An Incredible Journey

It's true. Today marks my 60th day on Steemit and I am definitely celebrating the milestone.
I almost don't know where to begin except to first say

Thank you to the #Steemit Community

I have learned so much, found new hope, gained a bunch of new friends, and really settled in enough to call this place my home on the internet.

Look @opheliafu - I took a little water to the felt pen! pffft - baby steps LOL

About a month ago, I shared my 30 days thoughts.

At the time, I was working from my car because I didn't have internet at my house. I knew in my heart that Steemit was going to give back what I put into it. I sat in 90+ degree F temperatures in a hot car because I knew how important a consistent presence was here. Spending that at least 2-4 hours a day between two parking lots, let's just say that I heard remarks about being homeless...and I'm sad to report that no one ever did bring me a sandwich.

My findings from 30 days ago remain much the same.

For the newbies and other minnows

I am still a minnow - but I'm a growing minnow. And you can be too. Here's how:

• Don't give up.
• You don't have to post something every day but you should be interacting every day. Thoughtful comments, guys! Those get the most attention
• Respond. While many people swing by for a quick upvote, there are people who take precious time to comment. Be courteous and respond to them...unless they're a bot.
• Check your feed. See what's new.
• Do some research on Steemd.com to see who is active and see if they write on topics of interest to you. If they do great! Follow them and start interacting with them and their engaged followers.

Harness any negativity and turn it into something positive

Did I mention - Don't give up?
There have been plenty of times when I felt disheartened through my 60 day journey but I refuse to blast negativity and doubt on my blogs, or publicly complain about it in comments.

What good does that do?

Whether you believe this or not, in life and in Steemit, you have the power to influence those around you. Your actions speak volumes and whether you know it or not, people are watching you, often making split-second decisions on whether you're approachable or not worth the effort.

So what if you didn't make one penny on a post? Turn it around Make small goals to increase the volume of views. Example: I want five new followers. I'm going to comment until they notice me and maybe they'll follow me back.

Consider your blog formatting. Are you using pictures, headers, and making your posts aesthetically pleasing?

So what if you're a newbie. Adopt a newbie anyway. Show them the ropes. Give them helpful links to places like Steem.chat, Steemwhales, and Steemd.

Introduce them through your connections, Steemit projects and initiatives like NameInLights, Curie, RobinhoodWhale, and Steemprentice. I've omitted the hashtags (#)

My Steemit Numbers

30 days ago I was at 80 followes. My rank was 52.4 and I was #1449 on SteemWhales.com with 510 posts.

Today

213 followers!!
Ranked 458th on SteemWhales
Reputation score: 59.5
Over 1100 posts

I could not have done this without the help of some amazing people.
Honestly, there are really too many to list unless I name all 213 people.
You may often feel like you're alone - but you're not.
We all share the Steemit experience with all the growing pains, disappointments, challenges, and TRIUMPHS.

---

It's a beautiful day!

Final thoughts

I will not give strength to nonsense like Fear of Failure.
Failure is easy. Failure is expected. Failure is like gravity - it will keep you down if you let it.

FUCK FAILURE

I do believe there is Fear of Success and too many people succumb to doubt. They turn back instead of pushing forward because, damn, that glass ceiling is scary...except you can see what's on the other side, can't you?
Spread your wings. Expand your knowledge and your comfort zone. Break through that stupid glass ceiling and FLY.

It's okay to be a work in progress.

---

Wall of #Steemit love:

This awesome name in peppers was created by @papa-pepper:

And @poeticsnake graced me with her beautiful artwork!

---

If you like my content, please consider upvoting and visiting my other articles. Your comments are always appreciated.

---

Meredith Loughran blogs at ScribblingBandits.com | Follow her on Twitter & SnapChat or LinkedIn

---

Come see what I've been writing! Visit my blog page