1 more month to get to 8000 followers
and so on. It started growing exponentially and the same was true for the rewards, upvotes, enagement, etc..
Why are the numbers of followers increasing faster and why was it so slow at the start of creating an account?
Because similarly to growing a plant it took time for the roots to grow throughout the community before results started to happen. It took building connections and lots of conversations with others on their blogs before engagement started happening at a faster rate.
What would have happened if I had quit before the first 6-months? Those connections I would have missed would not have born fruit and those opportunities would not have resulted in anything, in fact, the whole experiment would have been a waste of time.
People don't realize how much goes into producing food. We go to the store to buy an artichoke, or apple, or avocado without thinking of all the work that went into making that available to us. We just plop down our money and walk out the door with the final result.
Did you know it takes 25-years for an avocado tree to produce an avocado? They do have varieties now that can produce in 7-12 years, but that is still a lot of time. So why do people work so hard to grow avocados? Because once they start producing they will produce hundreds of them for longer than you or your children can live. Thankfully we have people in the world that put in the work to make those available to us.
So when you're posting on Steemit, whether you're a new user or have been here for a while now, keep in mind that what you put into it today is not the only result you have to look forward to. There is a long-term payoff for the work you do today that will only show itself if you continue to put your mind and effort into it.
Give it time to grow and spread its roots, engage with others and help them succeed. Don't just focus on yourself and the immediate return that your post made. Think long-term and you'll get long-term results. A quick look at the most successful people on Steemit illustrates this works.
This holds true for everything we take for granted today. Facebook, for example, did not get to where it is now overnight. It started small and grew over time into the giant it is today.
People often make the mistake of judging the poor results of one post them make in such a way that makes them quit. If they understood that 80/20 rule they would just make another post and move on.
To expect instant results just because you signed up to Steemit and posted is unrealistic. On the other hand, if you consistently post, engage with the community, bring something valuable to the table, don't quit, and keep your focus long-term, you can expect to harvest positive results eventually. You may even get lucky and get some good rewards today.
The most important thing is to have that persistent, long-term mindset that will keep you motivated and to engage with the community. If you build that your success is almost assured.
Here are some other posts to help you get your head in the game and keep you motivated. Thanks for reading my post and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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Do You Know What The 80 20 Rule Is Why You Should Make A Steemit Post Ever Day Regardless Of Your Rewards --- by @luzcypher
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Excellent analogy! I think being social and consistent are 2 major keys to success on Steemit
Absolutely! It is, after all, a human that reads and values a post enough to hit that upvote button. Sure, there are bots now but how much does a bot value and connect with what you post. I'll choose the human interaction every time.
perseverance is the key to success, the size of your effort is the size of your success, so I will, thanks for your valuable information I will follow your advice, congratulations and many successes.
Totally agree. Connecting with people in a real way, as opposed to using bit-bot's and the like, takes time but is well worth the effort in the run. Perseverance and consistency foster's trust that can't be bought. It is work, but that's what gives it value. Thanks for reading my post. May Steem be with you.
Really interesting perspective and exactly how I myself approach Steemit. What I love is that if you're a good content creator you can re-use and update content you created before.
My biggest concern as mainly a musician is how to drive the average music consumer.
Music, to me, is something that lives in you and has to find expression. Finding someone to consume it is another matter altogether. I used to be in the music business and they really are two different things that don't really mesh well. In my experience with that business, I found nothing can destroy your creativity faster than trying to make a business out of your art.
I agree to a certain degree. What I love today is that you can reach so many people without having to give up your independence as an artist. I had a lot or success getting new followers both on steemit and outside and never had to rely on a business.
That is awesome! What a great time to be alive with all these new technologies to reach and engage with an audience.
It definitely is! It was awesome before Steemit. Now I don't even have a proper adjective for it 😊
How about Steemendous!
I love it!
I have a song called "Grow" I use it almost as personal philosophy
I think I should share it around here soon, lyrics goes as:
But you can't feel small
once you start to wonder
all those trees so tall
were once tiny seeds
that stood against
the strongest winds
and kept thriving
shade or sheen
to grow all green
Beautiful lyrics and so true.
Excelent, i've learned reading your post something amazing, everything in this life takes time, i though that here in steemit, i posted something and quickly gain 80 SBD, but the trust is other, all the good takes time.
Totally agree. I also think the Openmic COntest has another opportunity and chance because, if you´d just post 1 video a week you would end up with round 50 a year. At somepoint you could also gain popularity on youtube and i think everybody could imagine, that this could turn out quite well :)
Hi @lucypher Lovely yor post.
I’m always inspired by stories of how successful writers like Stephen King started out. How they struggled for years. How they endured rejection after rejection, failure after failure, but kept moving forward.
