IF I WAS A MINNOW ON STEEMIT I WOULD... PART 5
I was just getting started on my dream of living a "laptop lifestyle" and I watched countless of people sharing with me their "big secret" to success. I wanted, just like many people, to "live the dream", dip my toes into the hot sand and work wherever I want around the world.
I was 25. Some would have said that I was gullible or innocent, but if you are like me, you like to listen to people who are where you want to be. As I listened I couldn't kept myself from noticing a pattern.
This is what I'm going to be sharing with you today as you read this article. The secret sauce, the pattern, that seems to elude us, the small hinges that moves big doors, the key that unlock the doors that were previously closed.
You don't need power(or steempower)...you need influence
What?!
If you have been following my series so far, I have been very specific when it comes to escaping the minnow zone. I talked about commenting and upvoting the comment section of your blog, to invest in SP, to find ways to add value to other people, etc.
But all of this is not enough. There is a secret sauce and that sauce is Influence. Now, what you need to know is what are the ingredient of that sauce...and this is it:
Learn how to tell your story
Some might be tempted to discard what I am saying and just go back to the "nuts and bolts" that I've previously shared. That would be a big mistake. Nuts and bolts only get you so far.
- If you have want to create a bond with people who follow your writing, they need to know your story
- If you want them to remember what you said in your article, they need to know your story.
- If you want other people to believe in you and back your project, they need to know your story.
I'm talking to you, someone who want to get a lot of upvotes on their content to eventually make it to the top on steemit.com
Take what I am saying here seriously
Why Stories?
That's because, for one reason or another, we are wired for stories. I'm pretty sure you don't remember 95% of what you've learned in school, but you remember some of the bedtime stories you've been told. That's because stories is the link between emotions and content. Information embedded within a story will be remembered through generations sometimes. This is how the oral traditions were preserve before the invention of writing.
When you tell your story, people "feel" the content that you are providing them.
How to tell your story
If you want to tell your story, you have to embody in a way the Hero's Journey. You don't have to have all the elements of the plot lie above but people need to know that you are on a quest, that you have been called to adventure and that you are moving toward your treasure.
If you are not living that journey, it may be time to ask yourself if you are simply stuck in the status quo part of the hero's journey and that you haven't had your call to adventure yet.
Here is the hero's journey schema if you need it for future reference...
Give me an example!
If you don't believe you have a story, you need to think hard because I can't recall someone who doesn't have a story. You have it, but sometimes it is how you remember your past and frame it that keeps you from harnessing it's power. EVERYONE HAS ONE. But to help you out, I will share you mine.
If you've been following my blog for a bit, you've probably heard my story either in full or in part. But here it is...If you can, try to recognize the pattern of the Hero's Journey.
My story is simple...I was a drifter until the age of about 25, where I sometimes slept on park benches, pick cherries and trying new jobs while traveling to and fro across Canada. All this time, I was looking for "the perfect job". Since I didn't know what it was, I kept trying new jobs and after a few months, completely get bored of it and quit.
I was desperate, I had no formal education past grade 11, I didn't have a career, no money, no purpose or goals. I remember hitch hiking on the highway 117 in Quebec...crying about how I was aimless in life.
After reading in some strange couple astrology book, that a women shouldn't trust a man that doesn't have a plan for his life by age 25, I decided that I would changed my life. Wisdom comes from strange places sometimes and somehow, that advice hit me like a ton of bricks.
I've read Tony Robbins "Unleash the Giant Within", listened to Jim Rohn talks and decided to sort myself out...to write goals for myself and to stick to them. I decided to reframe the big question of my life from "What is the perfect job for me?" to "What is the ideal lifestyle I would like to live". From there I decided that I wanted to live a mobile lifestyle and escape the matrix.
That's all good but I had no clue how to make money online and therefore I failed...I failed miserably for a long time. I tried direct sales and network marketing, I tried online network marketing, I tried affiliate marketing with clickbank, I spend thousands of dollars on courses about sales copy, facebook ads, conversion optimization and others. I blogged everyday for a year and a half and spending every dollar earned on courses.
Three years later, I was still at square one. I almost quit. I was living in Ucluelet doing housekeeping...at age 28. "Living the dream" alright. (nope)
But then I met a partner that completed my skills perfectly. We built an amazing business together and fast forward 3 years and I am well on my way to achieve the new big goal of my life: build a family with my wife. I have a big vision for the future and steemit is a part of it. I couldn't think of a better way to get there and this is why I do what I do here. I'm far from being done.
Conclusion
Tell your story in your blogpost and comments when you can, share how what you are doing right now is part of that journey. The right people will want to lock arm with you and walk by your sides. Feel free to share your story below and I will be very happy to upvote the best ones.
Yeah i remember the bedtime stories. But i did not know that it is part of the life and others will also like to hear others as a story. Thanks a lot and this tip will surely increase my writing skills.
