That's true.You not only have to work hard on your content but your behaviour too.
My philosophy for steem and in general for my life is

Steem with powering up is a marathon but after that every day will be a sprint.

If you will keep powering up, you might not see much results in the recent days so you will have to be patient like a marathon runner but after that, you will get payouts like a Sprinter.Then your hard work and patience will pay off.
I joined just two weeks ago, so I am fully following this approach.