J.K. Rowling is another fine example. Depressed, practically broke and living on welfare, she was rejected by a dozen publishers before she finally found one to publish her Harry Potter book series.
Of course, it’s not just famous writers who struggled their way to the top. If you study the background of any successful person in any field, you’ll often see a long road of struggle, setbacks and failure stretching out behind them.
In either case, what ultimately made them successful was their choice to keep learning, keep working and keep moving confidently in the direction of their dreams, no matter how hard it got. What ultimately made them successful was their choice to persevere.
And Steemit is social media platform where the human qualities, such as talent, intelligence and creativity, all virtuous people are rewarded. Indeed, steemit is a community of fate which citizens share. It also provides a platform for debate and creative thinking on topics of special interest to its members.
Steemit platform show us that we can achieve our dreams with a little bit of effort and perseverance, and We now know that considerable progress can be made in this area too if we work consistently.
If you want something, nothing is impossible. I am convinced of this because I believe that, if there is a will, then there is definitely a way.
Have a wonderful Thursday
A hug
The whole idea of instant success is a myth. Everyone who has ever succeeded at anything failed more times first. With each failure, they learned what not to do until they got to the point of succeeding. Most people don't go through that process and quit at the first failure, or worse, they don't even try for fear of failing.
Hi @lucypher The joys are beyond expectation, but the fear paralyses beyond words.
Increasingly, failure is seen as something to be embraced, something to experience, and grow through - what ever your field and whatever your life stage. There is even a school of thought that suggests that - like bones which grow stronger through trauma - there are aspects of human experience which are improved with a little challenge and disruption. In other words, and contrary to accepted wisdom, individuals and society alike draw more positives than negatives from failure.
Life is all a matter of perspective!!
Have a nice night
A hug
Something that I personally experienced. From focusing on my writing, to learning about the ecosystem, then to learn about different communities and topics, then starting to create a community. I learned that once we get to somewhere higher, we should be helping those young and enthusiastic Steemians that working equally as hard as us to grow. Growing collectively can make us stronger together.
That is absolutely correct.
cool post, it was nice to read... I go and read one more time .
Sabios e invaluables consejos mi amigo, hay que perserverar y ser consistente para tener bases solidas, sigamos creciendo en esta red, saludos.
A very inspiring post.
It definitely takes time and perseverance but I really think Steemit can be really rewarding in the end.
I was going to leave the generic, Great post! Yet that wouldn't have done this post, you, or even me, justice. You are so right, you have to keep plugging away, and make yourself known to others, and support others when you can... oh, did I say great post? :)
Thank you for sharing your experience with us! :)
Yeah @luzcypher ! Truly it's one of the best posts I've read today and also from my beginnings on Steemit (I'm also quite new to it) ! Your thoughts are so so much encouraging ! The parallel you're making with plants growing is very pertinent !! I was happy to discover your blog with this article of you, so I upvoted, resteemed and even bookmarked it :))
I wish you a lot of success and a very good day !
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and I'm glad you found it helpful.
with great pleasure @luzcypher ! again thanks to you :)
So very true. And I just realized it took me also exactly 8 months to get too 1000 followers =). Thanks for the reminder to keep nurturing our blogs and to never stop.
If you keep up the pace of posting, and just as importantly, interacting with the community, your results will start increasing quicker. Don't give up.
My father used to say to me whenever I was struggling with life in general, if you're going through hell whatever you do don't stop there, keep going.
thanks @luzcypher =) I won't stop hehe your father is a smart man!
This makes perfect sense. I have been frustrated because my steemit account isnt growing as fast as I would like, but comparing it to a seed that you plant puts it all in perspective.
You summed it really well and made some great analogies. Just like on steemit, our lives (my partner and I share this account) are founded on the concepts you outlined here. We're putting it a lot up front, and have it pay off through then we connections we've fostered and nurtured on steemit. It's actually m cub quicker the the trees and shrubs we've established by far! We have already seen the power of exponential growth as well on steemit. It'll be another 8 years before we get any chestnuts still...
Those artichokes looks nice, what zone do yo live in?
I was in zone 10 near Seattle, Washington when I planted those. I'm living in Cancun, Mexico now.
ooo, zone 10 would be nice for so many plants. We're happy with 6b we live in, although not sure if artichokes would do so well...
Some plants grow faster than others. My steemit plan grows very slowly.
Well said. It took me a long time to make anything here. It's important to make it fun so you want to come back anyway. After all, people use other sites for no reward
Isn't it interesting to think that, as you mentioned, people use other sites all the time for no reward and yet, when they use this site and don't get the reward they expected they're not happy about it? I guess that's just human nature.
This really helps a lot. I am motivated