This Is My Steemit Journey. [22 Months, Almost 5000 Posts And 2700 Followers Later..]
22 Months, Almost 5000 Posts And 2700 Followers Later...
And I Reached A Reputation Score Of 67.
I have published similar things like this in the past, but as I grow I want to spread my knowledge, experience and success with all of you... This is defintiely not an article I publish to brag or to show you how great I am. I am pretty awesome, but so are you.
Actually, this is probably more for myself than for anybody else, but I know that others will eventually learn and appreciate that I shared this article, just like people have done in the past. You see, I regularly recieve comments from newcomers who appreciate and thank me for my contributions. Many of them find my articles inspiring or educational and some of them seems to be here on Steemit as a direct result of my contributions.
This is far beyond what I could ever imagine. That I, a rather humble, random "nobody" could have such great affect and accomplish so many things on a platform like Steemit. I am not native in English but I have somehow managed to write decent enough for others to understand, relate and be inspired many times...
I am amazed and truly thankful for the opportunity Steemit have given me and I am proud to say that I took this chance to heart and really went for it.
I have struggled. I have experienced many ups and downs and I have felt despair, anxiety and anger. I have had support from whales and heavily invested dolphins and I have earned hundreds of dollars from my contributions. I have seen great articles be flagged into oblivion and I have seen a pair of boobs earn thousands of dollars too.
I am 22 months old. I promise you that I have seen literally everything you could've seen during this time... And even though I hate some of the things I've seen, I am still very thankful for the opportunity and all the hours I've spent on this platform. It's been one helluva roller coaster filled with joy and many laughters, but it has also been times where despair, anger and anxiety has been passing by like a breeze during a hot summer day.
I published articles when I earned $0.10 and others, many of them far newer than me published an article and made $500 in an instant... But I have also been one of the authors who received amazing support and upvotes from whales in the early days.
The co-founder himself, @dan upvoted me more than a handful times back in the days and the pending payouts exploded. He saw something in me or my articles. He saw potential and even though it's a very long time since I got an upvote worth $300+, he gave me the chance to prove myself worthy.
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What I realized is that @dan gave me the opportunity to do some self reflection and think about my actions. Both future and past. He gave me the chance to become a better person... And even though I don't know if that was his intentions at all, it was how I interpreted it with time.
Like I said, I consider myself to be a rather humble person. I am literally a "nobody" from the country with the four seasons. I am from Sweden. I had no friends on Steemit when I joined... And most of my friends laughed at me when I was talking about Steemit. While I was talking about Steemit with passion glowing in my eyes, people laughed at me and they stayed on Facebook and Twitter.
I had to prove to myself and to others that I had what it takes... And I had to prove that Steemit was as good as I knew it could be. With more than 22 months under my belt and 2700 followers I think I've done a pretty good job.
Don't take this the wrong way, but the amount of followers and how old my account is doesn't really mean much. To me, it's an amazing accomplishment and I am grateful for the incredible support I have been given... But it's actually easy to manipulate the numbers if you wanted too.
However, I haven't focused on the money as much as many others seems to do... And don't get me wrong. I would definitely love and need more money in my life, but I don't use Steemit as my personal cash-cow or ATM. I know that I will be able to generate an extra income from Steemit as long as I play my cards right.
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I have managed to use my Steemit earnings to go to a restaurant. I have bought a new phone and I have paid about half of my student debt. I have been able to treat myself some extra goodies due to my contributions and meanwhile I regret some of those decisions, I am still proud and thankful for everything.
I am a living proof that Steemit is legit and works for everyone. No matter where you're from and no matter how old you are. With or without prior experience in cryptocurrencies. Native in English or not.
And let me tell you something right away. If you think that no one cares about you, your posts or that you're here or not. Stop. Steemit needs you, no matter who you are.
I will now try to explain what Steemit truly is. This is my interpretation.
Steemit needs you, no matter who you are, because Steemit can only exist as long as there is minnows and dolphins. That's right, I didn't mention whales, because I don't believe that Steemit need whales, even though I still appreciate that we have them. Steemit also needs "seaweed" to survive.
Steemit is a big "pay it forward" project.
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We need to eat and that's where you come in. That's where we all come in. We feast on each other. A newcomer contributes with an article. Existing members welcomes that person and supports them with upvotes, survives the day and grow older. The newcomer grows with time and can welcome another newcomer with the same support.
- The concept is simple, effective and beautiful.
