Let Me Tell You Something...
During my years as a freelancer, marketer and brand builder I have built huge followings several times. I've built many Instagram, YouTube, Twitter And Facebook accounts for both myself but also for my clients. I have successfully helped various marketplaces to build their brands and I have built personal accounts too. And to tell you the truth, it's a long time since I felt truly proud over achievements like these.
Along with passing 2500 followers, I have also reached more than 4700 posts in total. Most of these comments are according to myself well-written and have added something of value in some way. Either by thanking someone deeply for their thoughtful comments, ideas or contributions or by adding something additional to the articles itself. And that my dear readers, is what social media is about. I have also reached a reputation score of 66.88 and I'm looking forward to climb the lasts steps that will take me to the new plateau of 67.
"I Thought About Giving Up."
Lately I've been thinking back on my journey and I can easily tell you that I almost gave up a long time ago. I have been here for 21 months in total and during that time, I have definitely seen everything you can imagine. From Scammers and Fraudsters to successful Charity events. From Homeless people to successful, wealthy and famous people. I have witnessed whale wars, circle jerk, the "inner circle" who never gave a shit about anyone else besides themselves and people next to them. I have seen talented people fade away and I have seen Steem and SBD at cents. Along with that, I have also seen greatness. Amazing initiatives and people who've given literally everything they've got to help others. I have seen this site you call Steemit go from being a "random money making" site, to a fully blown community with tons of heart and willingness.
I have been here to witness all of that and more than that. I have been successful. I have earned enough to make my life easier at times and I consider myself to be lucky. But during my time on Steemit, I also managed to minimize the amount of luck needed by adding effort, time and consistency to create a better recipe for myself to use.
I am not famous and I am far from being a Steemian who'll always be on the trending pages. Truth to be told, I haven't been on the trending pages in 19 months or so, but more importantly, I have never aimed for that and I am grateful for the opportunity I have been given on Steemit. No matter the cash reward. I almost gave up on Steemit back in the days due to the atmosphere I felt was pressuring me. I quickly tried to do everything I could to earn money when I joined, and that is also why I can easily relate with newcomers who's disappointed in the "system".
I have never been fond in the way people advertise Steemit as I personally believe it will yield poor results. However, I can understand why people have been advertising Steemit like an ATM, as it's also how Steemit inc have been advertising themselves. "Money Talks" and that entire message brings money seekers and "Get Rich Quick Attitude".
That being said, I joined Steemit due to the insane amount of money people earned from the contributions. I quickly had great results and earned hundreds of dollars and it truly felt like that I for once in my life had stumbled across something that would be life changing for me. With high hopes of making bank and to be able to quit my freelancing job to travel the world and drinking cocktails on a daily basis... My dreams were shattered due to the loss of whale support and due to the growth of Steemit as a platform.
With more people came more competition and I was never fortunate enough to grab my piece of continous whale support, even though I was lucky enough to receive upvotes from both 
I became obsessed with the rewards because of the success I had when I first joined Steemit. That's the truth of today. Steemit turned me from being a non-blogger into an addicted blogger. All due to money, the rewards I recieved and due to the advertisment techniques they used. Once I got the first whale upvote it was like a door to my dreams.
Suddenly, they vanished and I stood there all alone again. With little to none rewards, more anxiety building up, tears and devastation. Demotivated is just the forename for what I felt. I was angry for the success I had... Because I have never been given anything for free. And Steemit felt like an "all you can eat" buffet as soon as I joined.
- Talk about surreal.
Once I truly realized what Steemit is all about, money quickly became the last thing I thought about. I started to socialize on a different level. I wanted to be a part of the community. I stopped thinking about rewards and how or what I should do to squeeze out as many upvotes I could. All of those feelings and thoughts disappeared.
Listen, I obviously care about the rewards, because honestly, who doesn't? However, I don't do the things I do for the rewards. The whole money aspect of Steemit has become a huge bonus for me and truth to be told, it's an amazing feeling of relief and gratitude.
Instead of crying to "only" get an upvote worth $5 from a person who I know can easily give me $50, like I actually did in the past, I am nowadays genuinely grateful for each cent I make. And that makes everything so much easier and fun altogether. Steemit is and have been a huge part of my life for a long time and I have had my fair share of ups and downs. Almost as much of a down so I decided to quit... But I never gave up because that's a word I am not familiar with.
All of this, and more to it, is also the reason for me to create the 
I strive to educate people so they don't fall into the same pit I once were. And I also believe that