The dollar-signs light up in the eyes of many first discovering Steemit. Upon that first wave of rewards for a personal introduction or story shared, the addict within us is tempted - imaginations running amuck with visions of quitting day jobs as we earn thousands with ease simply posting quality content for others to embrace.
But whether this is a realistic scenario or not - it is possible that the financial rewards of engagement on Steemit are only the beginning. It may be possible that there are far greater rewards ahead, holding immensely more meaningful, priceless, and purposeful rewards...
"What greater rewards?"
What would be the greatest rewards to you, personally, in life?
If money is merely the means to an end, *what ends do you envision for yourself?*
"It's not the destination that counts - it's the journey...
What journey would *you* choose to embark upon, if the money were no object?
We may have far greater opportunities ahead of us here on Steemit than simply increasing our bank roll.
Opportunities to connect. To build relationships.
Opportunities to express. To communicate vision.
Opportunities to collaborate. To grow ideas & projects.
To say we're on the leading edge of a revolution is kinda both cliche and an understatement. But fuck it. We're on the leading-edge of a revolution.
Not everybody might see the potentials of what a venture like Steemit both represent and hold. But for those who've 'seen the light, that excitement alone is possibly worth far more than the payout expected on July 4.
Granted, this isn't a revolution to just sit back and watch. It's one accessible only through rolling our sleeves up, diving into, and getting dirty in.
Not all on here have may yet thrown themselves into the ring and felt the rush playing this new exciting game - of which the financial rewards are just the scorecard. But to those at the forefront who've gotten their feet wet and have experienced the heat of the action, the tally their votes' monetary compensation may pale in comparison to the sense of curiosity, elation, and expansion felt throughout their Steemit journeys.
What we put in, we get out.
As those playing the game more intensely may have experienced - the more you put into Steemit, the more you get out of Steemit.
And this doesn't mean just the Steem Dollar rewards.
More than anything - summed up in a single word - the greatest rewards may come in the form of growth. The cryptocurrency balance is just one aspect of that.
To some, that growth might seem most prominent in regards to the relationships developed. That might be manifest in repertoire with other members, respect earned from commenters, a strong sense of connection generated through reading others' personal stories we can deeply relate to, or an increased understanding of & with the Steemit community as a whole.
For others, that growth may be most appreciated in the form of the skills & character development experienced in playing this new game - in discovering the strength and adaptability in oneself to persist through the learning curve and navigate this cyberspace environment and get their "feet on the ground" and "running," so to speak. This platform provides an excellent feedback mechanism, and surely a few have found that the more in integrity they become through their sharings - being real, open, honest, truthful, and taking the time & energy to up the quality of their content produced - the better the community has responded. And while the positive feedback may be nice, the guidance it provides to increase the standards of our contributions is a whole, amazing world of rewards within itself.
To some, the learning itself is a reward. Whether coming to understand how cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology work, gaining new knowledge though reading stories, or figuring things out about these new collaborative models - there's plenty of growth to be had in these spheres of life on Steemit. As such, our time & energy invested in engagement also reaps the fruits of a higher education - and who we become in that pursuit.
A Playground Of Our Own Creation
For children, there may be no greater reward than play itself.
Being a fresh social media platform, where we each have the opportunity for writing our own rules for how to make the most of it - Steemit is a playground for us to experiment in/with.
We can strategize, formulate, and play the game with our sights set on maximizing financial rewards. We can also throw off our inhibitions and allow ourselves the freedom to put out new & different ideas, testing the waters for direct feedback that translates quickly into crypto-cash (or not, if the ideas suck).
No one has set any definitive guidelines to follow. And we are unbounded here by engrained patterns, habits, and cultural protocols we may have gotten used to after years on other social media sites.
This nature of creative freedom is an entirely other kind of reward of its own. We are unobstructed - free of censorship, free of expectations of existing social circles - free to play, free to create our own games, free to invite others to play with us - and enabled the financial rewards to let us know how boring or awesome others find our games. But ultimately, isn't the greatest reward playing the games we design ourselves...?
