Success porn: A Motivational Scam
Life is a challenge, a struggle and this is to be faced with all you have. The lessons one needs to fight through and succeed are all at the fingertips waiting to be accessed. We all have the power within, we just need to learn to utilize it, grab it and take and make it ours. It can take a lot of work and you may put a foot wrong but deep inside you is all you ever need and to find out what that is all one requires is the will to want it more....
Success Porn. Just like real porn, none of it is real. It is designed for those looking for shortcuts to becoming successful, becoming wealthy, becoming attractive. And, it doesn't work.
Although reading it may leave the audience feeling empowered, motivated and energetic, the core of the system is always missing and the bubble will deflate very quickly. The mind and body both will forget it even read it 15 minutes later.
The people it attracts the most are often the young, the naive, the TV shoppers or the ones who are constantly chasing one get-rich-quick scheme after another. The fools who have not spent enough time critically thinking through what they consume, have not experienced a wide range of the world and not realized that in nearly every instance, the lion's share goes to those who do the work, or those who can pull the wool over the eyes of the ignorant.
There are many types of conman, and we can see how easy it is to trick people these days with how many fall for an obvious scam. Today I met about 3 people in chat who had sent SBD to random accounts based on a DM promising some return but got nothing. Really, that random, unsolicited, private message asking for money was a scam? And then the complained and blamed the scammer.
It is not the scammers fault, as underhanded and cruel as it may seem, that is what they have chosen to do. It takes a willing accomplice for their goal to succeed and that means someone too blind to see the scam for what it is, an idiot. Very few people in this world are born so stupid, but many are made.
We live a world of greed and desire and it is this promise of short-cutting the path to the money so as to feed the desires that most cons target. They promise and promise and spin a whole range of information that has come from other spinners. Nearly all of it is rubbish yet people buy into the imagery, the story of it, why? They want to.
They want to believe that the Lamborghini with the hot woman in the passenger seat is within reach, they want to believe that the ripped body is built upon a tin of supplement powder or single piece of equipment. They want to believe that all of their wildest dreams can come true, all of the fame and fortune is there for the taking. They just need to buy-in and they will get all of the information they need.
Them, and all of the other people doing exactly the same thing in a thousand different ways. If these ways worked, 50 percent of the world would be millionaire's living on tropical islands, drinking martini's out of coconuts every day. This is not the reality though, is it?
The only one's who get this life in this arena are the one's selling the dream, conning the customer and taking their hard earned money, or in this case, their vote.
Steemit is fast becoming Instagram where some people are posting a load of absolute horseshit and because it makes people feel like they have a chance to taste success, they follow and upvote it. People upvote what others upvote because they think it brings them closer to success. They resteem highly paid posts without even reading them thinking there will be glory by association and the money will fall off into their wallet.
These people have bought into a lie. The same lie that gets told time and time again in magazines and television and spread wide across social platforms. Buy me, and you can be successful too. It is a scam, as sure as the scam of the private message asking for money, as sure as the Nigerian prince with a fortune to distribute. A scam that preys on the weak of mind.
And there are many weak of mind. They are weak because they have not researched, the want instant gratification, pleasure all the time and they will attempt any shortcut to get it. They will pour everything they have into doing as little as possible. But, there is an opportunity cost to this behavior, a cost to investing into trash.
Everything they have desired, everything they want to purchase, the cars and home s and holidays, they will with all likelihood forego for the simple reason they are lazy.
It takes work and skill and depth and courage to become successful. Yes, luck plays a roll too. The determination to push through the adversity, repress short-term desires and drive when no one else is willing to be on the roads. That is where success is found.
My advice is simple: Anyone that says they know the way, does not. Anyone that is poor and says I am going to be a Billionaire, will not. Anyone that says pay me and I will make you rich, cannot.
Fortune is found in uncertainty and ones ability to act well when everything is unknown is the predictor of success. Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change as Einstein said. The change is the uncertainty, the skill one requires to change cannot be bought, it cannot be upvoted, it cannot be consumed.
It must be learned. This takes effort.
Do not support this kind of behavior or accounts at Steemit, it is harmful for the community, it is harmful for the walking world. This fake, over-hyped, narcissistic approach is attractive to the suckers who are unlikely to ever know what it feels like to be truly successful. They spend all of their resources in places that do not build their own skills, they are desperate for result but do not build process.