I also read the books you mentioned in this story. One thing that really stood out for me was that one has to get out of their comfort zone in order to achieve and move ahead. One day I would like to be brave enough to tell my story, I have been told my story could help a good many people. Perhaps the encouragement I received reading this will help me finally do it.
very nice post @cryptoctopus sir, i am 24 years old on that day when my father kick me out of the house along with my wife, at that time i have no job, no money to live, no experience on how to live practically, so i grab the hand of my wife and start walking towards unknown path, but i just won't give up and decided to prove to my father that i am capable of live this life, so i go to one of my relative house and get one room on rent, On the next day i wake up and go outside to find a job, i walk all the day, go to petrol pumps, go to grocery shops but couldn't find job at last i found one on a wheel alignment shop and decided to join it and i continue to work hard, by doing this hard work every day, so much thoughts comes in my mind why not i grab a pistol or a gun and snatch money from other peoples but one suggestion from my teachers comes in my way, my teacher said to me son there are two paths in this world one is right and one is wrong if you walk on a wrong path you might get lot's of success early on but you fails in the end and if you walk on a right path you should get lots of problems and worries but you will win at the end of the day, so i decided to walk on the right path and continue to align the wheels of peoples vehicles, then one day my friend told me that you have a computer diploma why not you try to get a job in education department, so i gave a test and interview in that department and got selected as an computer operator i am very happy and join that new job, my father and my family was very surprised that how he becomes successful he don't have guts to become successful, so in short i think if a person have self believe and true dedication to become successful in this life he eventually gets it no matter how difficult the conditions are one with a true vision and goal at the end wins.
Here I am again, reading your work and thinking to myself, 'this shit is absolutely possible!'. I have used more than a fair amount of your advice in my posts and have been seeing gains on a daily basis (I'm up to $7.53 account value organically). I have $2 in the bank right now (if they haven't taken that for fees) and I'm gambling everything on my writing. I was born adventurous, as you can see from my latest post, and have been sharing real life stories since I landed here in the fishbowl. We have a lot in common, the only difference it seems is that I am starting to realize my full potential a little later in life - I'm 43. Thank you ever so much for yet another smashing post about how to realize your dreams effectively. Upvoted!
Storytelling is as old as we are, our brains are wired for it. When you say "Once upon a time..." people automatically pull up a chair. When you describe what you experienced, the listener will imagine themselves as its happening to them. We all tell stories. I have more of my story to tell as well.
Honestly, I am not sure where my story is leading to, but I feel like it just started since a few years ago (actually the real start might be now that I started with Steemit, a few months ago). I'm kind of stuck into this situation of "recovering" and although I don't see this really improve that much further, I feel like I can develop myself in this new world that is just starting. If I look a few years from now I hope to have build a solid network, a return of my small (but hopefully wise) investments, and be able to participate on a higher level where I can eventually be freely independent and go wherever my ambitions take me...
Motivating post as always :) I think the story is an essential part of account indeed and it when I check other users here I am always wondering who is this guy, how is he doing, what is his story.
Now about my story :
It might sound fun but we have some similarities in our stories :) I guess you will see it yourself.
In the age of 16 I went abroad for a work - I was picking strawberries and to be honest this job motivated me for the whole life. The question appears - what was so special about it? The answer is easy - conditions at work were like in the hell. We were living 10 people in a small trailer, we were working from 6am to 10pm. Everyday your back and hands did hurt so much you can't even imagine. However, these were my first bloody money and I was very proud of myself. The most important part of this experience was that I saw a job and life which I don't want to have in the future. It motivated me to finish my studyings and learn on how to use my brain properly.
The funny thing about this story is how I was going back with money I earned:
Even though it was not a lot: like 1000 EUR. I did not want to spend any extra cents, I wanted to save as much as possible and because of that I decided to sleep on a bench instead of booking a hotel.
Saving extra 50$ taught me a great lesson too, every cent is important and you need to be wise on how to spend or invest it.
This little work experience made me totally rethink my lifestyle and now thanks to it I am also doing great.
That's smart. It seems like your post can be distilled into two main points: people are more likely to like you if they can relate to your journey, and they're more likely to remember what your write when they know who you are.
It's that second point that really resonates with me. The story provides a scaffolding of context on which people can hang your ideas. When you are known, instead of just "some guy on the internet", it's easier to learn from your words and even to just recall them. I think it's a phenomenon closely related to the pedagogical "zone of proximal development" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_proximal_development).
"I've read Tony Robbins "Unleash the Giant Within", listened to Jim Rohn talks and decided to sort myself out...to write goals for myself and to stick to them" That book and Jim Rohn's teachings are magic. When I rocked bottom not so long ago, these two guys helped me getting out of the trash (literally) and put me where I am today, on an unstoppable run for my dreams. Thank you for sharing @cryptoctopus ^^