The Marshmallow Test on Steemit and beyond

I found this article the other day, Why Rich Kids Are So Good at the Marshmallow Test. Over the last few decades, the Marshmallow Test has been used as an indicator of future success for kids. Here is the opening paragraph of that article:

The marshmallow test is one of the most famous pieces of social-science research: Put a marshmallow in front of a child, tell her that she can have a second one if she can go 15 minutes without eating the first one, and then leave the room. Whether she’s patient enough to double her payout is supposedly indicative of a willpower that will pay dividends down the line, at school and eventually at work. Passing the test is, to many, a promising signal of future success.

Over the years, researchers worked hard to divine the reason for the alignment of success and passing that test. They've tried to pin that success on factors like intelligence and willpower (sort of like intelligence). But the latest iteration the study found no correlation between the ability to hold out for the second marshmallow and future success.

What they did find is that background was the deciding factor in future success. Kids from affluent families had far greater success on the Marshmallow Test than kids who were from poorer families. The latest study was done with a much larger sample size than previous iterations and made a point of casting a wider net across the economic and social spectrum. The composition of the subjects in the study allowed the researchers to control for conditions leading to success other than just willpower.

As I write this, I'm reminded of Robert Kiyosaki's book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and how he described a world where rich dads send their kids to schools where they learn to run businesses. He also pointed out that poor dads send their kids to school to learn how to "work hard and be an employee". That difference alone could be a factor in the "success" of a kid when he or she becomes an adult.

Rich dads will, instead of sending their kids to a public high school, send their kids to expensive private schools (sometimes called "prep schools"). I've seen one prep school where the 4 year tuition cost is $35,000. That's more than a year of income for at least 50% of Americans. But that tuition buys you more than just an education. That's the admission price into social club, an "association" of people who can pull the levers of power for their own benefit. If you know that's where you're going, holding out for 15 minutes for that second marshmallow is much, much easier.

Now let's bring that down to Steemit. Part of success on Steemit is delaying gratification. It's easy to take the rewards from an article and turn it into cold cash to buy necessities. I've seen a few accounts where they've been around for awhile, but Steem Power is low. They're cashing out instead of powering up.

Powering up is converting Steem Based Dollars to Steem, and then converting that Steem into Steem Power through a process known as Powering Up. Steem Power is essentially, cold storage for your money on Steem. But that Steem Power is required for influence on Steem. The more Steem Power you have, the greater influence you have on how the reward pool is distributed. You can use your Steem Power, your voting power, to help determine the success of others.

What I find so interesting about Steemit, and how people make money on Steemit, is that when I vote on someone else's article, an upvote means that person will earn a little more money based on my vote. I'm a Minnow or Plankton, so my vote doesn't mean very much. But the flip side is that when someone else votes on my articles, my rewards are proportional to my Steem Power and the voter's Steem Power. And all of that comes from the reward pool. It doesn't actually reduce the amount of Steem Power that I have.

The Steem blockchain has inflation built in. That inflation is generated by creating more Steem and Steem Based Dollars at a steady rate each day. The process is complicated, so I won't go into it here. Just know that "free money" is being created here every day. And your share of it depends on how often you post, how often you vote, and how much Steem Power you have. It's all positive if you participate and if you allow your Steem Power to accumulate.

To allow Steem Power to accumulate, you must convert Steem and Steem Based Dollars to Steem Power, as well as to avoid powering down to take cash out of your account. If you live in a third world country, the temptation to cash out can be very difficult to avoid due to low incomes in those countries.

But if you live in Europe or America, and you have a job already, one that you happen to enjoy, you can start to build up Steem Power. I've been on Steemit for 1.5 years. I know it because I joined on Christmas Day, 2016. Had I kept at it since then, with what I know now, I would probably be something more than a minnow by now. I wouldn't be rich, and I wouldn't be deriving a living income from it yet, but I think with a bit more time, I'd be close.

This is the Marshmallow Test on Steemit. Can you delay gratification long enough to accumulate Steem Power, enough so that you could earn a living income from Steemit? If you come from an affluent background, I'd say yes. If not, then it is much, much harder to do. I know this myself because I have a day job that pays all of my bills. I've never had to power down for any reason. I've just let my Steem Power accumulate.

To be fair, I've used Steem and SBD to buy other coins, but looking back, I can see that I would have been better off powering up all of that. I don't have much Steem Power now, but it's still early days. As more people use Steem and Steem Based Dollars, the price of those two currencies will go up. That means more people on the Steem blockchain are using them. And that means it will be harder to earn Steem Power, but Steem Power will have greater value in proportion to its use.

We have about 1 million accounts now. Many of them have been abandoned or are simply not active. I've been spending a little time each day, reviewing the accounts that I follow and unfollowing abandoned accounts. If they've given up now, there is no realistic expectation for more content from them. But I surmise that they gave up precisely because their expectations were too high. They probably saw the trending page and all the lucre from those articles and hoped that they would land there, someday, maybe everyday. They didn't consider what the price of Steem will be if we go from 1 million to 100 million users.

I don't look at the trending page. I keep my expectations low. That way, I'm gratified when an article does well. I'm high for a few days on a @curie vote if I get one. I love to get comments on my articles, too. These are reasons I delay gratification. I find gratification in other things besides money on Steemit.

I have a few simple rules about work. If you don't enjoy your work, you're doing it wrong. I don't work for money. Well, I need to pay the bills to be sure, but I find work that I enjoy and let the money follow. I've never had a job that I hated, and that made me dread Mondays. I've always found something to like about it because I have many transferable skills. That part of my character is what allows me to delay gratification.

I enjoy writing. To me, writing is not work. So I can last a very long time without monetary gratification on Steemit. I already have a day job I enjoy, and I can blog here on Steemit, something else I enjoy doing. Someone once told me, "Do what you love and never work a day in your life". I still carry that with me to this day, no matter what job I find myself doing. I will always look for something to like about the work that I do.

If you want to pass the Marshmallow Test on Steemit, find something to like about the work here. If you like making videos, do that. If you're an artist or photog, do that. Maybe you're into memes, or product hunts, the options for earning on the Steem blockchain will only grow as more applications are built on top of it. Just find something you love to do and share that on Steemit.

I like writing because the barriers to entry are low. I love what it does to my mind. That is how I pass the Marshmallow Test on Steemit.

Slogan by @tecnosgirl

Other articles you might enjoy by @digitalfirehose:
Plan B for Humanity

A basic guaranteed income in the context of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

A sort of political movie review: Star Wars: Rogue One

Happiness isn't getting everything you want - happiness is a skill

The opposite of love is not hate, it is apathy

Fate, impunity and altruism