They fantasize about having it all and think they can learn what they need to building strong relationships, by watching porn.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
Wow... been a while since I've felt compelled to hand out a 100% upvote, but this about as perfectly summed up not only "The State of Steemit" but also "The State of the World."
From time to time, I catch myself and ask the inevitable question "Am I just getting OLD?" Let's face it, older generations are often "disgusted" with the acts of the subsequent generation... but in this case, I don't think that's the truth.
It is all a Big Lie. But why?
To keep us in a state of fear? Fear, as in FOMO fear that makes us consume ever more in service of feeling like we're not "falling behind." By using shortcuts, and bots, and upvote and resteem services, I can "shortcut" my way to Steemit success. Actually "Doing the work" is not only boring, it's too slow. I'll miss out on the runup in the price of Steem...
I'm "sefishly motivated," of course-- just like you. We want Steemit to still be here for us, five, ten years from now... and the shortcut mania may jeopardize that; so we illustrate and publicize the approach that will help us meet our goals....
There is no selfless act. I am motivated by incentives like everyone else but there is a difference in the path and the depth and reach. I am quite individualistic by nature though this doesn't cut ties with others, if anything, it build stronger ties. Not of reliance on each other but on the continual questioning required to improve each other. This is the value in community as I see it. A 'fast-track' to self awareness by seeing the reflections of oneself through the eyes of many.
When it comes to Steemit, yes, I want financial success too and I would be very welcome of it came hard and fast though, this is not likely for me (or many at all). The longevity of this environment is ever being shortened by the importing of the same processes and behaviours that are failing outside the walls.
I keep writing, a few keep commenting and I watch as we slip deeper into where we came from and further from where we were meant to escape to.
Thank you for the high praise.
That, right there, speaks volumes. In fact, there's an entire post, right there...
I will take your word for it, you are one of the mot active people I've seen
great perspective which has made it a little bit harder for me to now complete this message but well here goes - if you want to really go on a mind trip check out my last post, i spent ages writing it and have only had 3 views so just shamelessly scouting for more potential readers.. ;) have followed you as i like your writing
Yup good write, worth the follow :) props to @denmarkguy, thanks for the resteem :)
I'm thinking into getting back into my blogging, although between a few reasons I got quite discouraged, main problem being people not reading and acting like this is the stock market of blogs :| .......
Know what I think is worse?
Make-the-world-a-better-place-inspirational porn.
I am referring to YouTubers and bloggers out there who intentionally video themselves down helping some homeless person.
The act itself may seem like it's an act that has risen humanity, but you can also tell it's contrived bullshit. Where are they after that?
I mean yo... homelessness exist and it's a problem, but always remember that they're people.
They're not objects for you to use just so you can get more views for your video or blog. They are also not there for you just to make yourself feel better for 10 minutes, and then you stop giving a fuck after that.
I may sound cynical, but inspirational porn is a real disease imo.
If you want to make a difference, then seriously do something about it. Create a movement or something and stop treating them as objects. They're people.
Good post @tarazkp. We truly think alike. I've wasted too much time and money on these "how to make money according to your passion" guys. They seriously stretch it to the lowest common denominator just to appear that they have a legit business, when really, they just want your money.
Lol. I wrote a whole post about that shit somewhere. The lighting, the angles, the quality... dirty bastards.
I KNOW RIGHT.
i agree with the message, great writing, and fuck all porn! happiness is all we want and if we only could realise we have the ability to be happy no matter what are circumstances are.. if you want to really go on a mind trip check out my last post, i spent ages writing it and have only had 3 views so just shamelessly scouting for more potential readers.. ;)
monkeysphere writ large.
yep.
This is an amazingly well-written post! I'm shocked that after 5 hours this has only earned less than $5.
67 votes but only 41 eye-balls... that's the problem! People think they have done their job by auto-voting and are missing out on this well-written article. They don't read and don't know it deserves more. That is a real shame.
I'm still gathering numbers and trying to determine if it would be worthy to have all up-votes of equal value. I know there will be resistance to that idea, and I may find out that the numbers don't make it worth considering, but I need to convince myself by doing the math. I suspect that you would have received a larger chunk of the pie for 67 votes, but I have not done the math yet.
Edit to add the math: $605,200 (daily reward pool) / 2,200,000 (votes per day) = $0.275/vote
So $0.275 X 67 votes = $18.43 as opposed to under $5.
