Ups and Downs, Highs and Lows

tarazkp (84)in LeoFinance • 4 years ago (edited)

Firstly, congratulations to my brother for starting the fourth year of his Hive journey - he has put in a monumental effort as a creator, in engagement and inspired and supported many along the way. Well done mate.

In that post, my brother mentioned some of the highs and lows of his journey and I am sure there are far more than that along the way

High: First hundred followers, some of whom are still with me.
Low: Seeing people I valued and enjoyed drop off and disappear.
High: The relationships I've built and foster - The banter and engagement.
Low: Seeing people who could have a great experience here fail to put in the effort.
High: My first 1000SP achieved
Low: The reward pool and community abuse that seems rife. (Bad actors)
High: My first 1000 and then 2000 followers, although many are dead users now.
High: Making Dolphin and now Orca in hive power.
Low: Making comments to users that go un-replied to - Makes me sad.
High: The deep satisfaction I have gained here, despite the low's.

I have many of overlapping points with this and I could add many more "Highs and Lows" but the fact of the matter is, there are always going to be highs and lows on Hive, just as there are always going to be highs and lows in life. The longer one is here, the higher the number and the wider the spread that these peaks and troughs are going to take and for those who have been here a long time, we have seen a lot.

While a lot of social media is more high than low due to the way they are engineered to provide dopamine addiction and feedback loops through their algorithms and design, Hive is different. A lot of the lows are heavily connected to the same kinds of lows experienced in the real world with many of them driven by the financial situation, the economics. People globally generally worry about how to pay the bills, what they earn, the cost of bread, milk and beer and so forth and it can be stressful - which is why like a casino, the other platforms avoid reminding their userbase of the cost of things.

Even in the list above, a lot of the lows are economically driven, even though they are people-centric. Fail to put in the effort (because it isn't perceived as worth it), having people disappear (for the same reason) and of course, the abuse - bidbots, spam and all kinds of nefarious behavior all in the name of collecting a bit more HIVE.

But, what you might notice, is that those like my brother who have done very well on Hive long-term there is something in common - firstly, they are active, they are also not abusive nor are they maximizers after every HIVE penny - often, they are generous with their time and energy and supportive of others in numerous ways. Time for dollar, they will likely earn less than the maximizers who look to increase their "ROI", but overall, generally outperform them in mass. It is akin to the fable of the hair and the tortoise, slow and steady wins the race.

There are plenty of people who cashed out at the highs and congratulations to them, but those highs might just return one day and be exceeded - do they have more now than then, did they buy back in at the lows - or are they expecting that magically when those highs return, they will be able to repeat the move? Gotta have HIVE to sell - gotta have HIVE to vote some value.

But the one thing that is in common with all the people who have made it this far consistently is that they are able to manage themselves in Highs and the Lows. They have strategies to deal with the ups and downs of the market prices, the ups and downs within the community, the abusive behavior and the times that everything is zinging along brilliantly, even though those times are rare.

Life on Hive is more representative of real life than people give it credit and as such, it is likely that there is more down than up and it is in those down times that the activity is done to move toward and accomplish the ups. Just think, most people work 5 days a week at jobs they wouldn't do otherwise, so that they can have a weekend or a couple weeks away from their job a year. Highlights and lowlights are intimately connected, you can't have one without the other, like the light and the dark.

Galen mentioned "catharsis" as part of his creative journey, one of the reasons and benefits for writing how he does, and I do similar. I believe it is those who are able to be honest with themselves about life on and off Hive that do the best overall, even though they might not earn the most per post. The reason is that being able to deal with and manage oneself in the downs allows one to be able to participate in the ups and appreciate and be grateful for their journey.

The "fair-weather returnees" who are only here at the ups aren't actually part of the community, they are not friends, they are maximizers - they are here to extract while they can and will disappear when it "isn't worth it" for them to bother. They are unreliable, they are flakes and no matter how much support you give them in the good times, it will never be enough to sustain them through the bad - it is like giving money to a gambling addict - it will be lost.

I deal with a lot of ups and downs of life professionally and personally and it is incredible how many people seem to have close to zero intentional strategy of dealing with life when things turn sour, which leaves them bitter. I find it incredible that people have the opportunity to develop their mindset and habits for a better life experience whilst investing into a potentially greatly improved financial future - and don't take it.

In my opinion:

If Hive doesn't change you for the better, you are doing it wrong.

You can have a thousand reasons for why your journey here and in life has worked against your success, but how do you then explain those who have made it under the same conditions? What is the justification when hundreds and thousands of people from different backgrounds,skills sets, cultures and histories have survived the downs and thrived in the ups?

Attitude matters - so does behavior.