Back in February when I reached level 50 some goals that I wanted to achieve were set. These goals were within my reach yet I failed at a few of them and achieved others faster then expected. So here is where I was at and what I wanted to achieve:
As of 2/13/18
Current SP: 256.941
Leased Delegation: 572.243
Reputation level: 50
Followers: 165
Posts: 934 (mainly comments)
Est Account Value: $1,244.34
Goals
Post 3 times per week minimum (Failed)
Comment on 5 posts per day (Achieved)
Find 5 new authors each week to give an upvote to (failed, but achieved many weeks)
Reach 500 SP by 05/13/2018 (Achieved)
Currently I am here:
Current SP: 550.773
Leased Delegation: 1,309.245
Reputation level: 55
Followers: 392 (huge increase!)
Posts: 1964 (mainly comments)
Est Account Value: $1,274.96
Current Steem Price: $1.80485USD (per SteemWorld)
Current SBD Price: $1.92237USD (per SteemWorld)
Have added the current prices so when looking back upon these posts over time I can see the changes in price as they effected my account. Think it will be a fun reference point.
Source: Pixabay
Mindset
Want to talk first about my change in mindset. For a while there I was on a mission to find bloggers who would give me an upvote for my comments trying to build my SP. Being completely honest some of my comments weren't pure of motivation. Yet even still I put effort into each comment and never just commented BS to get a vote...it was just those I selected to spend time commenting on was based on if I might get a vote in return. I was trying to use my time best to achieve monetary gains to grow my account.
| The problem with this is if everyone is looking up the food chain for the scraps to be passed down we are always forgetting about those that are lower on the food chain. |
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Over the last couple months I have been more focused on growing while helping the community. My voting is spread out over 135 accounts over the last 7 days with 369 upvotes given and 10.01% being self votes (10.01 % self, 369 upvotes, 135 accounts, last 7d source SteemWorld as of writing). At some point I'd like to get my self vote down to zero, but I'll be honest right now I have a lot of leased SteemPower and it needs to be paid for. Can't help others without sometimes helping myself.
My change in mindset wasn't overnight and it took some work. One of the things that really helped was on my entry to @snowpea #loveitshoveit challenge @trudeehunter was kind enough to give me a little slap upside the head and call me out. Which then lead to My Words Used Against me. Ouch! & Thank You!! post in which I admitted I was making excuses for not blogging. Once again thank you to @trudeehunter for giving a little tough love that was needed at that exact moment in time. This really refocused me on actually blogging like my goals said I would back in February.
Another shift in my thought process is due to the constant reminders from @tarazkp about community, bid bots, and other Steemit issues. Can't pinpoint exactly what post changed my mindset as it took a many posts talking about the issues that face steemit. From his posts and those he linked to I have changed my approach to my blog posts and no longer am paying for votes. My rewards will be whatever I earn from my blogging efforts, not some inflated number that I paid for.
Can't talk about mindset without mentioning a steemian that goes out of her way to engage with other steemians. She helps promote other peoples work selflessly and is always leaving positive encouraging comments on other peoples posts. She is consistently a top contender or winner in @abh12345 Curation League. This week she took second place and deserves a little recognition for her efforts.
| @lynncoyle1 is in my opinion one of the most undervalued steemians on Steemit. |
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Followers (My Community)
There are a lot of other interactions from my growing follower base that have made me want to help others more then worrying about the rewards I will personally see. The rewards are coming in the form of what I consider friendships and if someday there are monetary rewards to go with the friendships that is just a bonus. Not to list all the people who I've met and that have helped shape my shift from a business like mindset to a community one, but please know you are all appreciated.
| Currently thanks to feedback from my little community of steemit friends we came up with a contest that is doing great! The #payitforward is about to wrap up the first week and the feedback has been amazing! There is still some time to enter this week's contest and if you miss it nest week will be round 2. This contest has received enough support to continue it for at least the next 3 weeks and I fully expect longer and increased prized. |
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A little Plug for the Contest: The Pay It Forward Curation Contest is about featuring other Steemians that you feel deserve larger rewards and audience then they are currently receiving. While it's great to nice things for others a contest needs some prizes and I choose sponsorship to @steembasicincome program for the winners and to place a @steem-bounty on the comments to make sure everyone gets a prize. This contest truly lets everyone win by helping others, getting rewards at post payout, and potential to win lifetime votes for your posts.
SteemPower & Reputation Score
A little bit about my increased Steem Power because I think it's important. As my mindset changed about why I am here and as my voting has shifted towards others my focus is to grow an upvote of at least $2 so I can reward those who put out quality content with enough of a vote to really help them. So I have been investing money into steem to power up and my plan is to continue this each week with what I can afford to invest. Plus for now my leased power is much higher to give a short term boost to my voting power and help reward everyone. Will have to let the 300 SP delegation fall off for now as my focus is on investing into long term voting power vs just short term gains.
Sure my reputation score has increased to level 55 and this gave me an opportunity to write and update, but honestly this number is just that...a number. Even though it's just a number it's a good milestone to use as a reflection point and to set some new goals. So as I watched the score slowly increase I thought it was interesting that a vote from @surpassinggoogle was the one that pushed me over the edge. If you don't know about @surpassinggoogle and his efforts for helping smaller members like #untalented, #steemgigs and so many other please make sure to check him out.
Goals
Many people think that those that succeed are just lucky, I call BS. More likely they are just people with actionable written Goals.
Currently I am expecting that level 60 will take at least 4 months to achieve as I am not longer paying for votes and each level becomes harder to achieve. So these goals are with that in mind as I will review them and see how I did once reaching level 60.
General Practice Goals:
Keep #payitforward contest running and expanding each week
Post 3 times per week minimum
Comment on 10 posts per day
Give an upvote to at least 20 blogger who I haven't voted for in the past
Not use a bidbot on any posts
Then a couple date based Goals:
Reach 1000 SP by 06/30/2018
Reach 1500 SP by 08/15/2018
To reach my SP goals will require additional cash investment into steem and largely will be dependent on the price of steem as I continue to invest what I can afford. But these investments will bring me closer and closer to having an strong enough upvote to help more steemians grow.
Those of you that took the time to read all of this, thank you for your time! I appreciate your using one of your most valuable assets to read my thoughts today.
| Let me know your thoughts. My posts aren't a static piece of information, but rather the starting point of what I hope turns into a conversation. |
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