aljif7's Blog Blog-Hive Friday 31 October 2025. Area: Reflecting.
A Lesson from a movie
Reflecting on the challenge of maintaining consistency in a project, I was reminded of the film based on Stephen King’s novel, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. What struck me was how the main character meticulously planned his escape over many years — chipping away at the prison wall, grain by grain, day after day, removing tiny fragments of rock that, over time, amounted to kilograms of rubble.
That’s why I wanted to revisit the themes of consistency and resilience. Like Andy Dufresne, perhaps the wisest thing he did was keep his plan to himself. He also cleverly leveraged the warden’s greed, ultimately walking away with the warden’s ill-gotten savings — which, much like those tiny rock fragments, accumulated into a considerable sum, even a small fortune.
It’s no wonder Andy’s voice carries such power throughout the story. His profound and heartfelt friendship with Red beautifully explores themes of hope, resilience, and freedom. One could say Andy cultivated extraordinary perseverance to achieve what seemed impossible to everyone else.
I must also mention how much I admire Tim Robbins’ and Morgan Freeman’s performances as Andy and Red — they deliver truly memorable, authentic, and deeply moving portrayals that bring their characters vividly to life.
Only recently did I realize this beloved film is adapted from Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.
In closing, I’d like to reiterate the film’s inspiring message: the importance of holding onto hope and dignity, even in the most adverse circumstances.
But why am I sharing all this?
Because, in the same way Andy worked quietly and persistently toward his freedom, we too must remain consistent in our own projects — perhaps, just perhaps, without telling anyone about them.
For example, October is ending — the first month I’ve stayed truly focused on publishing regularly on Medium. Every day, I feel that quiet drive to write. I’ve been following my plan to publish poems I’d already prepared for a book project that’s still on hold. I hope I can soon shift from calling it “the project that was…” to “the project that is becoming…” Although it is not easy to sit and post every day, the feeling is there.
I’m genuinely pleased to see my October analytics on Medium: more followers, more reading options, and countless dreams waiting to be planted.
That’s why I wanted to reflect today on the importance of staying consistent with projects that, in the end, are deeply personal — and often difficult for those around us to understand.
A personal example, as fire maintaining the engine
Take my journey with finance, for instance. Nine years ago, something clicked in my mind — a realization that I needed to explore alternative income streams alongside my day job. Until three months ago, I held a steady job, but that initial spark led me down a path that eventually brought me to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, then to decentralized finance (DeFi), where even small amounts of capital can generate returns.
This project has spanned years and required daily learning. Slowly but surely, I’ve come to appreciate the power of compound interest — not just financially, but in every area of life.
Thanks to that initiative, I fared remarkably well when the pandemic hit. However, the post-pandemic period — coupled with a hack that wiped out 40% of my capital — gradually drained my resources, leaving me nearly at zero until last year.
More recently, I added another “experiment” to this journey: creating value through my Hive blog. I had a hunch it would take a long time — and it did. But this year alone, it’s already generating between $40 and $100 USD monthly. Considering that the crypto market hasn’t yet peaked in this cycle (and no one knows if it’ll match the heights of the previous one), that income could multiply significantly.
Although finance is a topic unto itself, I mention it here as an example of a current endeavor that now provides me with small but meaningful streams of value — sometimes through staking, sometimes through a bit of trading.
Seeing that it took two years of consistent effort before this began yielding tangible results made me wonder: could I see returns faster on Medium?
And so, here we are at the end of my first focused month on Medium. Though my account has existed for years, it was another dormant dream — now reawakened.
Now I face a new challenge: I’ve just started a full-time job. Yet I believe this stable income actually strengthens my investment strategy, giving me the foundation to rebuild the “small fortune” I accumulated in the last cycle — with far less active effort this time, since I’m now focused only on a few proven, consistent projects.
That’s all for now!
Happy Halloween!
(…Though I just realized I forgot the spooky story — ha ha!)
31st October 2025. Hong Kong