A few months ago, my steem life changed forever. I received a steem chat DM from the one and only @hansikhouse with a huge proposition - did I want to join [Sndbox](https://steemit.com/@sndbox)?

O_O

https://i.imgur.com/LgW7owK.jpg

Since then I’ve had the immense pleasure of learning from two of steem’s finest entrepreneurs. I’ve waxed poetic about them too many times, lol, but I really do think that Michael and Kirk from sndbox are the most forward-thinking, inspiring, awesome people on steem. 

Here are two big things that I’ve learned from taking part in @sndbox.

**(1) Steem Is a Powerful Tool for Real-World Community Development**

One of Sndbox’s big goals is to facilitate a ton of [real world steem projects](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TChGLKaspFk). This is important.

I used to feel like the digital and physical worlds were two separate things. I had my online friends on steem and my real world friends. The two worlds were almost entirely separate.

However, with Sndbox’s encouragement, I have been proselytizing steem far and wide. It’s been amazing to realize that people *can* grasp the concept. 

My friend [Sulene](http://sulene.com/), for example, is the guitarist for [Nate Reuss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Ruess), a solo artist of her own, and an all-around badass. She doesn’t have any tech or finance experience. I was sure she’d reject the idea of steem. But me and my bandmate @emelanson were able to explain the whole thing - where does the money come from, what is blockchain, how are rewards allocated, etc - and after about 30 minutes, she totally got it!

The same experience happened talking to Logan @loganmax24, a very successful friend in the Raleigh area. He’s an entrepreneur and tech-savvy enough, but with very little experience in blockchain. He had heard rumors about bitcoin, but had little knowledge about it.

Within a few hours, I had Logan and a few other friends completely sold on Steem. They were cautious, of course, needed to look at it some more. But the interest was there. Sndbox has helped me to realize that **you can pitch Steem to people, even ones who aren’t familiar, and they will probably want to listen.**

**(2) Optimism is Infectious**

Optimism is the first step towards progress. You must believe that something is possible if you are going to give it your best effort.

The entire Sndbox community has optimism in spades. It’s impossible to be negative when you are participating in the incubator’s slack channel… Every question and concern is addressed in a pragmatic and ambitious way.

You could say, “I am really stuck on this project. I tried [thing] and [problem] happened. Does anybody have an idea?”

The response will inevitably be “You can do this! You might want to talk to [person], look at [resource], and/or try [plan].”

There will be a crowd of fellow steemians cheering you on. You’ll feel better. You CAN do this!

Not everybody has the fortune to be a part of Sndbox, but all of us are a part of steem. We can find our own community that has a positive impact. For many people, [Minnow Support Project](http://minnowsupportproject.org/) is that. Or the [Steem Open Mic Week](https://steemit.com/openmic/@luzcypher/steemit-open-mic-week-58-see-who-played-open-mic-and-vote-for-your-favorite-steemian-musicians). Or perhaps it’s the [Steem Poker League](https://www.lucksacks.com/), the [Steemit Sandwich Competition](https://steemit.com/steemitsandwichcontest/@jaybird/steemit-sandwich-contest-week-14-winners-25-sbd-looking-for-additional-sponsorship) (shout out to @jaybird btw), etc etc… on and on the list goes!

Find your crew and stick with them. This is an amazing way to improve your steem experience.

<h3>What Have You Learned About Steem Recently?</h3>

It would be awesome to hear what’s on your mind. Are there any cool new lessons or ideas that are fueling your day-to-day hustle right now?

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