Really very good advice what you mention here.
Many times we can get frustrated if we don't have the results we imagined, but thinking that this is like any kind of business which you have to work constantly is also another way to see things realistically.
Something that hit me a little bit when I read your post was the fact of not using ia for publications, I recognize that I had been doing it and I understand why the support for my publications declined almost to zero.
So it's also a sign of personal commitment to do better and put more personal effort into creating quality stuff for the platform.
RE: A healthcheck on your Hive account