I just read authenticity and transparency and it really changed my view of steemit. I would take it one step further and say we can only raise our bar as content creators when we value our freedom to be authentic. Payouts are nice but if we are fake we'll loose momentum and perspective.
I have gotten a nice steem power boost as well and as my schedule changes it forces me to figure out what content i can post on a regular basis. But steemit is still the best platform to post content on--hands down.
Keep posting and I'm glad that the older post I linked was beneficial.
I'm here to help if you need any further advice, but it sounds like you know what you are up to!