POWER UP!!! How to do it, Why I did, and Why You Should Too!

Hello Steemit Friends!

I just turned a month old here in Steemit. Through the help and support of steemians like you, I have been awarded author rewards which gave my account 14.429 SBD. I have decided to use this to purchase Steempower for a few reasons.

I get frustrated when my vote amounts to literary nothing

I hate seeing that $0.00 hasn't changed after I clicked the ^ upvote button. It's embarassing that I wasn't able to contribute anything to make something that I enjoyed reading amount to something more.

There are also times when I encounter a post about a cause which I would like to support and my heart sinks seeing that I wasn't really able to support it because my Steem Power is not enough.

I want to return the favor

I was into my third week in Steemit and I was already getting discouraged at the appreciation my posts were getting when @surpassinggoogle upvoted and left a comment on a post I made that day. That post was valued at roughly $10. But more than the upvote, it was his comment appreciating the effort I put into it that really struck me. I decided that from then on, I will work harder on my posts, give it more "meat", spend more time and rack my brains to contribute something that will count. A day before my account turned 1 month old, I posted another blog about a new place that my family and I discovered. It got me 31 views, roughly $23 and all the comments left were very appreciative of my material. I was ecstatic. It affirmed my decision to put my heart into my writing.

Right now, @surpassinggoogle is working with friends like @pinaynomad to introduce more people to steemit. They want to make Steemit bigger and better. They will be talking to students in a University in Baguio and when those students sign up for an account and start blogging away, they will need more steemians like @surpassinggoogle who will appreciate their work and show them that their hardwork is worth something here. The steempower I have in my account is still not much even after my power up but it will have to do for now. At the very least, I can tell myselft that I did what I can.

Please know that I'm not trying to paint myself as a saint by wanting to help. Steemit is an AMAZING platform. The people behind its creation designed it to be a place where you get more by giving - not by taking - and they are so brilliant that it actually works that way. Helping others by upvoting and giving their work the credit they deserve is still something that would benefit you through curation; and It's not like you're giving away money because Steemit "pays" you back when you spend your Steem Power for upvoting a post by refilling your Steem Power after a certain amount of time.

I am an investor

I believe in the potential of this platform, in the potential of Steem. If the value of my votes can push Steem - even if just for an inch - towards the moon, I will do it.

So Today I Learned how to use my SBDs to purchase Steem Power and, if for any reason you want to do the same, you can follow the steps below:

HOW TO POWER UP USING SBDs IN YOUR WALLET

1. Go to your wallet and Click 'BUY STEEM OR STEEM POWER'



2. You will be directed to the BLOCKTRADES website, create an accout by clicking 'Sign Up' and provide an email address and password that you will be using to log in to the account in the future

NOTE: an email will be sent to the email address you provided prompting you for verification. Just click on the link provided in that email. You will automatically be logged in the Blocktrade website after verification

3. Go back to the blocktrade website where you've been automatically logged in after verifying your email address. You can then choose from the 'Send' and 'Receive' dropdowns. Select STEEM DOLLARS from 'Send' and STEEM POWER from 'Recieve' dropdowns


4. Under 'Steem Dollar', enter the amount of SBD you would like to convert to STEEM POWER. The website will automatically convert it and show you the amount of STEEM POWER your SBD is worth


5. Make sure you have the correct username under 'Your Receive Address', which automatically appears there. Then click 'Get Deposit Address'

6. You will then get this message


7. Go back to your wallet. Click the dropdown icon beside the amount of your Steem Dollars then select 'Transfer'


8. A pop up screen will appear. Fill out the form based on the message you got from Blocktrades in Step No. 6 then click 'Submit'



9. The Steemit system will ask you to sign in to proceed. Provide your password and click 'Sign In'


Within seconds you will receive notifications in your wallet about the transaction with Blocktrade and within minutes, you will receive your Steem Power.



9 You're Steem Power will then be available to your account so you can start using them!