In few men is it part of nature to respect a friend's prosperity without begrudging him. - Aeshylus

Altruism and self-determination are not mutually exclusive, but it requires a certain training to align them. Celebrating others' success as if it was our own is rarely found in working environments.

Now one of the trickiest challenges in the Steem community is the ability to align financial interest and social integrity. Just think about your real life relationships: There are few things we try to avoid more than mixing up friendship and money, correct?

So what happens when our friends suddenly become our most feared competitors or the other way around? Here's my theory: only those who're able to manage this situation without using their ellbows and trying to create a "me first" culture, will succeed in the long run.

Here's to the greatness of enjoying other people's success!

@surfermarly & friend teaming up

Begrudging impeeds growth

Steve Jobs said once:

Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people.

I'm pretty sure that this applies for any sort of business.

The great challenge we're facing now with tokenized social networks is that we're focussing on our own outcome (financial driver) while we become attached to our competitors in an emotional way (social integrity).

What is more important: being a good friend, or being successful? Can we achieve both?

Being rewarded for social interaction is something completely new in a technological but also in a psychological way.

It's a fascinating phenomena: suddenly we forget about our core principles and start doing business with friends.

Or it happens the other way around: we suddenly socially interact with our biggest competitors. We even begin to share income with them and celebrate it. Really?

Yes, really.

And the upvote goes to... your competing friend! Awesome! :-)

It's a fine line

On one hand we're establishing social bonds (even new friendships) with other members of the network, and on the other hand we're competing against each other for the same pool of money.

Finding the right balance between healthy competition - which can be found in mutual inspiration, support and knowledge transfer for instance - and trustful friendship becomes a core competence in tokenized eco-systems.

Selfish hardliners, egocentrics and enviers are living hard times.

Here's my strategy on how to align financial interest and social integrity:

No copyrights here (spread it!) :-)

Only team up with positive people that don't begrudge each other.
Learn from others and find inspiration in their skills without envy.
Spread positivity and promote the benefits of healthy competition.
Share your knowledge with others and be a role model in team spirit.
Ignore envy, jealousy or false praise, and stop interacting with people who practice these attitudes. They need you, but you don't need them.
Celebrate others' success in the way you celebrate your own, happiness is contagious :-)

It's a fine line, but you can walk on it :-)

Those who're pretending to keep other community members back and that way limit their development in order to improve their own position within the network, are wasting their energy.

They'll be falling by the wayside.

Even tokenized social networks keep the word social after all. The fact that interaction is rewarded monetarily now doesn't dimish the importance of its social origin. You can't fake that.

My prediction: Successfully aligning financial interest and social integrity will become the supreme discipline in networks like Steem.

Do you actually know where the word community has its origin? It comes from the Old French comunete which means:

reinforced by its source

Then let's do this :-)

Best, Marly -

Thanks for your valuable time!
This blog was launched at the end of July 2016
aiming to provide stories for open-minded
people who enjoy living on the edge of their lives,
stepping out of comfort zones, going on adventure,
doing extreme sports and embracing the new.
Welcome to the too-much-energy-blog!

PS: Don't forget that this is a troll-free zone.

Original content. Quote found on pinterest.com.