Hey Readers,
Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I returned from my vacation on Sunday, and after returning to work I finally have time to write for Hive. First, my trip was awesome. I was in Kauai, which is a breathtaking island in Hawaii. It’s not a party town, so if you like the nightlife you might not be into it. If you want to chill by the beach and soak in the paradise around you, it’s heaven.
The reason my wife and I went to Kauai was to see our daughter. My wife booked an Airbnb in Kapaa, and my daughter flew to the island so we could all spend that American holiday, Thanksgiving, together.
My daughter is attending the college of her dreams which is the University of Hawaii on Oahu. She lives with two roommates on the island in an amazing apartment. At 20 years old she is living her best life.
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Hero’s Don’t Quit
My daughter wasn’t always doing this well. She graduated from high school in 2020 at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her high school did the best it could and held a limited graduation for her class. Only close family members could attend, and everyone had to wear masks and social-distance.
She missed out on the dances and all the usual fare that makes being a high-school senior memorable. The changes were devastating, and her mental health took the biggest hit. My daughter was a straight-A student up until her Senior year. Her grades plummeted, and she lost the opportunity to attend a 4-year university. So, she enrolled in our local community college.
The community college experience was horrible. She hated online classes and not being able to attend class in person. Many of her professors had trouble transitioning to teaching online. So, the quality of instruction wasn't there. This is unacceptable since online universities have been around for decades. Traditional university professors had years to get on board with teaching online.
She dropped class after class, and her mental health continued to spiral. The only thing that made her happy was her bobarista job. She made close friends at her store, and they all supported each other. They also smoked a ton of pot. She hid the fact from her mom but was open about it with me. I even smoked a couple of joints with her. I didn’t make it a habit though because I wanted her to focus on getting her shit together.
Her mom was having a tough time handling our daughter’s depression. I finally found the courage to have a Come to Jesus’ talk with her. I was always a nice parent. She’s my baby and it’s difficult for me to get angry with her. But I had to change for her own sake. The nice dad who always tells her she’s doing awesome wasn’t cutting it.
I told her to have a seat because I needed to talk to her. I told her how worried her mom and I were. I told her she was not doing what she needs to, which is keeping her room clean, focusing on school, and asking for help when she needs it. I told her I knew things were difficult, but she was going to have to dig deep and find a way forward.
Her response was exactly what I feared. It was emotional and angry. She freaked out, hurled insults, called me names, and told me I was the worst father in the world.
It crushed me. I wondered if I had made things worse.
The talk had an impact though. After the emotions died down, she reached out to her doctor and found a therapist through our health plan. She saw the therapist and it helped her feel better about her life. Then she turned a corner last Fall and started making her ascent.
We took a family trip to Maui in October 2021. She fell in love with Hawaii and declared that she was going to apply to the university. She knew she might not get in because it had been a long time since she was a straight-A student. But she had determination, and she spoke her intention to the universe.
The good news came after the holidays. She called me at work and told me over the phone that the university accepted her. I had to shut my door because the floodgate of tears started. I sobbed tears of joy because I knew my baby was going to be okay.
We Are The Hero's of Our Own Story
You might be wondering why I told my story and what it has to do with the title of this post. Don’t worry, I’ll get there, and thanks for staying with me.
I told my story because my daughter went through a rite of passage. Some smart people identified that COVID-19 was a collective rite of passage. A rite of passage has three stages: separation, transition, return-and-incorporation.
The pandemic separated people physically, emotionally, and spiritually from everything they had taken for granted. The elderly, adolescents and young adults felt it the most. These age groups rely on the community for their emotional health.
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My daughter was at her darkest hour when I had my talk with her. She was in the transition phase of her hero’s journey. She was in a liminal state, the phase between what she was, and who she will be. She felt out of control, alone, and unsure of the future. I needed to step into the role of a mentor to let her know that she was still part of a community. Help was there if she asked for it. But she had to choose life. I thank God every day that she made the choice that she did.