While we can argue about right or wrong, him or her deserving that amount of rewards or not and so on... It's easier to just ignore those things. Especially as a newcomer as many of those things only turns into negative feelings and I promise you that it's much easier to dedicate yourself to things when you're positive.
Steemit takes time. It takes dedication, hard work and effort... But that's about all it takes. Sure, a bit of luck always help and if you can afford to invest into Steem Power, then you're off to a very good start. However, it's far from mandatory or needed to invest in Steem Power to find some success on Steemit. You have everything you need to make it here once you've created your account. The rest is up to you.
Remember, Steemit needs you, no matter if you're "seaweed" or some sort of fish. Think of Steemit as an ocean. The entire eco-system survives as long as each particle do their part.
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With this mindset I have been able to accomplish many different things on Steemit. I am a firm believer in the pay it forward concept. I was part of the #StewardsofGondor for 10 weeks until the program had to be suspended by @fulltimegeek due to his intentions to fight for a better environment for everyone. It was an honor to be chosen for this fantastic program and I did what I thought was best for us all during the time I was a Steward. And I would continue my efforts to pave the way for others and support those around me if I got the same opportunity once again.
@fulltimegeek's generosity and his #StewardsofGondor initiative had such an immense impact and inspired me to launch my own project. The @asapers.
People and projects I delegate Steem Power too.
The asapers is a manual curation team that aims to support newcomers on Steemit. The @asapers also share the profits with the featured authors in each issue to help others to get more recognition, exposure and to grow.
@lynncoyle1 is our newest asaper member, and I am equally proud to support her as an individual as an asaper. Even though I cannot support these Steemians and the different projects as much as I would've wanted, I do as much as I can and with time, we will be able to do even more for others.
Remember. The pay it forward mindset is vital for each Steemians existence. That's my personal opinion and beliefs... And such mindset will change the world we live in.
Thank you @dan / @dantheman for everything you've done and the impact you've had on my life. And thank you @fulltimegeek for being so incredible nice and caring about others. You gave me that little extra push I needed to fully commit myself with the pay it forward concept. I am grateful for the opportunity and I hope you don't regret that you invited me to the #StewardsofGondor.
Pay It Forward.
I delegated all my Steem Power when I still had the Steem Power from @fulltimegeek and when he decided to suspend his program, I continued to delegate all my Steem Power to others. Not because I was trying to be some sort of hero or anything stupid like that. I simply strived to continue in the same path as before, no matter how hard it would be, because I knew it was the right thing to do. It felt good to help others, and I felt almost obligated to push myself to the brink of limits to honor @fulltimegeek, his intentions, mindset and as a token of appreciation for everything he has done for this entire community. Including me.
That basically put me in a time machine and threw me back 22 months in time, as I once again started to face bandwidth issues, which is a common issue for any newcomer to Steemit.
It didn't take long before I received delegated Steem Power in an attempt to solve my bandwidth issues and to enable the vote-slider again. Those who helped me with this were @insideoutlet (one of the asapers I delegate Steem Power too) and @preparedwombat.
@preparedwombat joined Steemit in April 2017 and has been supporting me for a long time. He also delegate Steem Power to others and even though I cannot state the exact reason he has for doing this, it's an incredible noble act that deserves recognition.
These are the people he delegates Steem Power too.
When @preparedwombat decided to delegate 500 Steem Power to me, he said:
These delegations obviously helped me tremendously, as I didn't have to battle the bandwidth issues and could still support other authors like I did before. I was down to 26 Steem Power when I received these delegations. From that day until now, I've been able to generate some more Steem Power and as a firm believer in the pay it forward concept, I decided to delegate Steem Power to @lynncoyle1 once I had gathered enough to delegate 50 Steem Power.
If @preparedwombat decides to undelegate me right now, I'll have a total of 31 Steem Power, but I still have every intention of delegating an additional 50 Steem Power to @lynncoyle1 as soon as I've gathered the remaining 19 SP I need to make that possible. She deserves it, and we deserve it.
My account was worth more than $3000.
My Steemit account was worth more than $3000 just a few days ago. Far more than that a couple of weeks ago. I still did not undelegate and power down, even though I was in desperate need of ~$3000 to pay back a student debt. You see, this student debt I'm talking about was hindering me to get a new student loan, and I'm going back to School shortly. On Monday actually.
However, even though I knew I could rather easily get this money and pay back the loan, just by using the Steem I have been able to generate during my time on Steemit, I chose not to do it, because I truly believe in what I do here. I believe my pay it forward mindset and approach will yield superb results as time goes by, so even though this debt would've been much easier to pay back if I used my Steem, I struggled and worked hard for several months to pay the debt. About 40% of my SBD earnings from Steemit was used, so Steemit have basically paid for about half of my education... And that's pretty neat if you ask me.
