<…> Did you ever set a merit goal for yourself, such as aiming for 2000 or 5000 merits by a certain point in time? <…>
I came across (google search) the forum during December 2017, reading through information on Bitcoin and then (unfortunately) moved on to reading stuff on ICOs. In early January 2018, three weeks or so before the Merit System kicked-off, I decided to create my account here with not much in mind, though looking over my initial posts, airdrops must have been a kind of driver, and I may have read about bounties and campaigns.
I recall not paying attention to what Merits were for some weeks, but I figure I must have eyed some campaign that accepted Members, and I probably though that it would be nice to get the required 10 Merits (at the time, Jr. Member did not require Merits –
that came later, in September 2018). Although I don’t recall it vividly, 10 Merits was probably a sort of lateral objective back then for me, though I remember wondering if I’d be able to make it there, being a total noob as I was back then (not that far ahead now, but anyway).
The first 1K became a sort of objective after a while. Not strictly because of the figure per se , but because, back then, there was a kind of neck and neck "race" to reach 1K between me and LoyceV. He made it to the mark just a few hours before I did on the 27/09/2018; obviously both behind theymos (who made it in just 3 days) and Satoshi (who made it in under 4 months). Being 1K Merits the required amount for Legendary accounts (Activity aside), that was yet another driver, though I viewed it more as a personal pastime challenge than anything else. Any subsequent merits have not been subject to any kind of conscious motivation.
Note: I’m more of the opinion that, for the most, if they want to earn Merits, they should bear them in mind, especially during the mid-to-lower ranks. Essentially, I’d say that one may tend to post better content if he has an incentive in mind, than otherwise, going the extra mile to read, cross-reference, dissect, try out, and so forth. Obviously this is not a
one size fits all, and one should not fall into the self-trap of overdoing things too much.