Hmmm... might be something to consider.
I don't know how to find the figures used, so I am relying on the accuracy of those who are reporting these statistics.
I wish my figuring was as good as yours.
I am unsure if an equal value would work as it would take incentive away from the investors to stay and would lead to a lot of self voting and voting rings.
The system now is far from perfect but it means that those with the highest stake are more willing to put money where it will have an impact to increase their own value. It also has a problem of self voting of course but it is seems more the sheer numbers of new accounts that self vote to get some return, even though they haven't really invested yet.
This is at 91 views and 84 votes. One of my highest views yet I think and with a dodgy curation botnet of between 30 and 40 bots following it, It means that at least half the people that viewed it didn't think it was so amazing.
One thing to also bear in mind is that some people share the posts on other media channels and I do not think those views get factored into the numbers. I don't think that is an issue for me. :)
Actually, I was thinking the fixed vote would reduce self-voting (or at least make it less of an issue as far as abuse goes) but yea, I see the other side of it too. I don't know what would be best, but it doesn't hurt to talk about it and at least look at possibilities.
Absolutely, talking about it and testing different options is likely the only way an adequate solution will come. This goes for everything in life.
yeah there was a autobot commenting the same thing, a while back, but that's not how the math is made, 40 of the votes could be 1% or whatever autovotes, plus 40 views is astronomical, I've seen trending posts and lots of them that have <10 views while rewards are ~50usd's and votes are around 80+ ..
This is a truly thought-provoking post that I found thanks to @denmarkguy. I have my summers off and was able to devote so much more time to this platform than I am now that I am back to working again. I have decided that my new game plan is to try and post at least once a week and try to read and respond to the work of others at least two or three other days a week. Im playing the long game, and I want to add value to the community. Sure, I could probably post junk every day, but I've decided I'd rather spend time on one solid piece and then support the work of others with my remaining time. Am I going to get rich doing that? Well, I haven't so far! But it's what feels right to me. In the meantime, I have been looking for a second job that I can do from home to help support my family. For me, I see this platform as a long-term investment rather than the lottery. Thank you for your post! I want to try and support others even more than I have been doing now.
If they are going to be longer posts, split them into parts and post them with links to each other. Spread the posting time out a little though. Perhaps a day apart is good.
I generally write and immediately post when finished but I have an ongoing draft of many pieces at all times. I tend to think a lot these days. This does take a lot of my time though which is something I have to consider for my business and family time also.
I am not an investing expert but, if you are going to get a second job and you do believe in a crypto future. Put a little of the money you can spare (and lose) into a few different well researched coins. There are plenty of decent blogs here to help. the reason is that 10 dollars earned outside is going to depreciate in value in the coming years or stay stagnant whereas 10 dollars no in something like BTC has a good chance of increasing.
For me at the moment, I work really hard in the evenings after my daughter goes to bed to make this my side job as I really enjoy the writing and the thinking it takes plus, it makes me at least feel I am helping others.
Good luck.
Those are all amazing points to consider, and I will definitely take them to heart and see what I can put into practice to better my blog and my future. Thank you for all the tips!! Very greatly appreciated.
Great post. You are absolutely right. I have seen so many different people who do this not just on Steemit (although you see it very prevalent here), but in other avenues who follow motivation speakers and success coaches and the like and think it will get them where they want. I believe there can definitely be some use in changing how we think but yes you need to go through things, and try, and not just try to take shortcuts. That's my opinion anyways. I believe having a life coach can be beneficial, but when they get into the getting rich, how to be rich, etc kind of stuff it isn't particularly true. You always have to "buy" into something. Great post. I hope a lot of people read it and follow the knowledge within it.
My business in the walking world is actually skill development which crosses into coaching of sorts but the whole philosophy behind mine is integrity of action and small steps towards higher levels of work and life satisfaction. It takes work, a lot of work over a long period of time. I am hired by the companies themselves so the clients have not actually personally invested. They are there because they want to be there, not because they paid.
Very good post! We need more posts like this to make more people aware of this bitter truth.
So many lies in the world today. But I always believe that if enough of us start taking action to show the right way then the rest will start to distinguish what is right and wrong!
Upvoted and followed you! We need more people like you!
You don't really want to many people like me in this world, what we need more of is people taking responsibility for their own experiences and actions.
wow