A Terrible Optimizer

I am a "Terrible Optimizer"

Does that mean I am good at it, or bad at it? I think it depends on whether optimization is seen as a positive or a negative by whoever is reading it, but for me at least and just to clarify, I am not good at optimizing pretty much anything. I am one of those people who doesn't use software to its full capabilities, doing a lot of tasks manually, that could be automated. This is why I tell people what I do, but don't suggest that they follow in my footsteps.

I am also a Terrible Flirt.
Just ask my wife.

For instance, in regards to time spent creating and interacting on Hive, I spend a lot and the paths I have taken have been "lucrative" overall, but if spread out hourly, might not seem so. However, since this is not a salaried position and comes with no guarantee of income, looking at it too much like a job and as an hourly rate, is not overly helpful. But as a hobby that generates a potential side income, it is worth thinking about it in relation to opportunity-cost factors.

Hobbing and Nobbing

Of course, not all hobbies have the potential to earn, but from a time spent perspective, some hobbies are unlikely to have any potential whatsoever, and that is okay too. My hobby just happens to be writing about aspects of life from my own perspectives and experiences and while not everyone is going to be interested in what I have to say about anything, that doesn't matter for a hobby, in the same way that no one cares much about a person's gym routine or, what socks they are knitting.

Yet, people who are interested in working out or knitting, might be very interested in discussing all kinds of aspects around these areas and sharing all kinds of "content" from their own experiences too. As a non-knitter, I am not interested in whether you are pearling or rib stitching - but I might be interested in a core routine you have been using to tighten up the mid-life belly. However, this is the internet, which means that the information is generally available to all, regardless of whether interested or not and because people are people, they are also going to comment, if interested or not and often if not interested, will be critical. Get used to it.

Time well spent

I used to spend time interacting with some of the people who would be critical in this way, but at the end of the day, they are not going to be interested regardless, so I don't really bother anymore. It is the same for people who are critical but are unwilling to actually listen or learn, assuming that they are always correct, no matter how many flaws are pointed out. However, people who are interested, knowledgeable and critical I will interact with, because I might learn something I didn't know or hadn't considered earlier about what we together are interested in.

If you aren't interested in what I write, why spend time reading it, let alone commenting on it? Well, because it is entertaining in some way, whether it be what I am writing or the sense that commenting gets something for you. Commenting is a hobby too.

The first example fits for me, but that doesn't mean that writing only has value as a hobby, because while I am terrible at maximizing, I am still always looking to compound values. My writing is a hobby, but what I learn through it and the conversations it develops is very valuable to me, and I think that at least for some, valuable for them also. But of course, not everyone is going to get value from it, because of the, one man's trash, is another's treasure conditions.

Better things to do?

But, it is interesting on the internet, as there is so much information out there that I wonder why so many people seem to spend their time consuming and interacting with content that doesn't provide them some kind of return on top of entertainment. Yes, there is space for entertainment of course, but why make it passive and why not compound it with other values?

For example, prior to Hive, I would watch some kinds of shows that would take up 20 to 30 hours of my week, but bring nothing in return and for the most part, nothing usable other than the ability to have a 10 minute conversation about it with someone who may watch the same show. If they don't watch the show however, talking about it is like talking to me about knitting techniques. These days, I likely spend 5-8 hours a week watching shows with my wife, but 40+ hours writing on Hive in some capacity, more if including time in Discord.

Into the compound

For me at least, this is far more entertaining than sitting watching even the best of the shows on offer, because I get to compound a lot of things together that are important to me, including the development and maintenance of personal relationships, the sense of helping others succeed and my own experiences and observations about the world, which often are the starting point framework each day. Because I am not alone in this view of things, people tend to collect and become part of the discussion too, taking pieces that are relevant and important to them personally as hooks to discuss further or, inject their own experiences into the mix.

Over time, the range and depth of the discussion expands in each individual's experience and each day a little more is added, building all kinds of compounding values over time. Like me, there are people here who over the last five have completely changed their approaches and potential outcomes in life and I know this, because we have been discussing it for years together, on and off platform.

Where's the love?

It is a funny thing though, as while everyone wants to find something they love to do, often people are critical of the things others love to do. I have found this in terms of content creation on Hive for example, where some people don't see the point unless they are earning on posts to create something of quality, but also be critical of those who do create something of quality and get rewarded for it, as if it was always that way from day one.

As far as I know, none of the people who are consistently rewarded currently, started their journey being consistently rewarded. But, pretty much all of them have been consistently doing what they enjoy doing in a way that people connect with them consistently. This in my opinion, is about shared experience through the content, conversations and the way people connect with each other and while messy at times, that is part of the human experience.

While it would be lovely to be able to optimize for the perfect results every time, the reality is that it is impossible and especially at the social levels, there is going to be a lot of conflict and difference of opinion on what is terrible and what is brilliant. I have made many mistakes along the way and said many stupid things (probably) too, but overall, this is the journey of my life, which is what my blog is about. However, because we are all on a life journey, the chance of overlap and crossed paths is pretty high, even if we are coming from different directions and disagree.

Specialized and spread

Everything is a hobby for me, just like everything is considered work. I see work as something I do that generates value, whether it be monetary value or any other of the many personal forms of value. However, as someone who is not very good at optimizing, I tend to spread my hobbies and work all over the place, which while none of them are optimized, I also have a lot of diversity in many aspects that tend to compound against each other, including the things I write about.

Is it better to have 95% competence at one skill or, 75% at five?

When it comes to role-based employment, they often hire and pay based on the level of specialization required for the job at hand. But, they do this for each position in the organization in order to get the maximum output. However personally, it takes a range of skills and that compound effect a corporation has spread across many people, is not possible, so broad competence is required for maximum effect. However, it is up to each of us to work out what paths are right for us and in my opinion, discussing these kinds of topics with others as well as all the potential options available, helps us design our course.

No life is optimized, none of us reach our full potential - but we can improve our experience markedly, if we are willing to change some of our beliefs and habits. What I like about Hive is that there are many people sharing their journey, discussing their approaches, their successes and their failures in a way that other social platforms haven't encouraged. I think this is because there is far more incentive here and the value comes from us, not the platform itself, so building relationships based on who we are matters.

I am poor at optimization of value, but decent at compounding of values.

Is there a difference?

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]