Yes, life is harder so every aspect of life will be harder, but just think if you will get everything for free without any effort then how you will get the sense of achievement and i think you read that book at the right time because still those words are with you in your journey. I will just give an example, and this is applicable to me also, if we are moving towards frustration because of non recognition then just think about your actions, can you check posts of all Steemians, answer is no, so right thing is, post everyday with quality and original content and then have an healthy conversations with other Steemians and this will slowly buildup your profiles and inturn followers and once you have followers it can possible that your post will be recognised effectively. So at last i want highlight your point that, you have joined Steemit, Steemit doesn't joined you, so it's your decision so you have to workout on it. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

Stay Blessed.