My daughter survived her rite of passage and returned to society with her prize. The young woman I saw last week was in touch with her heroic self. She was radiant, happy and excited about life. Even though we’re still feeling the effects of COVID-19, the worst part is a distant memory for her.
Seize Your Opportunity
Witnessing my daughter’s transformation was meaningful as a parent. But it also made me think about my own journey on Hive. Hive’s been a rite of passage for me. I joined the community in the Fall of 2020. The pandemic was taking its toll and I felt the urge to write. I also have an interest in crypto, so the platform killed two birds with one stone.
My first account was @senseiphil. They say, if you write, write about what you know. I know a lot about martial arts because I’ve been practicing them for 30 years. Unfortunately, there isn’t much interest in traditional martial arts. My posts about MMA got attention in the SportsTalk community, but I’m not into the sport. I don’t follow it, and I don’t enjoy writing about it.
I resorted to posting bullshit and doing the dumb things accounts do here. I used click-bait headlines, became an echo chamber, complained, and wrote stream-of-conscious essays. I finally got sick of myself and quit posting.
Last month I gave it another shot with a new account. It’s the one you’re on now. I figured if I couldn’t get somewhere with martial arts, I would write about my other interest, self-improvement. I experimented with a few different post types and finally hit a nerve with readers.
My last post, which is Yes – You We’re Meant for More became my highest earning post. It was noticed by curators, and it just wouldn’t stop. I had to turn my Ecency notifications off because they became a distraction. I knew this was the beginning of something. I faced two choices. I could repeat the same type of posts until they don’t work anymore. Or I could figure out why the post was a winner.
I realized my post spoke to the pain of its readers. Cryptocurrency is popular because the world’s economy tanked in 2008. The world is limping towards an unknown future. There’s a frightening lack of trust. People don’t trust governments, they don’t trust the financial system, they don’t trust each other, and they don’t trust themselves.
TRUST is the foundation of all societies. Trust gives you the confidence to step up to the edge with your friend and know they’re not going to push you. When there’s no trust, there’s fear, and people look for solutions. Bitcoin promised a trustless financial system. Ten years later we’re realizing getting there is more difficult than we thought.
Communities are searching for an answer to a world that no longer trusts the future.
That search is the beating heart of Hive.
Hive represents an unprecedented opportunity for everyone. It helps to know how to code but you don’t need to. All you need to do is deliver a coherent message. If your message adds value, you’re rewarded for it. Continue to add value and you’ll build a nest egg that has a ridiculous rate of return.
Currently, Hive is as good as it gets.
The problem for most members is it’s hard to deliver a consistent and valuable message. It’s a grind, and it takes a lot of work. You can put your heart into a post, like I’m doing now, and earn nothing. If you calculate your hourly rate, you might realize you would have earned more mowing lawns.
But when you get it right, boy is it worth the effort.
I’m here to help people get it right. My last post showed its readers a way to fulfill their dreams, and a man or woman with a dream will not be denied.
You can earn life-changing money on Hive. Things might get worse for cryptocurrency in the short term, but the future of Hive is bright. Web 3.0 is the future and Hive is there to meet it.
The cream rises to the top, and Hive is Macho Man Randy Savage.
You Were Meant for More
What’s missing for Hive is a philosophical framework for success. Every so often a whale posts about how to get noticed on the platform. We know the lessons; write about things people care about, engage in, and support a community. It’s not that easy though.
There’s an appalling lack of success literature devoted to crypto investors. It's mostly copy-pasta bullshit out there. This is a missed opportunity because I can't think of anything more a crypto investor needs.
Everyone knows there’s a big crossover between gamers and crypto users. Neither of these communities has a solid grip on life. They have a lot of nihilism, distrust, and addiction.
Earlier this year I visited one of my wife's aquantances. She's into alternative health and I saw her for an issue I was having. She's very smart when it comes to alternative healing, but not very smart about money. Her problems got so out of control that her husband tragically took his own life because of their financial situation.
