It has been nearly a year since I joined the community on Steemit. I look around and see how so many things have changed – and how much stays the same as well. But the number one rule for success here still hasn’t changed. It is so true that even I, who never wrote much of anything before, have achieved some small bit of success here.
Do you know what you need to do if you want to become a Steemit success story?
NEVER GIVE UP!
Be committed to your success.
Simple, right?
It is if you have an internal locus of control. That means that YOU make things happen in your life. (Compared to the external locus of life happens to you. A ‘victim mentality’.)
How many ambitious people have signed up for Steemit thinking that they are going to strike it rich in this crypto gold rush, make a few posts, earn little, and just give up and disappear?
Thousands would be my guess. They had dreams and ambitions, but they lacked commitment.
They gave up. Steemit didn’t give them the recognition they deserved. This person or that person made too much for their post. They were too late to join Steemit and now no one can make any money here. It is just a circle-jerk of friends upvoting friends. At least that is how they were thinking. Everything was wrong, except them. A victim mentality.
Sound familiar?
Like so many people in this world, they wanted luck to find them. They lacked the desire to improve their posts. Once it looked like some work was required, they up and left.
It is easy to see those who get huge rewards on their posts and begrudge their success.
But that’s how success works!
Successful Steemians are successful because they work hard at it. They have bettered themselves and learned how to create more impressive articles. They have relationships with other Steemians because they put time and effort into building those relationships.
If you are committed to becoming a top contributor you will do what it takes to attain that goal. Unlike those people that quit so easily, you seek out the skills to improve yourself.
You will start to build your reputation. You will learn to create better content. You will connect with others and make relationships. And you might fail.
But in failing you will learn what doesn’t work and keep on creating quality content.
You will find those that welcome new Steemit users into the fold. You will create the highest quality content. Those type of posts that improve people’s lives, solve problems, and get noticed by others who will resteem your work not for your sake, but for theirs! Your articles will make them look good because of how great your content is.
And you will change and become a better person for it.
You see, you are always changing and Steemit is always changing. I can think of no better quote than that of the stoic philosopher Heraclitus.
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”
Our brains are constantly changing, assimilating new information. As you learn new things your brain creates new pathways, literally reshaping the synaptic connections. When you alter any part of a thing, you change the whole. A year from now your brain will be different than the one that resides inside your skull today. Especially if you stay committed to becoming a success on Steemit.
Guess what? Just by being on Steemit you are changing the platform.
Because Steemit is the sum of its users. If those users are committed to succeeding by creating quality things, Steemit becomes a better place.
You are evolving just as this site is. Because you wanted to be better.
Unlike those that dreamed of having more but gave up because it was too hard or didn’t come fast enough, you have evolved into your niche here.
You will do more than you ever thought possible at the start.
A year later, I know I have.
All because I never gave up.
EPILOGUE
I just want to take a moment to show any new Steemians a few of the people that started from nowhere and have carved out a successful niche. Some more quickly than others. Heck, only one of my posts has earned more than $100 so you could say I am still searching myself.
They write and post about all sorts of subjects. Things that they find interesting and are passionate about. If you are new and don't know what to do, it never hurts to find those that have done what you want to do and emulate them.
Here is a list off the top of my head (no offense to any excluded). Some of them know me well while others probably don't remember me at all.
What they do have in common is that they never quit. They never stopped, even if their posts made just a few pennies. They were and are committed to becoming better people by way of Steemit.
Don't believe it is possible? Since this is the blockchain everything is on record. You can scroll back to their very first post. Most earned very little for a long time. Except for @beanz. She scored the Steemit jackpot on her very first post. Lucky. :D
@ezzy – Great guy, writes the best stories here. Won the Steemit award to prove it. He knows that I am a firm believer in never giving up.
@sykochica – The helper of all.
@thecryptofiend – Seriously? He is everywhere. Like the neighborhood guy everyone knows.
@ace108 – Photos and a story of where he went.
@ats-david – The detective you want on the case to sniff out Steemit corruption.
@mgibson – One of the first I selected to mentor a little bit.
