Will it all be okay?
That is a hard question to answer in terms of the economy at the moment, isn't it? because truth be told, it always is, but that doesn't mean there isn't going to be suffering and pain along the way for many people and, perhaps even worse. While many people take the "it's only money" approach to thinking about finance, life can be pretty damn hard if there isn't enough money. It doesn't buy happiness, but not having any doesn't mean there is no sadness.
I was talking to a colleague and they were saying about their own economic concerns. They are a sales person with a retainer, but works largely on commission. Their supervisor keeps advising them "not to care" if they lose a sale, but whilst this is good advice, it is difficult in practice, because, they needs the money.
The problem is with need, is that it starts to smell like desperation and just like a guy at a bar trying too hard, desperation isn't attractive. Similarly, neither is corner cutting or resorting to a drop in quality. In some way, it is similar to content creation on Hive, where when the price is up, people put in the effort to try to capture staked votes, but when it is down, the same people drop their quality away because "it isn't worth the effort". For those in the know, they realize that the price doesn't matter, the HIVE does, and the best time to build stake, is when the price is down.
It is very much like buying stake, isn't it? Just trading time and effort, instead of the time and effort spent to work in another job of some kind and then using earnings to buy. However, the price of HIVE does affect the amount of HBD that gets printed and received on a post, which is also the liquid portion. And, for those who "need the money", they are going to be net sellers no matter what the price, unlike those who converting their HBD to HIVE and powering up, or even putting into savings to earn the current twenty percent.
Multiple revenue streams.
Everyone talks about it, yet it seems few actually are willing to do what it takes. Everyone wants "passive" income, assuming that it means no work need be done, but unless born into wealth and gifted investments, passive income requires investing. And that means investing resources into something, whether it be money, time, effort, sweat, ideas... Whatever can be traded for value.
For most of us, we don't actually have that many opportunities in life, so we have to pick and choose where we put our effort. And, most of us will not have the kinds of jobs that alone will make us independently wealthy. So, if we want to build a better financial position (and through it, have better access to opportunity), we need to do more than the average. There is nothing wrong with being average, but if you look around at the average person and think that you want more, you are going to have to do different to what they are doing.
I was reading an article recently that was stating that "bosses" had slightly lower IQs than the people they managed. This of course made a lot of "subordinates" happy, because they always knew they were smarter than their manager. However and as we keep saying in society, there are other factors than IQ that go into being successful. And most probably, if you look at the highest paid people on earth, they likely aren't the sharpest tools in the shed - but they have a set of in-demand skills that people are willing to pay for. It is no wonder that so many people are attracted to trying to be a celebrity these days, because it seems like "easy money", until they realize, for most, it is very hard work and the majority aren't willing to do enough of it., for long enough, in a way that people are willing to pay for.
What is your competitive advantage?
There has been a lot of talk about AI-generated content on Hive lately, and the question goes toward the market factors. While people are able to generate large volumes of content cheap in time, effort and resources, what sets them apart from their neighbor, or the million other people willing to take the same path? The thing is, all that content becomes average, no matter if it is at a far better standard than most of these people could ever dream of writing themselves. Same for the artwork - it becomes the "new normal" and no matter how good it looks, people won't pay much for it, because there is no market differentiation between one "artist" and another, because neither are actually creative, the AI is the single source.
I was thinking about competitive advantage in terms of my own content, and wondering what sets me apart from the other creators. It isn't that I know more words, nor that my grammar is better. It isn't the quality of the images or the specialization in topic. So? Well, perhaps it is partly volume, where I am able to write a fair amount, but many can do that and have done. Yet, most of those who have, haven't been able to do the single thing that they need to do in this kind of ecosystem - engage the audience.
And, perhaps it is counterintuitive for many who think that the quality of content comes down to the quality of the written words or thoughts included. However, what quality content is, is engaging content and to be so overtime requires building relationships with the audience. It needn't even be a direct one on one relationship, it can be through the posts where a personal bond is formed in the way a good book draws in the reader to keep reading a series by the same author, or see more movies from a particular actor.
It is about connection.
But, how do you emotionally connect with a constant stream of average that is devoid of personality?
Once upon a time there was the idea that "a picture tells a thousand words", but that is no longer the case. It was only true when there was image scarcity, meaning that a good image would have enough floorspace to attract eyes for long enough for them to consider the content. Now, with so many images flooding the senses, few of them make much of an impact at all. The more ubiquitous, the less value, because of a lack of the all important market differentiation.
It's only money.
No, it isn't only money. And the reason I argue this is not because of the money itself, but for the journey it takes for most people to get that money. For most, they have to do what the average person is not doing, whether that be being great at a particular skill people are willing to pay for, providing a service that few can provide, or robbing a bank. They have to be above average, but with a lot of this, it doesn't come down to someone's IQ, it is a cluster of traits, including those like being risk seeking or, not giving a fuck what the average people think.
It will will be okay.
There is nothing wrong with being average - unless the average person is not happy being average. And as far as I can tell, most people have things that they care about in a way that they want to be above average performers in. They might not be the best, but they want to be better than most. And those who are probably the happiest in this world, aren't those who have nothing, but those who are able to do something that they feel is valuable, even if it is difficult to do. And the unhappiest people seem to be the ones who are doing nothing at all.
We are built to move and think and create. We are built to run and jump, trip and fall. We are built to invent and problem-solve. We are built to collect, cooperate, collaborate and coordinate to accomplish outcomes we can't do alone. And,
we are built to fail.
Constantly.
We are also built to dust ourselves off, recover, heal and try something different. Doing different doesn't guarantee success, but doing what everyone else is doing, doesn't get us far either. If we care what people think of us so much that we conform to fitting in, we lose our chance at having a competitive advantage and therefore, resign ourselves to the average. Everyone wants to be part of a group - the average person is.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]