A Message to Discouraged Steemers From Holocaust-Survivor Viktor Frankl

In my first week on Steemit, I banked $3,601.52. Now as I approach the end of my second week, I’ve earned… wait for it… an additional 44 cents.   

I’ve felt the exhilaration of the Steemit mountaintop, basking in the glory of the trending feed. I’ve also been in the valley, watching my hard work and effort get buried deep in a pile of posts.   

When I’m battling discouragement and feel like giving up, I try to find inspiration in the example of others. I remind myself of people who have gone through exceptionally difficult experiences, made a decision to persevere, and come out the other side stronger.    

It’s hard to think of a better example than Viktor Frankl.  

Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychologist who suffered horrifically as a Jew in four Nazi prison camps, including Auschwitz. He watched helplessly while his parents, his brother, and even his pregnant wife were taken from him. They were all either murdered in the gas ovens or died of malnutrition. Only he and his sister survived.     

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He tells his heartbreaking story and the lessons he learned through those horrific years in his book, Man’s Search For Meaning. The photo above isn’t of Frankl, but it illustrates the degree of suffering he and so many others endured.   

While completely naked and alone in a small and dingy room, encircled by a stench of death, Frankl had an epiphany. He realised that his tormentors could kill his loved ones, take his possessions, beat him, and even take his life; but the one thing they could not take from him was his power to choose how he would respond to their torment.   

Frankl called this choice “the last of the human freedoms.” He had the power to decide how the adversity that he faced was going to affect him. He found strength and encouragement in his innate ability to choose how to respond.   

Every day I read posts and comments on Steemit from discouraged, and sometimes angry, people. Many have said they are giving up because “this platform isn’t fair,” “I’m not getting noticed,” or “this is a waste of my time.”   

If you feel like throwing in the towel, here are three Viktor Frankl quotes from Man’s Search for Meaning that will hopefully be an encouragement to you to keep going:  

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“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”  

When I didn’t get the results I was expecting from my third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth posts, many negative emotions began flooding over me.    

“You’re a loser. No one here wants to hear what you have to say. You’re a crap writer. You’re wasting your time.”   

Sorry if that's too honest; I'm just trying to keep it real. I’ve had to make a conscious decision to keep writing. I’ve had to regain control of my thoughts and choose to have a positive attitude.   

I’ve never met anyone who has started a business, or anything worthwhile for that matter, that didn’t feel like giving up at some point. It’s those who persevere through discouragement that win.  

Perseverance requires that we first make a decision to choose what our attitude is going to be. Will you become bitter, point the finger, and make excuses? Or will you take responsibility for your own actions, make an adjustment, keep going, and get better?    

One great example of this is @shredlord’s story of making a mistake, getting down-voted and then humbling himself and taking responsibility. If you missed it, have a look at how his attitude and perseverance regained the trust of many here. I wonder how many others were in a similar situation and instead just gave up.  

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” 

Honestly, in my opinion, most of the people who complain about their amazing but overlooked write-ups are really not producing very high quality content. I’ve gone to read a few, but little compelled me to up-vote them. 

In fact, when I take an honest look at a few of my own ignored posts, I probably wouldn’t have up-voted them either!   

Writing is like working out a muscle. When you first get in the gym, you’re weak, you’re sore and you look pretty unimpressive to those who have been working out consistently. But over time, if you stick with it, you get stronger.    

One attitude I’ve tried to maintain is that of taking responsibility for my own inability to gain people's attention. If not many people want to read my post, then I’m doing something wrong. If this post ends up being ignored, no matter how much I feel Viktor Frankl has helped me, I must own my ineffectiveness at using this platform to help others. It’s MY responsibility to communicate in a compelling way so that other people will benefit as well.  

If this post gets buried like a few of my others, then there’s something I didn’t do that I should have done. There’s something I haven’t yet learned, but I will. I believe this attitude is crucial to getting better.

For an analytical study of the power of perseverance, check out @furion's post answering the question, “How many $0.02 disappointments did successful authors overcome, before they had a winner?” You’ll be surprised how many people had to persist through disappointment before being noticed.  

“Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself… you have to let it happen by not caring about it.”  

Wow, this is such a powerful truth! And so challenging!   

I was a pitcher on my high school baseball team. One of the mantras of the pitching coach was, “Don’t aim the ball; just throw it.” It’s common knowledge among pitchers that when you try and aim at the catcher’s glove like it’s a target, you tense up and end up missing the strike zone completely. But when you look past the target, have a good time, relax and throw the ball, you find a groove and have much greater accuracy.   

One thing I love about this platform is that success can be clearly measured. The first and most important level of success is the number of up-votes. But then there’s another measure of success that’s monetary.   

The down side of this clear measure of success is that we can tend to make the dollar sign or even the up-vote the target. When we do, we tend to tense up, become selfish, and create unhelpful content. Instead, we must look past the success to the personal and human result we ultimately want – to meet someone else’s need for inspiration, learning, personal growth or enjoyment.  

Ask any successful entrepreneur what their passion is, and you will likely not hear, “to make money.” Have you ever heard Elon Musk talk about his passion? It’s all about solving a human problem and bringing good to future generations.    

Go check out Dan Larimer’s pre-Steemit blog here and read his “mission in life”:    

“…to find free market solutions to secure life, liberty, and property for all.”  

The vision behind Steem isn’t to make money, it’s “to secure life, liberty, and property for all.” But money is ensuing for many from that greater cause.    

The more you and I focus on making money on Steemit, the less we will think about adding value to other people, and the less money we will make. And by the way, if you’ve been complaining, it could indicate that you’ve made it all about the money.    

Stop caring about the money, start caring about people, take responsibility for your own improvement, persevere and the rewards should naturally follow.

That's what Viktor Frankl has helped me to see.