Towards the end of our meeting she asked me if I knew anything about DeFi. She said she's gotten into crypto investing and has been doing really well. Here's another thing I know about her. She's done multi-level-marketing for years. I knew she was leading me into a sales pitch and wanted me as a referell for whatever DeFi platform she sunk her kids college funds into.
I politely said "no, it doesn't interest me." I said nothing about Hive.
I could have easily started on about how Hive is great and it beats the pants off of everything else.
I kept my mouth shut because if you can't manage your fiat you can't manage your crypto.
There are things we don't talk about in the crypto community because crypto is sold as a end all be all to financial problems. This is a blind spot that's wrecking lives.
No one talks about this guy anymore. But we never should have stopped.
When I was thinking about why my last post did so well, I was also reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. That book is a classic in success literature. Written in 1937, Napoleon Hill’s conversational writing style didn’t age well. But the lessons are still relevant. Most modern success coaches like Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn, John Maxwell, and others re-frame the lessons taught in Think and Grow Rich.
What Think and Grow Rich does is teach a framework for success. It literally teaches you how to THINK and grow rich, because what you think, you attract
Napoleon Hill taught the Law of Attraction, even though he never used that term. He also emphasized the importance of having a purpose. The lack of purpose is why most Hive members struggle.
Stop Being an Echo Chamber
The Oxford Dictionary describes an echo chamber as:
An environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own.
Hive forms its own echo chambers. A lot of smaller accounts talk about whatever the movers and shakers talk about. They see the attention the movers and shakers get, and they want that for themselves.
The problem is their posts don't add value. But they keep doing it, settling for the crumbs that come their way. They know their crumbs pile up, so they’re incentivized to keep posting bullshit.
Smaller voices that echo a larger voice don't add value to a community.
This is bad for Hive. Sadly, in a world full of echo chambers it seems inevitable.
Imagine what Hive would be like if it attracted the best content creators in the world. That won’t happen until Hive members BECOME the best content creators in the world.
Whatever you want to achieve in life, you can achieve on Hive, or with the help of Hive.
Let that sink in.
Whatever you want to achieve in life, you can achieve on Hive, or with the help of Hive.
Discover Your Purpose
A philosophical framework will help you discover your ultimate life’s purpose. When you're driven by purpose, you create value.
Having a purpose narrows your focus. You’ll only want things that help you achieve your purpose. If you ask someone without a purpose why they want to be rich, they won’t know, other than they want a lot of stuff.
That describes 99% of the crypto community.
A philosophical framework will teach you that you’re meant for more. You don’t have to settle for the crumbs life gives you because you’re going to change the world. People are going to stop and take notice because you’re squeezing all the juice out of life.
A philosophical framework will teach you that the things you want, want you back. Everything you want already exists in its vibrational form. This is the Law of Attraction. Achieving your dreams is a matter of tuning to the same frequency as things you want.
Success is waiting for you when you get out of your own way.
A philosophical framework will make success inevitable. That means it's based on universal principles that have worked throughout the ages. It will take away the luck factor and provide clear steps that create wealth and prosperity.
It won’t matter where you start in life.
In Conclusion
I want to fill a gap that desperately needs filling, not only on Hive but in the larger crypto community. FOMO drives crypto investing and people are losing their asses. This creates big enemies.
Regulation is not acceptance. Enemies like the ECB want nothing more than to see cryptocurrency fail.
The community also doesn’t do itself any favors. When someone wants to get in, the only advice they get is Do Your Own Research and after you’re done, buy my shit-coin. This creates prey in a world of predators. Which is more reason for the people with handcuffs to “protect us.”
Success is waiting when you realize that you haven’t scratched the surface of your potential. This requires looking deep inside yourself and asking what you have to contribute. Only then, will you feel the urge to stop being an echo chamber.
Image by @doze
All pictures are original unless cited.
