One year on Steemit: a bit of looking back and forward

Hi there my Steemit friends and followers!

I cannot believe it has already been one year since I reluctantly signed up for this strange project called Steemit where - as a friend of mine told me - I would get paid for writing posts. At that time, I did not have the slightest idea of what I was in for but I think it is now safe to say that Steemit has changed my life in a way.

Just a few weeks into my new Steemit life, after I started to cooperate with some respected names of this platform, I made the crucial decision to abandon all the projects I was working on back then to become what can only be described as a full-time Steemian.

Today, one year later, I am still here. Steeming every day, engaging with the community, having fun with my Steemit friends, writing posts, commenting, powering up, curating, participating in contests, organizing contests myself... Steemit has become an unexpectedly important part of my life and - as weird as it may sound - I can hardly imagine my life without it right now.

Looking Back

During those 365 days, I have written 374 posts and 6,005 comments and got 1,614 followers. I have accumulated over 6,190 Steem Power (through steeming only, I have not bought any) and reached the reputation of 69 (I actually turned 69 just today thanks to this post).

I have evolved from a plankton to a minnow and from a minnow to a dolphin. I have made several minor withdrawals of Steem and SBD (you have to cash out sometimes when you do this thing for living) but never powered down.

Last but not least, I have met many amazing and inspirational people here (some of them even in real life already) and made some really good friends who might well be my friends forever. I am not going to mention any names here, they know who they are. Thank you so much guys, I am really happy and grateful to have you in my life.

I would also like to say a huge thank-you to all of my supporters and followers - I would not be writing this post if there were not for you. Thank you!

Looking Forward

My plans for future? Well, they can be pretty much summed up in the little well-worn phrase that you all have heard so many times and that I keep telling people here too - "Steem on!" :)

That is right. Despite all the bad news and numbers from the crypto world that we have been flooded with in the past couple of months and despite the consequent overall decline in activity here on Steemit, I still have a very strong faith in this thing and I am going to keep doing everything I have been doing so far, possibly with even greater intensity.

Hopefully, I will have more time for my own blog and thus will be able to improve the quality of my own posts and to engage even more with the community and my followers.

I will also carry on with my personal campaign where I am trying to explain my friends and family members the benefits of joining us, where I am trying to make them leave the mainstream social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and relocate their creativity to this amazing platform where it will only be them and the community who will benefit from their effort, no third parties.

I am going to do all I can to stay a full-time Steemian because to me, a former staff writer, being here feels more like a hobby and fun than a job. At the same time, moreover, Steemit allows me to live the nomadic, free and adventurous life that I value so much and that I am very grateful for.

I do not usually set specific goals for myself but let me make an exception today and use this post as a kind of commitment for my Steemit future. Looking at what I have achieved during the first year and considering that I would like to Steem even more in the next year, I am setting my quantifiable goals to reaching the reputation of at least 73 and accumulating at least 20,000 Steem Power.

I am also hoping to keep meeting awesome people from all over the world here, making new friends and getting involved in more amazing projects that contribute to the healthy growth of the platform, help needy people around the world or support conservation efforts and wildlife protection as these are the topics that I am highly interested in.

Thank you guys for being a part of all of this. Stay awesome and Steem on! :)

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Thank you for visiting my blog. If you like posts about #nature, #animals, #traveling and discovering secrets and beauties of the #world, feel free to follow me as these are the topics I mostly write about. Have a wonderful day and keep on Steeming!