This post is a continuation of @jsmalila and @thegaillery's The Confidence Project. To those who want to participate, you still have more or less 24 hours to do so. You can read more about the project in these links below:
The Confidence Project Takeaway 1: Identify Your Areas of Focus
The Confidence Project Takeaway 2: Establish Your Motivation
In my previous post, I made a recast of my first takeaway in this project. I found it to be really refreshing to be able to see myself restructure long-term goals and aspirations in Steemit. Here is a short recap of my supposed Area of Focus:
My Area of Focus
It has been 3 months since I joined Steemit. I have to say that the platform has already been a part of my habit. With that being said, my area of focus shall be directed towards my improvement in the platform as well.
Basically, I want to grow in Steemit and achieve so much here. I decided to use this as my goal since I am well-aware that I will be here for the long run. I have already established my roots here in the community and I wouldn't want to go AWOL anytime soon. It sound really intimidating, which makes it all the more reason for me to persevere. "If your dreams don't scare you then you are not dreaming big enough", I always say.
Initial Thoughts
I recently watched a video from Last Week Tonight With John Oliver about Cryptocurrency. That guy really cracks me up. However, one of his remarks really made me introspect. He mentions how the people in the cryptocurrency world has some cult-like devotion to alt-coins, SMT's and the blockchain technology. I laughed for a start but began to realize how in a sense, he was true. Most of use have come a long way in Steemit and though there are ups and downs with the volatility of the market, we continue to remain in Steemit. Why is that?
I sat back and really gave myself a thought. I began to remember that I still needed to make an entry for the #confidenceproject' second takeaway which was very timely. I realized that more than anything else, the platform is very much successful in igniting our motivations. Steemit allowed me to tap on my inner reserves and has done an excellent job in its user retention as evidence by me still here rumbling with my thoughts.
Establish Your Motivation
Intrinsic Motivations
Here are some of the motivators which are crafted from a deeper sense of understanding with what really drives my actions.
1. Striving towards Personal Growth
They say that writing is one of the best ways to reach for your soul. Actually, I just made that line up lol. But in all honesty, I believe that it's true. I always tell myself to have a growth mindset, to keep learning and keep growing. This has got to be the biggest motivator for me. I have always been competitive with myself and it brings me so much joy to bee myself come so far. In Steemit, I can exercise social graces, expand my horizons, learn so much from the wide variety of topics and actually have the means to grow myself as an individual intellectually, socially and emotionally.
2. Pursuing my Advocacies
If you are familiar with the Myer-Briggs Personality Test, (which reminds me to make a write up about this), I am an INFJ or an Advocate. While I do not completely trust the test results, I am aware of myself having a lot of personal advocacies to the point where I do not know where to start. My profile bio says it all. I have a very low tolerance to social injustices, fallacies of the mind and lack of emotional intelligence. As such, I concern myself with political discussions, with public issues such as health, poverty and education, and advocate towards mental health and emotional sensitivity. That's a lot to take in. While I preach these things in real life, I want to pursue these advocacies to a much bigger audience and this platform may be one of the best means to do so.
3. Helping others grow
It is a really depressing position to be at the bottom and I know exactly how it feels. In this ecosystem, the economic gap and social strata is just similar in real life and i wouldn't want that. If there is a way to defy that norms of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer then why not do it? I have such high respect for community accounts and contest creators because it is a sign that materialism, wealth, or social status has not taken over our humanity. As idealistic as it may seem, I want everyone to grow proportional to the amount of effort that they put in. Minnows should never stay as minnows for long. I want to help everyone out in any way that I can.
Extrinsic Motivations
These are some of the extrinsic motivation which I have identified. While these may seem rather shallow at first, @jsmalila points out that any motivation is good motivation if directed towards a positive outcome.
1. Benefitting from Monetary Rewards
I will be brutally frank about this one. The reward system of Steemit is just revolutionary! In fact, I believe this is a great rebuttal as to why I continue to promote the platform to my friends despite seeming like a complete psycho who only talks about blockchain technology, crypto and decentralized platforms. The monetary gains of Steemit far surpasses any other system out there which is why I plan stay for the long run. If this makes me financially free while enjoying the process then congratulations on never having to work a day in my life, figuratively speaking.
2. Increasing my Reputation
There is a popular saying in Steemit which goes, "We come for the rewards but stay for the community". I am form that this has a lot of truth in it. I would never stay on a platform where I have not established myself as someone worth the attention. The reputation system also allows me to be at my best and strive hard to grow my reputation here not only in terms of the reputation score but as a person whose thoughts leave a positive impact in others. That is the reputation that I want to establish here.
If you like this initiative, do consider making your own post to support the #confidenceproject. I'm sure it will help you make substantial changes for you.