@apolymask – I told him about Steemit. He became addicted. :D
@beanz – Social as ever.
@herpetologyguy – Started writing about snakes and stuff when that wasn't a thing here.
@justtryme90 – Science lover. Co-created SteemSTEM to showcase that content.
@moon32walker – Game on!
@sirlunchthehost – A firm believer in Steemit if I ever saw one.
@shieha – Definitely never gives up playing nearly impossible old school video games, right?
@mweich @sulev @boddhisattva – A photo a day keeps them happy.
@merej99 – Gets the community active.
@karenb54 – Never stopped blogging, even when she felt like she was getting no traction.
@scaredycatguide – Let's talk about money and stuff.
@jenkinrocket - Doesn't let low payments stop his posting!
@shadowspub – Always ramblin'
Hey there, my awesome brother!!!
Thank you so much for the shout-out!!! And what an incredibly inspiring article to read and impart to anyone new joining the platform.
Man, you and I got so many memories to share when we were toiling through our blogs at the start. Almost every post was a possible hit or miss, until we pushed and pushed, to finally getting consistent rewards. And to be honest, I owe a lot of my success on here to you. I would hit you up on rocket chat and vent my frustrations as you'd always lend a sympathetic ear. What a star you are, man.
So your article resounds of truth and excellent advice. I hope you keep on posting and building yourself up to unfathomable heights. Intelligence and articulation are just a couple of your best qualities and I know this platform would be improved tenfold with the likes of you as part of it's community.
Thank you again for another amazing article.
Resteemed!
Once again you have molded words into one of the best comments I have ever received. Thank you.
Those times in chat are always in my mind. Bouncing ideas off each other for improvement. Motivating one another. Good times. 😜
I am pretty sure I can attend Steemfest this year. Will you be in attendance?
What the hell?? You're attending the fest!!! I don't think I'll be able to stop smiling till November now!!! Goddamn, that's made my month... Scratch that, my year!! That would be incredible, man! :)
I think the idea that hard work will pay off is a bit too simple, but it works a lot better than complaining and comparing yourself to others.
From your shoutouts, you seem to be a steemspeaker, I should come hang out in there more....I don't mic chat though...
Oh I used to hang out in SteemSpeak for hours, but that was last year. It is a GREAT way to meet and create relationships with other Steemians though.
I really do believe if a person doesn't give up, and makes decent posts, they will do well and succeed.
It's very true. Just don't give up, keep plugging away. You will get noticed and build a following and voila. You will be happy :0)
Makes sense to me. I heard of this Chinese language teacher who once said, just do twenty minutes a day, otherwise you will stop at some point.
It's definitely important to do it and enjoy it and not over do it. I remember when people were rage quitting and quite alot of them cited spending hours crafting posts. I think that is fine if you are enjoying it but as soon as it becomes a chore you should take a break and not let it become something you despise
OK yeah makes sense. Where are you from?
Scotland :0)
Cool what do you do?
I work in the testing arena in IT :0)
True and important
Yes definitely. Thank you so much for your kind words. Are you into personal development books at all?
I am. As I think it's always good to be a little less stupid. And therefore it's handy not only to question oneself but also to get inspiration (and have some humor)
Thanks for the picture, bosmanerwin!
Thanks for your kind words. Are you into personal development books at all?
@meesterboom I forgot to mention you! There are so many of us that I was certain I would not remember to link everyone. You certainly know that never stopping is key. 😜
Absolutely spot on! Fantastic post, we have all endured the ups and downs, learned some lessons, and challenged ourselves to create good content for all to enjoy. We stayed the course and now our global community is something we can all be very proud of. Steeming on!
Yeah it is getting big. Last I heard there were about 270 000 people on Steemit. But I think what is cool about it is the average Steemian is much more active than the average FB person for instance.
It is exciting to be a part of the growing process. I have been here since last September and love it!
How did you hear about it?
My son @hilarski and his wife @anahilarski have been on since almost the beginning and they encouraged me to join in. I am so glad I did, I love it here.
