I was just getting started on my dream of living a "laptop lifestyle" and I watched countless of people sharing with me their "big secret" to success. I wanted, just like many people, to "live the dream", dip my toes into the hot sand and work wherever I want around the world.
I was 25. Some would have said that I was gullible or innocent, but if you are like me, you like to listen to people who are where you want to be. As I listened I couldn't kept myself from noticing a pattern.
This is what I'm going to be sharing with you today as you read this article. The secret sauce, the pattern, that seems to elude us, the small hinges that moves big doors, the key that unlock the doors that were previously closed.
You don't need power(or steempower)...you need influence
What?!
If you have been following my series so far, I have been very specific when it comes to escaping the minnow zone. I talked about commenting and upvoting the comment section of your blog, to invest in SP, to find ways to add value to other people, etc.
But all of this is not enough. There is a secret sauce and that sauce is Influence. Now, what you need to know is what are the ingredient of that sauce...and this is it:
Learn how to tell your story
Some might be tempted to discard what I am saying and just go back to the "nuts and bolts" that I've previously shared. That would be a big mistake. Nuts and bolts only get you so far.
- If you have want to create a bond with people who follow your writing, they need to know your story
- If you want them to remember what you said in your article, they need to know your story.
- If you want other people to believe in you and back your project, they need to know your story.
I'm talking to you, someone who want to get a lot of upvotes on their content to eventually make it to the top on steemit.com
Take what I am saying here seriously
Why Stories?
That's because, for one reason or another, we are wired for stories. I'm pretty sure you don't remember 95% of what you've learned in school, but you remember some of the bedtime stories you've been told. That's because stories is the link between emotions and content. Information embedded within a story will be remembered through generations sometimes. This is how the oral traditions were preserve before the invention of writing.
When you tell your story, people "feel" the content that you are providing them.
How to tell your story
If you want to tell your story, you have to embody in a way the Hero's Journey. You don't have to have all the elements of the plot lie above but people need to know that you are on a quest, that you have been called to adventure and that you are moving toward your treasure.
If you are not living that journey, it may be time to ask yourself if you are simply stuck in the status quo part of the hero's journey and that you haven't had your call to adventure yet.
Here is the hero's journey schema if you need it for future reference...
Give me an example!
If you don't believe you have a story, you need to think hard because I can't recall someone who doesn't have a story. You have it, but sometimes it is how you remember your past and frame it that keeps you from harnessing it's power. EVERYONE HAS ONE. But to help you out, I will share you mine.
If you've been following my blog for a bit, you've probably heard my story either in full or in part. But here it is...If you can, try to recognize the pattern of the Hero's Journey.
My story is simple...I was a drifter until the age of about 25, where I sometimes slept on park benches, pick cherries and trying new jobs while traveling to and fro across Canada. All this time, I was looking for "the perfect job". Since I didn't know what it was, I kept trying new jobs and after a few months, completely get bored of it and quit.
I was desperate, I had no formal education past grade 11, I didn't have a career, no money, no purpose or goals. I remember hitch hiking on the highway 117 in Quebec...crying about how I was aimless in life.
After reading in some strange couple astrology book, that a women shouldn't trust a man that doesn't have a plan for his life by age 25, I decided that I would changed my life. Wisdom comes from strange places sometimes and somehow, that advice hit me like a ton of bricks.
I've read Tony Robbins "Unleash the Giant Within", listened to Jim Rohn talks and decided to sort myself out...to write goals for myself and to stick to them. I decided to reframe the big question of my life from "What is the perfect job for me?" to "What is the ideal lifestyle I would like to live". From there I decided that I wanted to live a mobile lifestyle and escape the matrix.
That's all good but I had no clue how to make money online and therefore I failed...I failed miserably for a long time. I tried direct sales and network marketing, I tried online network marketing, I tried affiliate marketing with clickbank, I spend thousands of dollars on courses about sales copy, facebook ads, conversion optimization and others. I blogged everyday for a year and a half and spending every dollar earned on courses.
Three years later, I was still at square one. I almost quit. I was living in Ucluelet doing housekeeping...at age 28. "Living the dream" alright. (nope)
But then I met a partner that completed my skills perfectly. We built an amazing business together and fast forward 3 years and I am well on my way to achieve the new big goal of my life: build a family with my wife. I have a big vision for the future and steemit is a part of it. I couldn't think of a better way to get there and this is why I do what I do here. I'm far from being done.
Conclusion
Tell your story in your blogpost and comments when you can, share how what you are doing right now is part of that journey. The right people will want to lock arm with you and walk by your sides. Feel free to share your story below and I will be very happy to upvote the best ones.