Keep Your Own Step Clean

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Choose your path based on your actions, not others

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Many years ago I was enjoying some drinks with a group of people. I’d call them mostly people I know than friends. I’m picky about who I call friends. I digress.

The drink flowed, tongues got loose. They often do when spirits are being consumed. The conversation turned to stories about people not present. Some of them were not very nice stories. Some not very nice stories were more about jealousy the storyteller had for the person being talked about.

This was a time I chose not to contribute to the stories. In my more aware times, I often wonder what stories they tell about me when I’m not present. I let the hot air flow past. I listened. I felt a hand come gently to rest on my arm.

I looked at the gentleman beside me who’d been letting hot air flow by. He leaned toward me. “You know I have a step at my back door. Every day I sweep that step. You know, I’m so busy keeping that step clean, I don’t have time for other people’s steps.”

It took me a few moments to take in what he’d said. I’ve never forgotten those words, or their meaning.

Complaining About Others On The Platform

A common theme I see coming up on platforms I write on is people complaining about how others succeed. The most common of those is people complaining they write quality posts getting low attention and some person with a spammy post gets a lot more attention. Some platforms I write on lets people earn for comments and their posts. The complaints apply to the comments too.

Here’s a little dose of reality. Everyone has to do the work to get established on a platform. Writing content doesn’t guarantee people will flock to you. There’s no magical way to grow your following.

It’s up to you to build a following. Not the people you’re complaining about. Yes, it’s galling when someone posts dreck and gets more engagement than you do. That’s the reason most platforms actively work to stop spammers.

Work to support the efforts to eradicate spam. Don’t let its presence decide if you continue to take part. Don’t expect anyone to take responsibility to elevate you on the platform. Other than you. If you get noticed and a deserved boost, appreciate it and keep working.

Work To Build Your Own Following

How to get started and build is basic on any platform. Visit the posts of others. Read their content and leave thoughtful comments. If you’ve enjoyed the content, explore their account. Visit some more articles, leave comments. Keep returning. Keep it real.

Yesterday on one platform I write on someone who had just followed me, sent me a private message. The full message was.. I just followed you, follow me. Not a note introducing himself, just gimme gimme. My response was to tell him I would not follow him and to feel free to unfollow me.

I would have seen a notice of his follow. I would have looked at his account and might have followed him. His selfish behaviour guaranteed I would do neither.

Follow Zig Ziglar’s Advice

I’m a firm believer in Zig Ziglar’s philosophy that if I help others to get what they want, I will get what I want. I need not keep a ledger on that. I just need to police my own motives and trust others to do the same. People of like mind usually find each other.

Bottom line. Keep your back step clean and work to help others instead of wasting time on being envious of others.

Off to sweep my back step

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Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms.
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22 comments
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I love your advice on this one! It's one reason I keep working on my posts. Plus, I engage as often as possible, given my limited free time. I do miss the weekly PYPT, but I could hardly attend given the timezone difference. I'm back to day job now, which is a wow too. I don't need to worry about bills payment, for now. LOL! Take care always! :)

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thanks for visiting @iamraincrystal .. great to hear you're back to work. That's a challenge for so many these days.

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So true. One reason I'm thankful despite the challenges at work. Happy weekend! :)

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Good Morning @shadowspub! First of all your title caught my attention right away. There are so many takeaways here. The biggest one for me was what the gentleman said to you about being so busy keeping his step clean he had no time to pay attention to what anyone else was doing. Have a great Sunday!

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That's the truth, 4 years i have been here and still working on building my votes, Its hard work 🤣

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it is hard work but am glad to see you are still active @karenb54..dedication pays off eventually.

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Im slowly improving (I think) 4 years in and still working hard. Good to see a few old names around :)

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Great post, Shadow! I'm so glad that I have noticed it and read it... Totally agree with you and repeating the same message over and over in my posts also...

Appreciate other's work, comment on their posts, connect with them, make a relationship, and they will appreciate your work and your time... Maybe not everyone, but surely a lot of them... and always... tell YOUR story and be authentic...

Thank you for sharing your story!



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hi @ph1102 .. thank you for your kind words and yes the message is an important one for us all to remember. Some days the path seems impossible but it isn't if we keep on point.

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Wow, I really resonated with this post. Aside from it being very well written, I agree 100% with what you said in here. We are very like minded, indeed.

Keeping your back step clean is essential to thrive imho. Of course, we are human & occasionally have moments of frustration, but my driving force in my videos and occasional blog posts is to provide value to my audience, to help others (even if in one small way). If I didn't, why would they even want to engage or explore my profile in the first place?

It takes time & showing up every day in order to build your brand or follower base. In my own personal experience, I am showing a little progress each day & it fuels me to keep going. Gratitude is something that is so important, especially for all the upvotes (sometimes even big ones) & interaction I receive. Every single one counts. It's like that movie "Field Of Dreams" - if you build it, they will come. I don't have time to be envious of others or scrutinize them for what they are doing. I am focused on my craft & continuing my journey each day.

It's really about integrity & working from within that leads to good things. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You are appreciated! ☺️💜

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thanks for stopping by @pixiepost ... and you are right. The more often I post, not just anything but a thought out post, the more activity it gets. I'm not as consistent as I should be but am working on that.

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Morning!

insert a comment that I then deleted :D

Perfect Post and right on the money!! well, not money...... What you write is the truth. Just in case anyone reads money differently.

Love this!! and so true!

Going now LOLL

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well I do try to write truth, well my truth. Cause I have a lousy memory and it's hard to remember when I lie :)

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I try my best to keep my own step clean. I write my content and comment on posts I like. I try not to worry about what others are doing.

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it's a good approach and keeps you out of a lot drama and stress :)

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This is a great spot on post. So many people want to take the easy way out and just get paid for it. I'm not sure how people expect to be fully rewarded without putting in their due diligence. Even if you suck at creating content, show up everyday and get practice, you will get better. Also be consistent with upvoting and commenting and things will start to happen.

I get your point about the selfishness of people expecting everything to happen just because they ask for it.

Here is another great Zig Ziglar quote that comes to mind reading about people talking about the ones who are not around. "Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember - the
only taste of success some people have is when
they take a bite out of you." -- Zig Ziglar

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hi @maddogmike .. love that quote and it's so true. Some folks spend way too much time worrying about what others are doing instead of paying attention. Saw that in action on another platform last night.

Lady did a really creative post about an imaginary trip to Mount Everest with a team of other people from the platform. Some turkey decided to leave some really nasty putdown comments about her writing ability, her formatting.. you name it.

I visited the person's profile and quickly learned while he was busy picking on her, his writing needed a LOT of work. Likely too busy trolling to learn. They have downvotes there... I shared some. :)

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I was mistaken the other day when I said I hadn't read this because I did see it on Uptrennd 😁

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