Cool have you abandoned facebook completely? What do you like most about Steemit?
I still post my business on my page on Facebook, have my personal page too. But I spend most of my morning here on Steemit. I love the interaction with the people and I share about everything I love here, unlike facebook. I do share my posts in Steemit groups on FB as well as, google, Pinterest and tumblr. I am everywhere, ;D
Steemit has been through a rollercoaster of sentiment since it started. Those that never gave up during the worst of it have been rewarded! When steem was cheap we earned lots!
I Agree with everything you said 100%. Stay the course and keep improving with the platform is the key to success. Also, tnx for the mention! Game on!
For me, basically what he is saying here is that there are no secrets to making lots of money on Steemit. I have also noticed that Stellabelle has a similar philosophy. People who just enjoy themselves and are consistent seem to make the most money.
No secrets indeed, persistence, never give up, have fun, engage with the community. If you have any sort of skills with time you will see the results of your work. Wouldn't even call it work if I have fun participating in the system and writing about topics I love.
Folks, this is it right here 😊
Yeah makes sense, how do decide what topics to search for for good posts?
Thanks for this post. I like especially what you say about having a victim mentality. How many comments do you write per day or per week, do you have a target?
I use steem naturally. No kissing asses or commenting on posts I don't find interesting. So I don't create an artifical goal of comments per day.
I wish I could write more but my family requires much of my non working time. Still, I believe I have posted every month. That's compared to basically every day when I started. I never stopped though. Slow or fast, just keep moving and you can do well here.
Cool, I like that way of doing it. Where are you from?
I grew up in New England, but live in Arizona currently. :)
Where in New England? I went to Harvard. Why did you move to Arizona?
Middlesex county Massachusetts. I live in AZ because of my job. Military.
Cool how long have you been in AZ? I lived in MA for four years to go to college in Boston.
This is an excellent post to find after being off steemit for few days. :) I really enjoy being here. My feeling is that even if it takes ages to build following and begin earning substantial rewards, it's worth it. I like the experience.
I like to motivate the new folks with my experiences here. We are at the beginning of a new way to share content. All those that put forth the effort to succeed will be more rewarded in the future.
This is exactly the right attitude to have on this platform, excellent tips and advice for people. I'm not sure why we haven't met before, but I saw this resteemed on @ezzy's page. He's not only an excellent writer but a dear and wonderful friend :)
Nice to meet you! ;)
I am not sure either. I have fixed it going forward though. Nice to meet you too. @ezzy is a swell dude, lol :D
Thank you for this inspiring article. Like you I don't have the time to post very often, but it's my intention to do it regularly, because I love the platform.
I got inspired by my son @exyle who writes a lot on Steemit, because he is a real believer in the future possibilities of Steemit. Upvoted and resteemed.
@exyle has achieved great success here. I haven't conversed with him much, but I see his posts all the time. He is one that should be on my little list at the end. 😉
You are so right about this, consistency is key to success in life. It will most often take us much further than raw talent and luck will. Thing is, that consistency is hard for most people because of up and down swings in daily life. That's why we must support and encourage each other like you do with this exellent post :)
"No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn't trying." - Tony Robbins
Sucess is the only option in life beside learning from failure!!! Just followed you, cause you actually have intriguing content!
Haha, I try.
Don't have as much time to write as I once did, but try to keep things semi-active. Quality is important to me.
Very true. Each of us must be >0 to Steemit have become community Leaders and develop=))
😉
Great post my friend, if ever anyone needed some motivation to get started on this platform, this is it!
Great! Would love to hear of more Steemit success stories. 😊
While I know in my head perseverance is the right path it's always great to read these types of reminders that hard work will pay off in the end, even if you can't see it now. Thank you for that reminder today!
Many of the most successful here have started from scratch. If we can, anyone can.
Inspiring. I am never quiting on steemit as long as it lives.
You will find success here in the future :)
Thank you
Thanks for the encouragement.
Great attitude!
Yeah! I love stacking precious metals too. 😀💵
Very thoughtful post. I will check out those you mentioned
Please do