Changing The World
Many of us may have dreamt lives & legacies bigger than what we've been living, of having an impact on society beyond its various (and numerous) dysfunctions. We may have observed all kinds of chaos & corruption in government and institutional cultures and have yearned to make our mark in the world, leaving it a better place than we came into it. As idealistic as it may sound - Steemit could be a vehicle with/through which to generate these types of change - if its potentials are understood, invested in (with the energy of our time, passion, knowledge, and belief just as much as, if not more than, money).
Social media has enabled us to connect and share the visions of the world we'd like to create; yet, the introduction of blockchain applications to synergistically integrate financial systems & economic models into our means of globally co-developing ideas shall open doors to new possibilities for how such visions could be feasibly and effectively executed.
Sure, we could always connect with others sharing similar visions on any other of the countless forums or social media platform on the net and work our asses off to make them happen - yet, something about a platform like Steemit is fundamentally different.
The platform itself is a game-changer - and as such, it's early adopters typically have an openness to innovative ways of doing things. Steemit is taking a step forward in the way we connect and collaborate - and hence, the people on it are all pioneers. It's a new playing field in which those engaging are connecting based on a common vision and shared values of innovating models for the co-creation of original value.
When it comes to grand visions of making a difference in the world, many have tried - and fallen short - bringing ideas to fruition with systems (such as NGOs / NPOs) founded in outdated economic paradigms. But to effectively create and implement solutions that haven't been able to be achieved, new approaches, methods, models, technologies, and collaborative strategies are required. And what better place to find others with similar goals and desires and launch such ideas from, than an environment & culture built upon the leading-edge technology, founded & forwarded by pioneers in the ways of tomorrow?
As we are enabled to share in the financial wealth created through the value of our ideas, insights, and perspectives - which Steemit is doing - we are not only collectively generating the economic capital to back our ideas, but garnering the support, input, and human capital/resources with which to bring our common visions to fruition.
While The DAO led the forefront of the movement towards widespread adoption of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization and its means of drawing support through voting for business proposals funded by a collective of investors in the organization - a platform like Steemit is not only grown out of some of the same principles of such economic support delivered in reward of value created as determined by voters, but could prove - upon clarification and agreement upon such a use, as easily as contributors stating their declaration for various proposals - to be a step ahead, with business ideas themselves birthed within Steemit and collaboratively nurtured/developed to readiness for submission as a funding proposal (even if the funding component would be more suitable to handle on a different DAO or crowdfunding site).
Of course, such a concept proposal is of far greater ambition than how Steemit is currently being used as a platform for sharing and curating *content.* However, it is through sharing ideas such as this that the possibility for Steemit's uses as a collaborative tool are expanded and could evolve to such larger purposes, should the ideas gather enough votes, support and contributing viewpoints to develop them further.
And to partake in such action as bringing our goals, dreams, desires, and visions to life in collaboration with others as committed to and passionate about the journey as we are... Would such a manifestation not be the ultimate of rewards, itself...?
The Freedom
In the end, it's not about the money, but the opportunities money affords us to be with the people we love and do the things that bring us the greatest joy.
Sure, we might be partially salivating at the Steem Dollar figures accumulating in our accounts - but what is it about the prospect of that income flow that really lights us up?
For me, it's the potential of freedom. To travel. To have the capacity to move around the globe following a curiosity to experience new places & things. To take my woman to eat at great restaurants without concern of the prices. To update our wardrobes without budget restrictions. To acquire the tools needed to produce amazing music, put myself in inspiring environments conducive to the creative flow through which I may produce greater value for the world.
The appeal of earning decent rewards for sharing really has nothing to do with money - but with the freedom that having money may create to live life without concern for money, simply because it's taken care of.
For some, that freedom may mean having the time to invest with family. For others, it might provide the means to go do volunteer work in Africa. For others, it may be having the capacity to invest in developing new skills and following passions.
And when it comes down to it, that's what the greatest reward are: LIVING LIFE TO ITS FULLEST.
It's a cool opportunity we have here with Steemit - all these different types of rewards at our fingertips, simply through contributing to a common vision of these types of rewards becoming available to more people.
We have the freedom to write our future, to write our own tickets to some of the greatest rewards we could ask for - and to help, inspire, and uplift others to do the same.
We may just be at the beginning of this profoundly innovative, interesting, inspiring venture - but it's from this starting point we choose to embrace, that the rewards shall flow from...