Steemit - A bit overwhelming to be honest

As a crypto-enthusiast always on the look-out for the 'next big thing,' I still find steemit to be one of the most compelling blockchain use cases I've seen. More than perhaps any other service or medium, social networking needs a decentralized solution. Most active participants in social media are desperate for a self-governing solution absent of interference from private or political interests.
Reddit in particular has suffered a number of black eyes over the past year that further underscore the need for an open system ruled by the masses.
That being said, I find my daily use of steemit something short of the initial promise I thought it held. I'm not sure if the issues are strictly with my mindset, inherent in the system, or some of both. I hope for feedback here that may enlighten me or set the record straight.
First, I find myself very preoccupied with upvotes, resteems, downvotes, estimated rewards, reputation, etc... Often I catch myself evaluating the effect an upvote might have on my personal standing on steemit rather than simply naturally upvoting what I like. I admit that I'd like to be more influential (who wouldn't?) so I think about the reputation of the person I'm about to upvote and resteem to consider if it will benefit me. The point is - I don't act naturally. From a fair bit of reading I've done here, I don't appear to be the only one. When there is a defined system, people try to take advantage of it (I don't mean that negatively but practically).
Second, I don't have a clear understanding of the very system I'm preoccupied with :-) I have the perception that the early adopters have all the 'juice' and the best the rest of us can do is try to catch onto their coat-tails. When I was first contributing here six months ago I worked very hard to bring fresh, unique, well prepared content and it got no attention. I acknowledge the issue might be it was crap - but I've seen plenty of posts earning massive returns which are thin on content to be kind.
The short version is I don't get it. Should I forget the rules of the game and just 'behave normally,' or will that prevent me from ever building any kind of following here? Should I study the system and try to game it, then relax and coast?
I'm curious to get feedback from long-term users and hope you can shed some insight. I'd like to think steemit can fall into my daily rotation of online social interaction.
Thanks,
ohgeegeo