The year of vision and focus, splintered life and !ENGAGE-ment

2020 might be the year of vision and focus for me on Steem, but in the "real world" it doesn't seem to be shaping up that way, as my attention has been fractured across a thousand realms. The trouble is that each of them is important for the others as there is interdependencies and actions have to be aligned and in order.

Currently, my thoughts seem to be moving more often toward the housing aspect as I believe the decisions made there will have major implications on other worlds including my work and Steem activities. If I take the easier route I will not have what I consider important but will have more time and energy, the harder path will get what I would like but the effort required is going to be large.

I have wondered if I am biting off more than I can chew and second-guessing if it is the right thing to do for me and my family. I think that this is a healthy consideration as I know people who blindly go for what they want without considering the work involved and what the cost of getting it may be. For example, I know several couples who have built or renovated homes at massive cost and effort, only to divorce on completion.

For every action there is a cost of something, including opportunity, and this means that I have to consider what I am willing to pay to accomplish various aspects, and what I am willing to compromise on or forego altogether.

I got notified by Steemitboard today about posting every day of the last week - a notification that has been consistent since mid-2017. Two and a half years of posting daily and I wonder, what has been the cost, the gain and how would I feel to miss a day. It would be quite strange I think and I might even be a little disappointed in myself - but eventually, all streaks must come to an end.

Those who tend to last on this platform are the ones who do not take it too seriously or, the ones who have their games to play. I am a bit of both as while I like to get involved in the discussions, I am also not driven to anger and outrage by actions or conditions. I also have the games I play which is more social interaction than anything, as well as taking an interest in the numbers around the place, which I consider highly valuable for engagement.

with Hivemind, I am hoping that there will be some novel additions to the gamification of the numbers integrated into the interfaces and experiences. I think that when people get to clearly visualize how the ecosystem works through the numbers associated with their own accounts, they will better understand and more strongly connect to the space.

Invest into engagement and !ENGAGE

On this note, I would like to mention the post I resteemed by @acidyo talking about the engagement token issued by @abh12345 to encourage engagement through comments. Anyone with 1000 ENGAGE can issue tokens for the best comments they see and @ocd are going to be adding some value to it through Steem-Engine buys to encourage liquidity. This is a cool idea and I hope that it encourages people to comment well across the platform. There is value in engagement that seemingly very few understand, but having a little added incentive never goes astray.

There is also the #milkerandtators initiative out there which is very simple to get involved with by posting once a day and adding 10 comments to the blockchain on other people's posts. One of the things that often frustrates me about some contributors is that they do not get off their own blog which means they are not very connected with the community in any way.

Post and runners are the worst, those who do not even answer the comments they get or think that a vote on a comment is enough. If you want to build an audience, treat people like people, not cows to be fed. Engage with them, talk with them, get to know them, build relationships, make friends, joke around about life, love and death as the case may be. This is a socially-powered platform - socialize.

Well, my break time is over so I best be getting back to work. While my year is looking fractured, I do think that there will be one consistent process flowing through, and that is that I will have Steem as my sounding board and confidant. I think that there is value in many kinds of content forms, but the most important tend to be the personal views of the world with which people can connect.

The view doesn't have to be a selfie or a picture of breakfast. There is more to life than that.

Taraz [ a Steem original ]