What Can A $1 Tip Do To A Writer?

I received the first tip of my life.

Coming from a country where the tipping system does not exist and receiving my first tip as a writer has a special meaning for me.

We don't do tips in Australia.

I gave tips to services provided to me while working in the United States and some Asian countries. But I have never received a tip in my life until now.

However, I received several awards, recognition, and bonus schemes rewarded with considerable financial compensations for going above and beyond in my professional life spanning across almost four decades.

Each award meant a lot and motivated me to produce more and better.

Let me get back to the story for my first tip because it is important.

An anonymous reader sent me a $1 tip from my Vocal Media account.

Here is the screenshot of the exciting email message that I received yesterday.

What a great and heart-warming message!

This $1 tip made a significant impact on my mood and mindset.

I asked myself why such a small amount of tip affected me so much.

On the surface, it is a small tip - so little that you cannot even purchase a cup of coffee. The financial value is irrelevant.

Deep down, it reflects a gigantic psychological construct with attractive patterns. I can write a book about this experience.

Coming from a cognitive science background, I analyzed my thoughts and emotions as usual. Some interesting points arose as I captured some interesting psychological patterns.

I don't want to bore you with details of psychoanalysis. However, a few key points worth mentioning and sharing with writers. It is relevant.

We, writers, are hungry for appreciation and recognition.

This notion applies to creators in other domains too. I believe painters and musicians feel similar sentiments for appreciation and recognition.

Some of us may deny this fact masking these feelings with contrived beliefs.

For example, I follow the principles of stoic philosophy; seeing the facts as they are and accepting them before any further actions. I do not have any conscious expectations from my readers when I write and share a piece of content. However, at a subconscious level, whether we admit it or not, we all may be expecting appreciation.

We add meanings to the facts in different ways.

From my experience, I understand that any sign of appreciation, recognition, and approval from readers can make a substantial impact on our motivation.

The striking point for me was the tip that came from an anonymous reader.

Receiving a tip from an anonymous reader is extra special because it reflects that my writing touched someone whom I don't know yet. He or she shared their appreciation with an act of kindness: giving without expecting to receive.

My core values encourage me to reciprocate what I receive at all times. In this particular case, I am unable to reciprocate. It is another psychological construct depicting a kind of dilemma.

One part of my brain is ecstatic with the motivation (dopamine spike); the other part goes to pleasant withdrawal (oxytocin). It is not an unpleasant withdrawal such as sadness. The mix of dopamine and oxytocin hormones creates a kind of serenity by balancing each other like yin and yang.

So, a $1 tip can bring many thoughts and rise interesting emotions on writers.

Perhaps other content development platforms should also introduce the tipping system as Vocal does successfully. After writing a dozen of articles for Vocal, I believe this unique platform is ahead of the game.

The size of the tip does not matter. I enjoyed this $1 tip as much as my thousand dollars of patent awards. Small or large; both amounts activate the same reward system in the brain.

I am grateful to this anonymous reader who gave me an amazing experience. I hope he or she has a chance to read this article and understand my immense appreciation for this act of kindness. My good thoughts and sentiments create positive vibes for this considered and selfless person.

Thank you for reading my perspectives.

Disclaimer

The original version of this story was published in another platform under a different title.

Reference

Simple & Powerful Life-Transforming Bio-Hacks by Dr Mehmet Yildiz

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