Taking My First Step - An Introductory Post

After several months of hearing about Hive, I finally had the courage to take my first steps to explore this new environment. As they say, you need to get out of your comfort zone to grow.

Hello, Hive community!

I am Clifford, 19 years old and currently living in the Philippines. You can call me Ford if you feel that Clifford is too long to type, or Clif if you think that Ford sounds like a car company 😂. My username "cli4d" originated from my friend’s witty idea. Maybe she found my name too long, so she decided to shorten it and eradicate the letters F, F, O, and R and replace them with the number 4. Since then, I started using it as a username on my social media accounts, and now here.

I am not new to blogging. Two years ago, I started writing on read.cash, a website that pays its users with Bitcoin Cash (BCH). As I grew old on that blogging platform, I started to crave something new. Later on, I realized that staying there and not letting myself discover other things wouldn't help me grow. This is why, upon reading tpkidkai's article about Hive, I decided to check it out. And I am grateful to him for helping me to become familiar with the complexity of this environment.

To further introduce myself, let me share some of my characteristics that may give you an idea of my personality.

Stubborn

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

If I know that something is correct, I will insist.

My parents told me this is one of my characteristics. They say that I am so stubborn that I often don't listen to and follow their instructions. Well, I agree with them.

I have this behavior that, as long as possible, I don't want someone to dictate my actions and meddle with my own decisions. I believe that we are all different and someone's situation is not always applicable to everyone. I have my own ideas and I believe that sometimes people have erroneous views of the world that make their advice or suggestions faulty.

Every time someone questions the things I am doing, I always listen. However, if they don't explain what's wrong or just give a nonsensical answer, I will just ignore them. Because of this, I'm frequently told that I'm too stubborn to listen.

Open to change

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

I am stubborn when it comes to my principles, but I am open to change when it comes to self-improvement.

It may seem counterintuitive given the preceding trait, but I've come to realize that I'm adaptable.

I believe that change is inevitable and resisting it means you're depriving yourself of growth. If I think I am wrong, I will try my best to change. If there's a better opportunity ahead, even though it's outside of my comfort zone, I'll seize it. For instance, I can just stay on read.cash and write as long as I can, but I decided to go here in Hive to challenge myself. Another thing is that I think Hive is full of quality content creators that might help me improve my writing skills.

Reserved/Introverted person

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Since I entered adolescence, I became a reserved person, and often times, people mistakenly think that I am anti-social.

I can't do anything about it. Although I tried to change it several times, it felt like I was faking it and trying hard. Aside from that, I find socializing too exhausting. In fact, every time I am with my friends, I am the quietest one. I just listen to their discussions and just talk when they ask me something.

Although I am still open to a change, it feels like being stubborn is preventing me, lol.

What drives me to write and enter the blogging world?

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At a young age, I became aware of my family's financial status. This is why I put it in my mind that I should do everything to save money and not be a burden to my parents.

Entering the blogging world two years ago opened my eyes to the possibilities that cryptocurrency offers. Because of blogging, I am able to fund my personal expenses without depending on my parents. I am also able to invest in an NFT game which gives me another source of income.

Right now, I am still studying how Decentralized Finance can further grow my money and possibly help me achieve financial independence at an early age.

Aside from the earnings, another thing that drives me to write is the fact that I am not used to sharing my feelings verbally. When I am feeling blue, writing is one of the things that I can do to express myself—jotting down helps me release the heavy feelings.

Also, writing lets me meet new people, who inspire me to do better and discover new things. I am excited to read their stories, stories that can help me reflect on who I am.

What can you expect from my blogs?

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

As of the moment, I have no specific niche. I also don't want to limit myself to certain things. As long as possible, I want this space to be more personalized. Expect that I will discuss various topics here; life updates, travel experiences, crypto-related blogs, rants, or even my journey as an Information Technology student.

So yeah, I think that’s already enough to give a glimpse of who I am. I am looking forward to more blogs where you will get to know me even more.

I'll see you around and thank you for reading my first blog 😊❤