How I Plan To Climb The Fish Ladder Of Steemit

Everyone has Their own plan on how to progress in the steemit network and how to climb the ladder to get higher. So what is the secret formula to get higher on the ladder ? I think the answer will be different for everyone, but I would like to share with you my plan. It has radically changed recently and I will explain why in a bit.

So today I was walking in a shopping center close To my hotel in Yalong Bay in Hainan and a saw this awesome sculpture. It immediately inspired me to write this story as I think it is perfect to describe the race of all us minnows and the battle to get higher and higher on the steemit ladder.

In the beginning as I entered steemit I was very eager, I was nibbling on anything that moved and I was honestly a bit desperate to get followers. Yea I did say ; " follow me and I will follow you". It's a bit embarrassing but perhaps we have all been desperate minnows at some point.
I also looked to follow fish that a lot of other minnows were following, they are doing something right and perhaps they can help me up the ladder?
At a point I was following people as soon as they upvoted me or if they made just one post to capture my attention.

The above tactics I have completely abandoned, and I will tell you why. Following bigger fish that have already several hundred or even thousand followers that I don't really have something in common With won't build for something long term and the chance that I will even be noticed might not be very high. Being desperate and asking people to follow we all find out fast doesn't work, and if it does it doesn't build a relationship based foremost on similar interest.
So what is my plan to swim up the minnow fish ladder ? My plan is to focus on quality instead of quantity. The number of people you follow don't need to be high but make sure that the people you are following are people you are very interested in. Firstly this will make it fun to use steemit, it makes it easier to comment on their post, this builds a solid foundation and a strong stepping stone to climb higher.

There is no use to climb the stairs too fast, take your time. This also comes to posting material. Again quality over quantity I think is better. A fast post might get votes, but very nice well planned and quality posts might get you more followers, and also it will get you followers who like what you are about, not only for this post but for future posts as well. My plan is by no means complicated, but the overall message I think is that I have learned to not be so eager and build a network that is meaningful and fun and to try to produce quality because in the end that is the main purpose of steemit, creating value to the community but also of course to gain valuable information back. Also like the old saying goes the most important is not always getting swiftly to the top but to make sure that we enjoy the journey of getting there, this is in a nutshell my plan. What is your plan and what do you find being the best way to get there? Please share if you have some advice.