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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