Before we dive into my post for this week, I would like to apologize to anyone who came here expecting another entry into my Splinterlands Economics series. We're taking a week off from that, but we'll be back to that next week! I WOULD like to note that although this post doesn't contain economic content per se, it does (in my opinion) have information with just as much importance in growing your assets over time or progressing in some way, both in Splinterlands and in the real world.
This week, I would like to take a second to celebrate my account reaching a major milestone - after the end of this past season in Splinterlands, I have reached enough Collection Power to stay in Silver league without rentals! It has been a long journey taking nearly 10 seasons grinding, but I finally made it.
Reaching this point would never have happened without the Hive and Splinterlands community. I was helped out by many insights gained from other community members and giveaways on my journey, and blog earnings also played a huge role. I thought I would write this post in order to give a few tips on how members of the community can set their goals and position themselves for success. These tips can be applied to any goal you would like to set yourself, both in Splinterlands and elsewhere.
Set a Reasonable Goal
Don't set your first goal for the top of champion league (or, you know, a goal unreasonable for your starting amount of assets). Set your goals small, and then when you reach them feel free to set additional goals. If you're just starting off on your journey then maybe try to get 1,000 or 5,000 Collection Power in order to be able to earn DEC without renting. Maybe you want to try and get some Bronze level summoners, or a legendary or two. Starting off with something reasonable to achieve and then doing it feels good, and is a great way to get going.
Trying to set your goals outside of Splinterlands? Again, start small. I'm a runner, and would strongly advise anyone who is just starting out to not try and run a marathon right off of the bat. Instead, just try and get yourself out the door. Maybe try and run a mile without stopping, or sign yourself up for a 5k. Trying to bite off more than you can chew is a sure way to get discouraged and give up without accomplishing much of anything.
I would like to emphasize here that I'm not saying that you shouldn't set ambitions goals - you should! However, I would encourage you to break those big goals into smaller, more achievable steps. You can most certainly climb that mountain, but you are less likely to hurt yourself if you don't try and do so in a single jump.
Focus on the Process
Once you have your goal then you need to figure out a series of steps that will allow you to achieve that goal. Do you want to compete at a higher league> Maybe you can start off by getting properly levelled summoners and then filling out the the rest of your deck. Want to build your collection power? Maybe you can keep an eye on the markets and do your best to scoop up as many cheap cards as you can while they are available.
Judging your success simply by the metric of your end goal (e.g., your Collection Power number) is potentially misleading. There are plenty of sources of randomness in Splinterlands, and your actions will not always be directly correlated with your results. For example, a large portion of your value from rewards chests are tied to low probability high value hits (legendaries, gold foils, etc.). If one of your goals is to gain value through ranked play, then you may want to focus on your process and just maximize the amount of rewards chests you earn (along with DEC earnings, of course). After that, judge your success by the number of chests you get, and not the actual contents.
Enjoy Yourself
This is related to the previous point, but it is important to enjoy what your are doing as you are doing it. Otherwise, you are likely to deviate from your premade strategy, and likely lose some expected value. The way I think about it is that the best strategy for yourself is not necessarily the best strategy possible, instead it is the best strategy possible that you are capable of sticking with. Know yourself!
Personally, I originally started Splinterlands to play it for fun, so a large portion of my strategy involves competing in ranked play. However, I do enjoy economic games too, and I also have fun optimizing my resource allocation and asset strategies. Figuring out what you enjoy is an important step in finding your best path forward. I would say that you want to enjoy the "grind", but really if you are doing it properly then it shouldn't feel like a grind at all.
This is just as important outside of Splinterlands. Maybe you are trying to grow your investments, or your personal relationships, or work on a particular skill. Focusing on increasing your odds of success will most likely pay off in the long run, regardless of your short term results. Have fun researching possible investments, enjoy your training runs, put yourself out there and do your best to have fun while you're doing it.
Profit!
Once you know what you are trying to do, have some steps set out to achieve it, and are enjoying yourself while you are doing it, then you're all set! Sit back, have fun, and watch your account grow. Sure, it probably isn't going to happen overnight (unless you happen to get extremely lucky), but you're well on your way!
Thank you so much for reading all the way to the end. Interested in seeing some more of my writing in the future? Be sure to give me a follow! In the meantime, if you'd like to see some of my recent posts:
This Match Was Not So Radiant - Using Radiated Brute in Battle! - This past week's battle challenge, featuring Radiated Brute!
Splinterlands Economics: Moral Hazard - An introduction to the concept of moral hazard, and how being aware of it can help us in Splinterlands.
Splinterlands Economics: Externalities - An introduction to externalities, and the insights they can give us into Splinterlands.
Thinking about giving Splinterlands a try but haven't signed up yet? Feel free to use my referral link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=bteim, and be sure to reach out to me if you have any questions!
All images used in this article are open source and obtained from Pixabay or Unsplash. Thumbnail made in Canva.