The title is in caps because that's me shouting to the top of my lungs. It's been at least 10 days since I became active here in Steemit and I still haven't reached my goal because I have not set up a goal, to be honest. I was just doing things in haste and trying to cram all of the ideas going through my head. I was lacking all the basics and the fundamentals of being a blogger because of the thought "I have to earn fast". I forgot that it doesn't work that way. No one had it the easy way to be frank.

Some people's circles aren't as perfect as others, but you can always work to improve your lines.

You say some people do? Let me tell you one thing. You see that person who has been in Steemit for a week and has posts earning up to more than a thousand dollars in value? He didn't achieve that the easy way. He has been building up his experience through years of experimenting in other websites (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Wordpress, name it all); he had gone through too many failures as well.

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

How to achieve Greatness

One trait is very important for that goal. Perseverance.

You have to persevere till you get there. Every hardship that you will go through shall be realized and you will see that everything is worth your while. Here are some tips I found to help you out through tough times:

1- Stay Rationally Optimistic. Okay so maybe things don’t always go exactly as you planned. Maybe you sometimes face unanticipated challenges or things just don’t happen as fast or as easily as you’d like them to. That’s OK. Because the more you live life, the more you’ll see that things usually happen differently than we expected…But they do happen for the best and usually they turn out quite well :). So take it easy and stay rationally optimistic.

2- Embrace Your Setbacks. You’ll find that most millionaires, billionaires, and hugely successful people in general say that some of their greatest “setbacks” were actually indispensable components of their success. Often, without these so-called “setbacks” they would not have learned what was necessary to achieve their success. So be sure to embrace your so-called setbacks as opportunities to learn more… it’s very likely that these frustrations are indeed vital elements to your ultimate happiness and success.

3- Take Breaks. Really…Don’t work yourself to death as you try to reach your goals! Take breaks. Meditate. Read. Sip some tea. Live a little. Sometimes our greatest insights and creative solutions come during those moments when we give ourselves a break. We now know that Einstein achieved many of his ground-breaking creative insights during his “down time,” when he wasn’t in the lab hard at work.

…And the most mechanical fundamentals of your brain work the same way as Einstein’s did (we humans are all fundamentally built the same way). So, next time you’re in need of a truly creative solution or “ground-breaking idea” for your goal, do the counter-intuitive thing: take a relaxing break.

4- Realize You’re Always Right Where You Need To Be. No matter how close you are to your next goal, chances are you already have another one in place don’t you? That’s how life IS! So don’t beat yourself up about not being “there” yet, because the truth is that right now at this very moment you are exactly where you should be on your journey toward success.

• Steven Aitchison

Those are very encouraging and helpful tips from our friend Steven (make sure to visit his page). I'm gonna make sure to follow those things above to keep myself in track and in check, all so I can excel in what I do and achieve a little bit of greatness one little step at a time.

Extra Article: Principles of Greatness

The Steemit Way

Naruto has his Ninja Way. Great minds have their philosophies. Now let's get a hint and apply that to Steeming, and let's make our own Steemit Way.

Nindo which literally means 'Ninja Way' is a personal rule that each shinobi lives by. It is their way of ninja life, their motto, belief, or "dream". Let's play on our words now and create a Steemdo to guide us through the Steemit hard life (you can call it the Minnow life as well - sometimes it's hard being one but again just persevere and you'll get there). "Steemdo not Steemdon't" - that was a bad pun. Please forgive me for I am just a plain silly human (and that rhymes).

My Steemdo Principle:

Steemdo can be a personal rule that each Steemian lives by. It is their way of writing/blogging, their motto, belief, or "dream". So here's is how I will guide myself to the path of being great:

Consistency - I will strive to continually post from time to time and not just submit article, I will make sure to create meaningful ones and wonderful ones. I will make sure that my writing will not be bashed by grammar Nazis. I will make sure to edit my photos properly and that they are relevant. Since I am aiming to be an artblog here, I will make sure to make art everyday: bad art, good art, great art - it doesn't matter as long as I make one (art can have multiple meaning and can be relevant to others even if it's not relevant to the artist or to others).

Patience - I will be as patient as I can be when it comes to receiving things, whether it be an upvote, a comment, or even a resteem or my earnings from (authoring/curating). It's not always a sunny day, I do understand that. And there are times the bus has left and the next one is still half an hour away. It's like in Steemit. The key to being calm about it and not being one of your frustrations is simply be patient.

Connect - Be a part of a community as much as you can. It's the 'Bayanihan' effect that will do you good. There are different communities you can join, not just here in Steemit.com but also from other websites (even on Facebook, I have personally joined groups supporting people in Steemit). There's the @minnowsupport initiative for example and the @steemtrail project.

Happy Steeming Guys!

Connect with me thru links above.