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I joined Steem in March of last year and have been on here a few weeks short of a year now. I haven't had the luxury of investing and powering up so what you see on my account is all me and what I have achieved. That is true to a point as this is not achievable unless you have a community around you.
How I got on Steem is another story though. My account was hacked on Binance and I was down in the dumps.I was looking through the internet and stumbled on Steemit.I joined ,but was too scared to start blogging as had no confidence in my abilities. it took me a good few weeks before I posted anything. I had no visions of huge payouts so that didn't affect me when the only vote my posts received was my own vote.I decided there and then that the only way to grow was to be noticed and needed to read and comment like a machine.To dive in and be part of the community.
The first three or four months of Steem was a huge struggle and I was lucky enough to have some loyal friends around. I call them friends as I have known them for a year now and feel I have got to know them fairly well. Without them I was dead in the water and this taught me a huge lesson.
Another lesson I learned was to take it slowly and build your account foundation through your community. The stronger and more genuine your following the better you will be in the future. This is not a race and I see everything as long term. Your actions speak louder than words as everything is transparent on here. I treat this as real and I am no different in the real world.If someone needs help I will stop what I am doing and go and help them. That to me is just being a decent human being and being part of the community.
I have been helped on my way by some very kind and considerate people and would be unfair to highlight them as they know who they are and have a special place in my heart for what they have done. These are community orientated people and we are all in this together and helping is what we do.
The words community and rewards are so closely entwined that the more you do the better your rewards will be.This is a fact and not something you do to get more rewards it just happens. Sometimes I wish I could do more, but that will come when I spot the opportunity or the time is right.I love helping others and expect nothing in return and I think that is the right attitude to have.
If I had to break it down I would say that I am 60/40 between community and rewards at the moment and as I grow it should swing more towards the community as the rewards will automatically grow on their own. If you target rewards and prioritize this it wont work as you can't have one without the other.
Image source hourexchangeypsi.org and icma.org