I try to read one book per month so I can share something new with my team on an on-going basis. My role requires me to mentor my staff on different aspects of management and leadership. I was searching for materials that talk about thinking right when I came across this book co-authored by a couple of brilliant math professors from Wiliams College (Michael Starbird), and The University of Texas (Edward B. Burger). The book used the 4 classical elements Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, then added a quintessential element to create a guide for learners in developing better thinking habits.
In this post I will attempt to lay out how the lessons from the brief well written book can help improve ones Steemit experience.
1. Earth - Understand Deeply
"Don’t face complex issues head-on; first understand simple ideas deeply. Clear the clutter and expose what is really important. Be brutally honest about what you know and don’t know. Then see what’s missing, identify the gaps, and fill them in. Let go of bias, prejudice, and preconceived notions. There are degrees to understanding (it’s not just a yes-or-no proposition) and you can always heighten yours. Rock-solid understanding is the foundation for success." - Excerpt from the book.
The authors used Earth (where we stand) to get the concept of understanding deeply across to the learners. In my short Steemit journey, I have seen some common factors between the most successful authors. One of them certainly is going beyond skin deep in discussing a subject. The subjects themselves matter not as much as the level of understanding or expertise the author exhibited in the posts.
A brilliant artist for example would do better by really taking the time to show the steps taken, materials used, amount of time taken to complete the work, brush strokes applied, and some description of the subject in comparison to someone who will just post a photo of his/her work. A homesteader who speaks about what homesteading is, why he/she is doing homesteading, and how exactly they are doing homesteading gets appreciated more than those who only posts pictures of harvest crops or slaughtered livestock.
Really trying to understand what author wrote about also helps in building real connection. I am not sure that I can quantify it, but I really exert effort to read and understand posts, and then comment in such a way that either engage the author on the subject, adds value to the content, or help expound on an idea presented in the post.
2. Fire - Make Mistakes
"Try something: see what’s wrong; learn from the defect; try again. When he said that invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, the perspiration was the process of incrementally making mistakes and learning from them to make the next attempts apt to be closer to right. When Edison was asked how he felt about his countless failed attempts at making a lightbulb, he replied, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work." - Excerpt from the book
I started with this platform thinking this to be Facebook or Instagram that pays. I am not sure how many other thought the same way in the beginning. I have made many mistakes, most of them intentionally done to experiment. I think I am continuing to learn and still have tons to study about. Here are some of the mistakes I think I've done:
- Followed a whole bunch of users in hope of being followed back. Lots of those who did follow back became inactive.
- Not posting for a week. This made me start from zero in terms of engagement.
- Being negative over spam comments. This is a platform for positivity and frowns on negativity.
- Use of automated voting tools too much. This removed opportunity for real engagement.
- Tried quantity over quality. There were days when I posted four garbage materials thinking it will attract attention.
Because of these mistakes, I now know better. The more mistakes you are making during your early days, the better. I say this as long as you are realizing that those are mistakes, and you're really trying hard to change. It is best to commit the mistakes earlier than later when you already have some reputation to live up to.
3. Air - Raise Questions
"Constantly create questions to clarify and extend your understanding. What’s the real question? Working on the wrong questions can waste a lifetime. Ideas are in the air — the right questions will bring them out and help you see connections that otherwise would have been invisible." - Excerpt from the book
When I was just starting in Steemit, I felt bad about not joining sooner. I thought the ones who started early had clear advantages over newbies. Now I know this to be untrue. This is a community that recognizes potential, and there are plenty of smaller communities that are here to help. First you need to acknowledge that you need help, then ask for it. There are plenty of Steemians who offer being a mentor for free, and if you think you can learn from me, I am very much willing. Hit me in any of my post by commenting or join us in the Steemit Philippines discord channel.
4. Water - Follow the Flow of Ideas
"To truly understand a concept, discover how it evolved from existing simpler concepts. Recognizing present reality is a moment in a continuing evolution makes your understanding fit into a more coherent structure." - Excerpt from the book
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" - Isaac Newton
The development of calculus and its applications to physics and engineering is probably the most significant factor in the development of modern science. Isaac Newton, one of the acknowledged scholars who invented calculus said the above statement. That is an acknowledgement that what he did, was merely naturally extend existing mathematical ideas (ie. Algebra and Geometry), then come up with what seemed to be a magical new idea.
Some of my most appreciated posts are inspired or expounded version of other steemian's post that I found interesting. I followed their ideas and let it flow. One of my post was translated in Chinese by
, and
offers his posts to be translated in any language. There are many Steemian fiction writers who get ideas from scientific findings, many artists who get inspired by Steemit whales, many poets who wrote haikus for famous Steemians. The list of things you can write about by just following the flow of ideas is endless.
5. The Quintessential Element - Change
"You simply need to shrug off perhaps a lifetime’s habit of accepting a relatively superficial level of understanding and start understanding more deeply. You simply need to let go of the constraining forces in your life and let yourself fail on the road to success. You simply need to question all the issues you have taken for granted all those years. You simply need to see every aspect of your world as an ever-lasting stream of insights and ideas. You simply need to change." - Excerpt from the book
In a recent post I talked about how I seem to have evolved since joining Steemit. I have included two posts which are about two months apart. In the one two months ago, I used no formatting, linked a video from Youtube which is not mine, and used less than 30 words including the title and tags. I compared that to a more recent post where I used some newly learned formatting of text and photos, text dividers, video from Youtube I cited the source for, used over one thousand words, and created a cool looking cover photo using Powerpoint that I also learned recently. Here is a link to that post:
Steemit Experience Day #60 - Stats Updates & Lessons Learned
I highly recommend this book to everyone. It is short and can be read in one sitting. Though the authors suggests reading it three times. You will anyway be hooked and end up reading it at least twice, even without being told to do so. It is very helpful for all learners, in the campus and grown students of life both. Steemians will surely benefit from the book's many lessons. As two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough said, “Writing is thinking". By improving the way you think, your writing skills improves with it.
Thank you for taking time to read this post, if you like it and you feel it is worth an upvote I will appreciate if you do upvote, if you think others might like it too please resteem, if you want to see more of things like this please follow me.
Credits:
Thinking Man Photo: Source
Classical Element Icons: Source
Change Icon: Source
The Five Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird: Amazon
Word Counter: Link