<center><h1>My Goodbye Post</h1></center>
This may seem very sudden, and even a shock to some, but this will be my last Steemit post. This is not fun, or easy, but here is my goodbye post.

<center>https://media2.giphy.com/media/UQaRUOLveyjNC/giphy.gif</center>

I decided to split this post up into four parts: 
1) Goodbye and Why I am Leaving
2) Thanks and Gratitude
3) What I've Learned
4) Now What - Future Plans
***
<h2>Goodbye and Why I am Leaving - An Explanation</h2>
Lately I have been incredibly involved and active within the Steemit community. However, today I'm going to post for the last time. I have become incredibly over committed and begun to let certain aspects of my life outside of Steemit slip.  

For the last two months, I had begun to put Steemit first. I'd always make sure to finish a last edit on a post before sleep, the last touch on some code for a new tool, or one last conversation with a fellow Steemian. It has been a great time, but an incredibly stressful time. What started as a place to blog about my single side-project became an obsession. As of today, here are all my Steemit commitments:

* SteemitBC Developer 
* SteemitBC channel admin
* SteemEngine sole developer
* Rank 93 Witness
* Helping with Build Team
* Random toolbox sole developer

On top of helping with a startup, a morning job, nightly commitments, and trying to keep up a healthy routine. My life quickly became a place of half-assing everything... everything except for Steemit. 

Today, after discussions with friends and family, I decided I need to move on. Engrossed by the addicting side of social media, and obsessed with being a part of EVERY single dev team on Steem, I decided with my "all or nothing" attitude, the answer here must be nothing.

***
<h2>Thanks and Gratitude</h2>
Where do I even start??? I don't want to go through everyone, but here are a few people who really made my Steemit experience so great:

First, I'd like to thank @good-karma. He has been very helpful with dev work, support, and a huge supporter of mine!

Second, I'd like to thank @matt-a. Maybe my biggest supporter, always posts super nice things and gives me nice upvotes. Also have a really cool eos sticker now thanks to him. Vote @agoric.systems for witness if you have not yet (and well I am on to this, thanks to @robrigo, my shirt came today!!!!). 

Courtesy of @robrigo:
<center>![BeFunky Collage.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSdc9WV6yPz21RJbPwh2RTpKBn2C1cuN7xeugm4wUftYg/BeFunky%20Collage.jpg)</center>

Next, I'd like to thank @sarasate. Always bugging him with steem dev questions and he always has answers.

Then, I'd like to thank the @steemitbc crew. I'll try to not forget anyone here: @sflaherty, @cryptofrygirl, @farmstead, @rt395, @stresskiller, @styxer, @cryptodan, and everyone else.

I am sure there are a lot more, but my mind is blanking right now. 

***
<h2>What I Learned</h2>
Here are my Top 4 Takeaways from Steemit (originally 3 but I added an extra):

1) **Find your community**
The best thing I ever did on Steem was leave Steemit and venture out into the chat rooms. I have built more meaningful connections in the last month than I did my first four months on Steemit because I began to REALLY engage with people. Whether it be SteemitBC, the Discord, or Steemit.chat,  get involved and DM someone.

2) **Everyone always needs a dev**
I'll get to the overcommited part next, but one of the most eye opening parts of my Steemit experience is that everyone wants a dev. There are many, many ideas floating around, but there is a limited pool of people out there who can make those dreams a reality. Going into the coding bootcamp this Fall, this has really motivated me to take the bootcamp very seriously.

3) **Don't overcommit**
It can be very tempting to say "yes I can" or "yes I will" whenever someone asks you for help. Most of the time, this can be a good thing. However, if this is the sixth person who has approached you in the last month, looking for help with X project that will take Y hours out of your week, you may want to politely reject the offer. Doing 5 things half assed is way less impressive than doing 1 thing 100%.

4) **Be original**
Over the past month, the rise in automatic votes and bots has begun to promote some rather questionable content. However, the posts and bloggers who consistently do well consistently post original content. AND, these are the posts that people actually read and respond to. I'll admit, I've done my share of shit posting... but I have come to terms with the fact that these posts were not helping me forward and were a complete waste of my time.
***
<h2>Now What - Future Plans</h2>
Instead of promising crazy things and commiting to the optimistic vision that may not become a reality, I will instead describe the things I am a part of right now.

**First and foremost,** I am working on getting a healthy routine in my life. Due to the chaos and over commitment (and a few other issues) I have been dealing with  for the past year, my life has been hectic. Thus, during this next month before my classes start, I am working on grounding myself with a good sleep-eat-exercise routine.

**Second,** I am working on saving money for a new laptop. This has been a goal of mine for the last few months and via Steemit and my morning job, I am getting closer and closer!

**Third,** I am working on a startup with a couple of guys. Not going to leek any details here, but I think we are on to something.

**Lastly,** I am preparing for the coding bootcamp I am going to attend this Fall. I truly believe this will be a an absolutely incredible experience and I am preparing myself now to make the most of it.

***
<h4> And with that, I want to say, for the last time, Cheers and Steem on!
<br>
<center>![WitnessIconSimple.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmfMx71YDEgBRjPpHumEXWMUPZ8HzHM9kn3Qxh4ExEJNny/WitnessIconSimple.png)</center>
<br>
Sincerely,
@robertdurst10</h4>