The seventh and piecing it together

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.

- Aristotle -

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June 13th 2023 began my seventh year on the blockchain and thinking about it seems strange...two thousand one hundred and ninety three days of posting on the blockchain, writing blogs about my life, what I do, my thoughts and feelings and various other things that my posts encompass. Strange...because I didn't expect to stay around for much more than a year because I despise social media. Six full years and into my seventh...amazing.

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓱...𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓼

I've watched my account grow over that time. I started with nothing, just an account, my brain and fingers...and a computer...and a chair...and electricity...Ok, so I had a little more than nothing, but I didn't inject financial investment, my plan was to grow my account through effort, engagement and by creating relationships...I added passion and personality, nurtured relationships that formed and...my account and 'brand' began to grow.

I went to Hive Buzz ranking to gather a few statistics which you'll find below. What do they mean? Not all that much I guess...consistency and persistence, discipline and effort though, for sure.

• Posts written (blogs): 3,237+
• Comments made: 75,770+
• Reputation score: 81.8
• My posts re-blogged by others: 12,485+
• My staked Hive Power 184,200+
• Upvotes given out: 624,200+

These statistics don't mean much to anyone but me although I look at them with a degree of satisfaction considering I have put a lot of effort into Hive, and still do - these statistics represent a return on that time/emotion/effort investment. It's not something others can't emulate for themselves of course, I'm no one special, just a knucklehead who writes some things from time to time and, of course, encourages others to do the same in various ways.

𝓢𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼

Today, considering I'm now in my seventh year on the blockchain, I thought I'd mention seven elements that have gone into building my account here. So, if you're interested feel free to take a look below...they are in no particular order of importance as I feel they are all equally important.

1️⃣ 𝓟𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷, 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝓯𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓽

This means in everything I did on the blockchain from using my own images as much as possible, learning to write better, presenting my posts well and in an interesting format, engaging with others, nurturing relationships, supporting new users and the many other things I've done here. The addition of PP&E has made it more enjoyable.

2️⃣ 𝓞𝓾𝓽𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓹𝓼

Reading other people's posts and commenting with relevance and interest opens relationships and that's how I began to build my account from the start; it was easy to do, because it was fun. Then I nurtured those relationships and was consistent with my engagement. Making boring, inane comments is worse than making none at all so my suggestion to others is make them interesting and give people a reason to engage back.

3️⃣ 𝓗𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓯𝓾𝓷

When this isn't fun anymore I'll be gone and you won't see me for the dust cloud. I couldn't have built my account the way I have if I wasn't having fun along the way; that means with my own writing, the concepts I've been running, the engagement and commenting with others and the relationships that came along. Making fun the reward was probably one of the top three things I did, and I'm glad I did it.

4️⃣ 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓬𝔂, 𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮

It's not going to happen overnight, I knew that coming in. My financial rewards were low initially so I shifted my thoughts away from the financial and found reward in the writing, crafting my posts, the interaction and relationships. Sure, I wanted it to happen faster but I decided patience was prudent and applied consistency and persistence instead - I still do. I think this ethos prepares a person for the longhaul and keeps one on track and doing the right things.

5️⃣ 𝓟𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻 𝓾𝓹 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓿𝓸𝓽𝓮

I don't mean vote on yourself here, I mean others, and voting comments left for you is of great benefit too. We all earn rewards from authoring posts and curation from voting on other people but I feel voting on top-level comments left on my posts, and replying, has been a huge benefit to me. I'm not talking about the curation earned from it either, I'm talking about the relationships it helped form which have led to consistent incoming votes and more enjoyment also. Powering up? Well yeah, clearly I do a lot of that and I suggest others do also.

6️⃣ 𝓢𝓾𝓹𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓮

I've done this in different ways: Delegations, one-on-one support in commenting, upvoting, contests and concepts that give away Hive to participants and supports them in posting initiatives. I also have a few communities I run. The idea behind this is twofold: Support those who deserve it and to increase my own enjoyment of my time here. It's amazing what benefit a few well-placed comments can have to someone who is struggling and losing interest and the effort rewards in return.

7️⃣ 𝓒𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓽𝓮𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓯𝓾𝓵

It's ok to have an opinion and voice it, but there's ways to do so, and ways one shouldn't; and it's vital to remember that other people have opinions also. This doesn't mean one needs to accept poor treatment or behaviour, I certainly don't, but avoiding drama that doesn't involve me directly or that is not in the best interest of the blockchain is prudent as is being respectful of others and their opinions. Stand your ground by all means, but do it with respect and courtesy where possible.

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𝓟𝓲𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓽 𝓽𝓸𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻

That's not a comprehensive list of things that will help lead a person to build their account sustainably, just some that have worked for me; there's other things I could add but I'm mindful of this post getting too long...which it already is.

Just a couple more things I'd like to mention that didn't really fit into the above points...downvotes...Don't be afraid to use them, they're there for a reason, and if they come along on your posts just ignore them, getting all uppity about it won't help and neither will demanding to know why you received it...Have you ever asked someone why they upvoted you? Nope. Just ignore then and be you, let other people be them.

Lastly, don't be a scammer, plagiarist, post-recycler and all of those other things that are counter productive to the blockchain community and your account, I rain downvotes down upon such accounts.

There's no one single way of piecing it together, building one's account and profile, and there's no single element that stands out to me; one must take a holistic approach I believe and that's how I've approached it. Did it work? Well I guess, will it work for others...Yeah, one would expect.

I thought being into my seventh year I'd look back and feel like it has been a long time, but in truth it does not feel that way. I still enjoy what I do here and I know one or two people feel the same way, that they would miss me if I wasn't here, something that makes me feel happy. I like when people contact me and say I've inspired them, it's a reward in itself, and I really value the relationships I have built; it has made my time here valid and valuable.

Thank you to those who have supported me along the way, and continue to do - I do not take you for granted.

Thank you to those who reach out and seek to connect through my posts and concepts, without you I'd not still be here, and thank you those of you who post in my communities with such excellence, I enjoy reading your posts and supporting you in return.