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When I came onto Hive at the start of 2017, I didn't know anyone here. Armed with my ability to write okayishly and some relatively decent camera skills, I went to work producing content. It wasn't bad and it wasn't necessarily good, but it was *mine* - very, very much mine. I think that my upbringing surrounded by the original art of my father and my love for books made me value originality and I would be *ashamed* to put forward work that wasn't mine. My life experience has influenced me to think as I do and be as I be. 

https://i.imgur.com/pXB3ngr.jpg

Influences are key to our life journey and like it or not, we *are all* influenced.

I have been influenced by many people here, but after bumbling around for months largely "post by post" and alone, I got invited into a chat and met @acidyo, who is probably one of the greatest influences on my Hive journey. If you don't know him, he is into curating content and values original work. He is also very much into crypto - which is where he has influenced me the most over the years - *for better and worse.* Mostly better - but I *held* all the way down...

Influences and *influencers* have a massive effect on the path people take in this world and it is no different on Hive. I have done plenty of little thought experiments around this topic over the years and observed a lot and there is one *general* pattern - a person's first connections tend to put them on a path for the future. One example would be my brother @galenkp who joined 6 months after I did - would his approach be the same if I my approach had been different?

Imagine a scenario if I introduced him and:

1. I was a shitposter
2. I only selfvoted
3. I only played Splinterlands
4. I was a known plagiarist
5. I was blacklisted
6. I only posted Actifit
7. I didn't comment
8. I posted short content only
9. I link dropped discords
10. I raged and threw tantrums
11. I was a bigger asshole

This list could be much longer, but you get the point

My question is, would it have altered his approach to posting and engagement?

There is a saying "birds of a feather, flock together" and perhaps this is also what could happen on Hive depending on how someone finds the community. For example, if a person has Hive introduced as a place to post low quality content or plagiarize in the hope of getting some big votes - would the new recruit do differently? I wonder how many people with potential have created accounts and had them burned because they didn't use their potential and instead, did what the person who invited them does. 

My brother isn't the only recruit I have brought in, but he is by far the most successful. The intuition is there and perhaps some think his success is because I am relatively well supported here, but - he came in mid-2017 and - *I wasn't well supported then* - he has worked hard to be where he is. What has made him successful is that for 3 years he has not only been participating - he has been putting his best foot forward and offering himself daily. You might have read this at the bottom of his posts:

>Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - *Tomorrow isn't promised.*

It isn't an aspiration - he lives it. Which is why when he posts - his posts are very much his. He is designing his journey and he is participating and *trying* daily because, *tomorrow isn't promised.*

And I think this is where a lot of people fail, because rather than understanding their potential and using it well, they do what others do and often, they do what their first contact with the community does. The fastest path to failure is to hang around with failures. Sounds harsh, doesn't it? But what I mean is that people tend to reflect their environment, so if a person spends the majority of their time with people who behave well, they will likely behave well too - if they are spending their time with criminals, they will likely lean that way also - is it the chicken, or the egg?

In my experience on Hive, behavior is not connected to future potential, it is heavily influenced by peers. I have watched talented people degrade into a cesspool, I have watched talented people escape the sludge and - I have watched very mediocre people escape and alter their experience heavily in the positive. I remember one person who was posting memes grabbed from the internet and getting downvoted for it, turn into a person who was consistently getting curie and STEM votes - what changed? *His friends.* His friends influenced him to use his skills as an engineer instead of his skills as a copypasta - and while his English wasn't perfect, he was able to put together interesting content that people engaged enjoyed.

You want a different result - change your surroundings.
*Remember to change your habits too.*

The amount of people who believe they are smart enough to be immune to the influence of their environment is astounding, but it is a blindness. Funnily, many of these same people believe themselves to be influential - another blindness. As my brother says, *design and create your ideal life,* this is what many people are doing when they choose their surroundings and the company they keep. 

At least on Hive - *no one* is in some kind of caste system due to their economic status, no one is forced to read a particular post or spend time in a particular genre, no one is made to behave in a certain way or talk about particular topics - it is all free choice. For the most part, there aren't even algorithms to suggest where someone *might* want to spend their time - people have to find their own way. 

So, if a person can find their own way and ends up spending their time with people who do not encourage them to bring out the best in themselves, *who's fault is it?* However, this journey is going to be influenced by their first contact too - their friend, their brother or some scammer on  YouTube - some "authority". Remember, that someone who has never been on Hive will assume that someone who has is more experienced, has an understanding of best practices and locations. 

*I have been to London twice. I am not your go to as a tour guide, nor could I tell you the best places to visit and spend your time. What I could tell you is, *what I know,* which is where I have been and spent *my* time.* 

You see the issue? I am biased and all I can do is *lead by example.*

Do you ever think about who and how you have been influenced on Hive - have you paid attention to changes in the way you post, or the applications you use, or if you engage more or less because of the people you are spending time with? Do you joke more with some authors, do you feel positive about the future with others, do some authors make you feel bad? 

>Do you know the factors that have affected your journey so far? Do you know who?

People often cite their conditions for why they can't do or must do something, without acknowledging that they have the ability to affect their conditions in some way - their surroundings, their *attitude.* But, people fear loss and because they *identify* themselves with what they do today - doing different would mean giving themselves up, losing themselves - even if to do so would be to reach deeper into their pool of potential and become a better version of themselves. 

Don't act like you don't have choices on Hive - you choose your path - actively - *or by default.* 




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