I see you as a successful Steemit user. I've tried to learn  all your trade secrets to become a better Steemian myself - more successful as an author.

The only thing which is lacking is your beautiful smile. That might be the reason why I'm not doing as good as you are.

If I should smile to be successful, I will not bend to  the smile. The Finn inside me doesn't allow it.

<sub>The one issue with new users on Steemit is that they focus too much on the whales and dolphins - assume they are the only reason we should be on Steemit.</sub>

Wisely spoken sir @tarazkp. We have to look towards those who actually make positive impact in the community and set them as models in our course towards relevance and not just looking up to those who earn most because that's a wrong approach or point of view....One should strive to contribute to progress in every way possible......And by the way, you have a very cute daughter... Thanks for sharing.

*Cue movie trailer voice*

"In a world where decentralization is prized above all, those who survive must play by a savage set of rules. Every man fends for himself hoping to claim a piece of the days reward pool to keep himself afloat. Factions have formed around "whales," mysterious people who have managed to gain the power to direct large sums of the reward pool to their followers. Some use their powers for good, seeking to build kingdoms of harmony and knowledge. Others just seak to raid the pool for themselves and their comrades. This summer, the these tribes will fight to determine the fate of the world. THIS! IS! STEEMIT!"

I came to Steemit to learn about cryptos...and have learned alot so far...not from earning much here, but by listening, and trying things out.

Most likely I will never earn much here because I cannot bring myself to play the social game, and do not have hours and hours to write long posts everyday...but I make original posts, and have met some really awesome people :)

I would like to believe that Steemit is different than other social platforms, and in many ways it is...however, it can only be a reflection of the world, because the same people out there, are the people here.
Blue paint in a cup, blue paint on a wall...it's still blue paint.

No one is perfect, so when i lead by example i show my mistakes and how i try to fix them. Steemit is filled with alot of people and some big guys are big only because they joined steemit earliet when things were way easier and they have made something for themselves. Probably if they joined today they might not be half as powerful

Not very far on Steemit, that's where :P

I've tried to do things right, and speak up about problems. I've learned that I just get trampled on while I don't have the power to do anything about it, because power comes from SP in this "community".

Leading by example is better in real life. People can pay more attention and think without the appeal of money and appeal to authority/whales :P

The true definition of a man is who he his when he possess power and authority. Authority can come in the form of freedom as we have here on Steemit. This is where people allow the wild animal instinct in them crept over and leads them through life. Steemit seems more like a micro-world experiment and most of the traits we learn and copy from this platform will follow us into the real world. We should therefore define again what really is our model. Great thoughts @tarazkp.

Once again i drop to my knees and cry " I'm not worthy".
No really i love reading your posts, always food for my brain.
Thanks a heap, for making quality content i can devoure, and not just paying lip service to your ouwn ideas and values.
Thanks again

i love baby.
specially cute baby.
your baby so cute.

**What a cutie.** 
My little girl's not so little any more. 
Bless their cotton socks :)
![20180217_182020.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPuDfnypRrb7CNKmgDPTuectDSoCwUnP2GuhodXScYgAk/20180217_182020.jpg)

Mind Blowing stuff &  phenomenal!

I've been quietly following your column, Taraz. And this one raises the kind of questions that I'm deeply invested in. 

What is content? How does it create a better society? The right (moral) understanding of content karma, dharma even, and the network economy will be fundamental for the future we want to build here on Steemit and elsewhere. Each one of us is responsible for content one creates, and content that we don't because we are always responding to what we see and experience on/off the network. Groups and individuals that don't produce real/original content value for the collective are actually more harmful for our collective mental, intellectual and emotional well-being and growth than we realize. 

There are flaws in how incentive or money works. If content authority or influece were based on good moral points rather than neutral points ("Money has no color or religion!"), we would be better off as a society. We can begin to arrive at such a point after universal basic income, or some form of program that eliminates the need to spam or cheat or work for narrow interests or short-term gains at the cost of the collective. I want to believe that it's possible to take care of each one of us--even if/when one has nothing to contribute in form of an original content artifact. There are more ways to be human than one for which there is a reward system.

just ah perfect click..

>But, here is the question about being financially successful, how far will you go? 

That's the only question people have to ask them. Money has it's way of making people blind to the values and norms they esteemed so highly. People suddenly become unethical. Internet does that too... Combine these two and you need a really good and honest person with the right goals and mindset to counteract that. 

>For me, my actions here closely mimic the real world 

And you clearly have no problems with that. I really hope that I can stay true to my words when one day I'll be able to swim together with you in Dolphin-land. I'm pretty sure my norms and values have no pricetag attached to them, but can you ever be certain about that?... We'll see.

The truth is always a bitter pill to swallow. So many people here do not want to create a unique content. This is why there are so few new tags; everybody is following the white light, no one is looking about the crountryside.

As you said,  most are here for the money. I joined steemit for the money. That was the first thing that caught my attention when I was being introduced to the platform and it still remains the platform's selling point. I see this as one of the reasons why there's this inability to break away from laid down patterns of success here. 
In the movie, Three Idiots,  the major character said; 

>Pursue excellence and success will follow you pants down. 

I have never forgotten those words. To be excellent means to stand outside the box,  be different,  be unique. But are we here on steemit? 

Everybody writes fascimile of posts that had probably gotten a curation or had been visited by a whale forgetting that whoever wrote the post in the first place wrote it from someone within him or her. We have forgotten that writing like fingerprints are unique and no matter how well we imitate another writer,  we can never give the same result as that writer. 

What then is the solution to this problem? Do we turn away from those who had made financial success on steemit and find our own heroes?  Do we break away from the mould and create our own gods?