25,000: A goal attained

Today started like any other Monday morning, by 7:30am I was sitting at my desk watching my computer boot up with a rather glum look on my face; Just a touch of Mondayitis making me feel a bit green around the gills so to speak.

What I didn't know was that this Monday was going to be momentous.

Here's the story...

The day is June 13th 2017 and my first post goes live on steem, my introduction post. I knew almost nothing about the platform and even less about crypto-currency although felt I had a story to tell and my brother @tarazkp seemed to think here was as good a place to tell it than any other.

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Over the 1419 posts I've written [including this one] in the 951 days I've been here on steem I've told that story in the only way I know how...With passion.

Yes I know, not all of my posts have been magnificent works of prose; However the words I have strung together represent my life, thoughts, hopes, fears, success and failures and I've tried to be inventive with my writing and to write well, at least to the best ability I have considering I never finished high school. I guess my ethos of writing about things that interest me, and applying passion help me write a little better.

When I first started at whatever low level a noob starts at, pond-scum level I think, I looked up the food chain to some of the larger accounts and felt somewhat out of my depth, not in life as the true me, but here on steem. I felt insignificant especially considering my SP was pathetically low and my upvote value was a hefty small 0.00!

Still, I wrote and wrote, voted, commented and engaged with some of the larger accounts I came across, despite my feelings of trepidation and of being a lowly little minnow.

It was at that time I decided to set a goal for myself. A goal of 25,000 steem powered up. It seemed a legit number, a large number to be honest, and I thought it was high enough to be difficult to achieve and yet still attainable, which would keep me motivated.

Today 951 days later I achieved that goal. 25,000SP.

No, I don't need or want a medal, recognition, acknowledgement or really anything at all...Attaining my goal is reward enough...But to achieve my goal, especially after 951 days of endless effort...Well, recognising my own achievement is something I feel vindicated to do. I hope you can grant me this post of self-recognition.

I'll be honest with you though, just under 3,000SP has been purchased and powered up...Yeah, I invested my own money. I don't have loads to spare to buy steem though and so the other 22,000SP+ has been earned. In truth it has all been earned as I work for the fiat I bought steem with, but I mean earned by posting here.

So, today I wanted to acknowledge my personal achievement and offer my perspective on how I have reached my goal:

Writing what I am passionate about and interested in, consistency, persistence and the big E..Engagement.

That's pretty much it. Sure, I was fortunate enough to have my brother assist me along the way and there have been some others also..If you're reading this you're one of them...But in general I fully believe it is about those basic things as above: Passion, consistency and engagement.

I believe in steem, in the blockchain, and social-media/blogging concept. I believe it has the potential to furnish me with a valuable reward from a monetary perspective and it already has done so from a personal enjoyment perspective. Is it flawed and broken at times and in places? Yes, just like all human beings are themselves...But in the main, if treated with respect, it can be an amazingly rewarding place to spend time.

I'm pleased to be here still, to have weathered the storms, some of which continue unabated, and that I have it within me to see it through to the end. I'm also pleased to have achieved my goal of 25,000SP and to have had a cadre of amazing people around me and to see new people engaging with me daily. That's you guys...The ones still reading this post. I appreciate you.

I don't know what my next goal is going to be...To be honest I haven't given it much thought. 30,00SP...50,000SP? I don't know. What I hope though is that people see my journey over the last 951 days and see that it is possible to achieve one's goals here, and to enjoy the journey.

That's pretty much it y'all...A good-news story for Monday morning.

I hope to see you around sometime and to curate your work for @curangel; Something I do to help users with undervalued posts to gain some additional exposure and vote-action.

Also, if you're looking for an easy way to track your engagement levels make sure you check out the Engagement League where the champ @abh12345 tracks your engagement metrics and reports weekly. The Engagement League link here will take you to this weeks' results. Just comment inthe comments of that post that you want to be involved and you're in, that's it.

Just speaking from personal experience it is a very easy way to see how you're going with engagement against other users and keeps me motivated and engaging...The way to get somewhere here on steem! No stress on your though, @abh12345 does all the work.

Righto...That's it other than a heartfelt thank you to all of you who have supported me, and continue to do so. Thank you.

Tomorrow isn't promised - Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default
_{An original post written by a human
Discord: galenkp#9209} 🇦🇺