Also, as I did not undelegate or power down to accomplish this, I had the opportunity to delegate the 50 Steem Power I was talking about previously, I could continue to support my projects and the individuals I've chosen and I allow myself to grow.
Now, this full time freelancer will become a full time student once again... And even though I have never relied on Steemit to have my back and support me financially, I would obviously be extremely happy and satisfied if you continued to support me, as that will help me in the transition from being my own boss to become a student.
I Strive To Change The World.
The pay it forward mindset and approach is my way of changing the world. And I have already seen many great things on Steemit. However, Steemit is the virtual world with millions of ones and zeros but it's actually not that far from how the real world looks like if you think about it. Just because you cannot see or care about the ones and zeros doesn't mean that they doesn't exist.
That lady on the other side of the street. You don't know her and most of you would never spend a single second thinking about her. And I'm not trying to sound like a Mother Teresa here and I'm definitely not judging you... But I care about her. Not as much so I want to become her best friend or anything like that, but I care about her as a human being.
This is also why I want to study. I want to become a treatment assistant so I will study health and social care (I don't know the actual words for it in English, but that's the direct translation from "Vård och Omsorg" as it's called in Sweden.) and I want to focus on teenagers who suffers from mental illness.
That's how I intend to change the world. To heal others. I know that I won't be some sort of magical guru who heal bleeding wounds or get scars to disappear... But I can be there for people who suffers from mental illness. I can be a pillar of support for those who're battling against psychological demons... And I intend to.
Väl skrivet @hitmeasap! Ser fram emot att hela vidare tillsammans!! :)
Tack @reko, mycket uppskattat. Vi kommer att göra världen till en ännu bättre plats med hjälp av Steemit. Vi har redan lyckats göra mycket. Steemit har redan lyckats göra mycket. Men det kommer mer! :)
This post is so beautiful on so many levels @hitmeasap! There are so many different thoughts racing through my head, so I decided to reply in bullets ;)
Wow, this turned into something as long as a post haha Thank you again for believing in me, and just know that I believe in you! Good luck on Monday...but you won't need it ;)
Enjoy your last homework-free weekend for a while haha
Wow... That's pretty much all I can say. :D
@lynncoyle1, this was a super awesome comment. Thank you very much for taking the time to write all of this. I truly appreciate it. :)
I thought I'd reply with bullet points too, but I won't copy your comment and reply on each thing because that would be a very long comment. So I'll just go with a simple reply instead, and try to answer some of this in no specific order. So here goes!
English is not my first language so I definitely take what you said as a compliment and you definitely nailed it with the faith and feelings about making them proud. As they could actually earn money by using the Steem Power they delegate to me, it automatically gives me that extra "boost" and willingness to make them proud and use that power in the best possible way. However, I try to not think about it, and just do whatever I have done previously, as that was what got them to delegate in the first place.
They decided to delegate Steem Power to me because who I am and what I do... So it would obviously be best for everyone if I continued to be me. Especially as there will never, ever be a better me than myself. :)
And this apply to the people I delegate to. I don't want them(or you) to feel stressed out or be afraid of losing the extra Steem Power you've got, because I have zero intentions of taking it back. As long as you don't pull of some weird stupid shit that is. But I know that you won't. :)
Also, there's no need to thank me regularly or for a year for the Steem Power. :D
In fact, I am the one who should be thanking you, and the other asapers, because you are all awesome and I see it as my privilege to delegate Steem Power and to pay it forward. Just continue to be yourself.
Adolescent Mental Health Worker? - Wow. That's a tricky word. Treatment assistant would've been easier... :D - Thanks for letting me know and thanks for the encouragement. Trust me, I appreciate it and I do need it. I've started to become extremely nervous... And it feels really good. It's been a long time since I felt this weird but cool feeling, so I'm looking forward to it.
That was a really nice sentence. And very true. I am often hard on myself, and it's for various reasons... But this is also one of the reasons I am who I am today, and even though I cannot say that I am truly proud with my life or the things I've done in life, I am proud over the person I have become and am today.
