Hey everyone, i'm Ebikake Zidi Justin and i want to talk about the amazing changes that I'm glad to have made since i joined steemit. When i first joined steemit, i came with the intention of making quick cash... you see what brought me here was the steemit openmic hosted by 
Hive account@lyzcypher and 
Hive account@pfunk. I thought i could participate in this weekly contest to get some extra cash for spending and whatnot. I also came with something else; the steembie mentality, that is, upvote for upvote and follow for follow. So most times i would do that to get votes on my posts, that was afterall the way i formerly approached life. This post does not condemn people who do that, but it is intended to share with you all (especially steembies)a different point of view from the adjustments i had to make and the reasons why i made them.
My story starts from when i joined the steem alliance channel on discord via an invite link on one of 
Hive account@luzcypher's steemit openmic posts. Getting there, the first thing i did was go around chatting people up in their dm's and literally 'begging' them to upvote my post... i do feel silly about it now though and really they already knew what i wanted so most of them didn't let me finish before saying no, you see, they were not impressed by what i did and i definitely would never be able to get their votes or respect ... here's the reason why... everyone has a voting power bar which they would naturally like to keep on the high side, preferably at max, so they would only use it up if they have a good reason to.. what good reasons could they have to use their voting power? definitely for posts that promise good returns for curation, posts they appreciate, and posts of their friends, mentors, etc.. Not knowing better, i was basically harassing them... then i sent a DM to 
Hive account@seveaux and@topknop asking for help on one of my posts. They helped me change my mindset with what They said to me.... Hive account@seveaux TOLD ME i WAS POOR... yes, and that i had a poor man's mentality. initially i was kind of offended, but as he kept typing i was a little more intrigued.They both made me see that i had to build my foundation here on steemit with solid materials... not a help for help mentality which was neither going to give loyal supporters or friends nor prove effective on the long run. When you post good content, build strong relationships with people and be yourself, people will like you and always support you. That's how you grow on steemit; by helping people. The relationships i have built have not just helped me get some more votes, i have also gotten a few tips and tricks about my music, video recording thanx to 
Hive account@luisferchav, writing contests thanx to 
Hive account@simgirl and steemit in general which has been of great help to me...
BELOW IS A LINK TO THE MINNOW SUPPORT PROJECT COMMUNITY(PALnet) ON DISC
https://discord.gg/UUXNn3
AND THE 'STEEMIT MUSIC ALLIANCE' also on discord
https://discord.gg/jHKFUwY
My advice to fellow steembies? reach out to people, network, forge strong relationships, always post good, useful content, be good at what you do and always be yourself... steemit is a long journey and you cannot go it alone... help people and you'll see yourself growing fast..
I hope this information is useful to you and helps you on your steemit journey!!!...
