I've had plenty of huge milestones to celebrate as of recent, like my new shiny reputation that I've dreamt about acquiring since last summer, and my upvote exceeding the $1 mark thanks to 
I've been fortunate enough to have failed in every way possible here on Steemit. From spamming comments trying to gain followers, to participating in vote for vote communities where I spent hour of my free time curating articles I didn't care much about, I quickly burned myself out and quit Steemit for about two months.
I use the word fortunate not in a sarcastic way, but rather with 100% sincerity because every time I pulled myself back up, I found a deeper appreciation for this community, as well as a clearer focus of who I wanted to become on this blockchain.
If You Learn From Your L's, You Can Never Lose!
I realized that I let too much external noise distract me from truly understanding and enjoying my Steemit experience. What do I mean by external noise? It could be anything from
- Scrolling down the the trending page, allowing myself to set unrealistic expectations for future post payouts..
- Obsessing over longterm goals like a high reputation, or gaining hundreds of followers.
- Supporting others, with no reciprocation in sight.
Did you notice a trend here?
In each instance my goals were externally motivated, which lead to periods of anger and frustration when I didn't achieve them. Even when I might have caught a break and received a high payout, or made a new friend, I never stoped to appreciate to moment because I always wanted more.
What's The One Reason Why Most New Users Fail On Steemit?
The main reason why so many new minnows fail in the early stages of their journey isn't because they've set lofty goals, but simply because their motivation to succeed was external (Money, Reputation, Prestige), which strongly correlated to their expectation of Instant Gratification!
So many of us expect to log onto Steemit and start receiving high payouts, followers, and respect for the 10 hours we've spent on our thesis of the Cold War, but end up frustrated when we aren't immediately recognized for our talent and effort. And this mindset simply needs to change, if we are every going to retain a large amount of our new users.
In my case when I wasn't immediately rewarded, which lead me to eventually giving up, even though I managed to gain some really great friends, as well as some momentum!
If I was able to go back and start my journey all over again, I wouldn't focus on the amount of my payouts or followers, but simply what I liked to blog about and supporting those that I vibed with! I wouldn't expect anything in return for my efforts, and would've enjoyed every positive moment, whether if it was gaining one follower, or coming across a really cool article and learned something new!
Growing On Steemit Is Like Tending To A Farm
One of my good friends 
Farmers don't expect to grow a whole acre of corn in a day, so you shouldn't expect to become a highly paid blogger in a few months! I'm not saying that it can't happen, but you will have a way better experience if you stop focusing on the uncontrollable and patiently tend to your farm!
This happens to be my favorite infographic from
In this example he traded out farming for fishing, but you still get the gist! Please go check out
Hope you all got something positive out of this post! Look forward to another curation post later today, as I continue my journey to becoming a blockchain hero! This has been a friendly message from your friendly neighborhood #spiderblogger!