Yeah... This feels really weird. I still haven't realized that I won't be my own boss anymore. I still haven't realized that I will be sitting in a classroom full of other students in front of a bunch of teachers and reading books. I actually bought the first book I need for my education yesterday. A real book. - Where did the internet go?! :D
Thank you so much for this comment @lynncoyle1. I truly appreciate it. Have a good weekend! :)
Wow right back atcha!! Loved your reply, and I won't take up another page with one back, so I'll just say a couple of things. ( 1) I promise no "weird stupid shit" :), (2) I'm done thanking you;), (3) I've got a lot in my past I'm not too crazy about, so good idea to focus on who we are now...which is pretty awesome haha and (4) A book?? That's crazy talk!!
Have a great weekend as well!!
Wao! @hitmeasap
This is what I called "steemit autobiography". I know the journey of 22 months is not an easy thing. There are many ups and downs that you might have faced that you did not include here.
Even this is capable of making you give up.
It breaks the heart when you've put in an extra effort on a post and you earn less whereas you are seeing those that did not put in half effort compare to yours earn more.
You are committed to keeping this community growing. I noticed that even after the DSP was suspended, you still delegate SP to some steemians.
I really love your insight as regards @asapers project. I believe that the best is yet to come. Wishing you all the best in this journey.
Yeah. This was actually just a fraction of things, but it still serve it's purpose. :)
That can be very discouraging. And that's also one of the reasons for the @asapers to exist. Even though we might not be able to boost the rewards to an amazing sky-high value right now, we're still striving to put the featured authors on the map so to speak.
We share the profits with the featured authors so they earn something extra meanwhile we give them more exposure and hopefully, that can and eventually will lead to more rewards and recognition with time.
Thank you very much for your comment, I appreciate it! :)
I’m in no rush. It’s yours to use for at least an additional 30 days.
Thank you. I appreciate it very much! :)
Most epic sir!
I like this kind of post a lot as you can gain good insight into a person from them.
For what my opinion is worth, you've done a grand job supporting minnows, writing interesting articles, engaging with everyone from top to bottom of the reputation pile, and more.
Which is why, as others have said, I think you'll serve a fine purpose in your planned line of work, and I wish you the best of luck!
Cheers
Asher
Thank you very much Asher, it means a lot to me. The encouraging comments and the overall support I have and will get is truly amazing. Never could I believe that I would have gained this much from Steemit when I first joined. It's undoubtedly the best experience I've had online, and I've worked online for several years, so that's a pretty awesome achievement.
It's safe to say that I'm addicted to Steemit, but most of all, addicted to all the amazing Steemians I've met. Thank you for everything you've done for me so far. I truly appreciate it!
when i see publications where people show their experience in steemit i stop to read them, for sure there is a good comment that will serve for my development in this platform.
But as we would say in this one in venezuela you ate it is a way of saying that you did it well, I like your way of thanking the support you have been presented, I like how you share how much or how little you have gained... in the end you have many followers and surely you will help many more... As I said before I am from Venezuela and I don't speak English, I took the abuse of translating your publication and maybe some things are confusing in the translation, but to conclude I can say that your words made me feel that if we can receive help from others even if it is not directly, here an example is helping me to understand that constancy is rewarded. I still have my doubts if we will have this kind of support in Spanish, but I will not lose hope.
Thank you for passing on your experience, you have gained a new follower
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
Amazing post! I guess all I can is I am where you were 22 months ago lol. Super excited for the journey that lyes ahead on the road to a successful Steemit account. Just out of curiosity how would you say you've seen Steemit evolve in your time here? 22 months is a very short time but I feel like that is an eternity in the world of Steemit and Blockchain.
Asides from that I admire your drive to make a positive difference! I really believe that Steemit will be one of the most talked about websites in the world down the road and pros such as yourself and hopefully myself in the future:) will have the ability to make a major positive impact once Steemit becomes more widely adopted!
You are a true inspiration for all steemians, think what a great community we would have if all thinked like you.
I wish you the best of lucky in school and hope that you still will have time for Steemit meanwhile
Thank you very much for this awesome comment, I truly appreciate it. I will make enough room to continue to contribute on Steemit during the time I study. There's no question about it. Steemit is a huge part of my life. No matter if I'm a full time student or a full time freelancer.
Thank you for sharing your inspiring journey with us! I wish you all the best with your studies, clearing your student debt, helping the Steem community & living life!
Thank you. My student debt is already taken care off. I was able to pay it in full a few days ago. Now the student life awaits! :)
Congrats! I´ve been to Sweden twice. Why is it that so many Swedes are good at teamwork and are so considerate to others? Something in the water you guys drink? I felt great collective awareness / civics there.
Haha, I have no idea. I've never thought about it. I personally feel that most Swedes are kind of boring and selfish... But that might be because I'm used to it.